Monmouthshire
The Stonemill

The Stonemill

Steppes Farm, Rockfield, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom

Wine • Soup • Steak • Coffee


"We had an excellent meal at the Stonemill, although with a few features that may be worthy of comment. We were welcomed and shown to our table, and after about half an hour a complimentary portion of breaded whitebait and tartare sauce arrived off limits, sadly, to my wife, who is coeliac, but gratefully scoffed by me lovely big juicy fish and good sauce. After another 10 minutes, and having seen people who had arrived after us placing their orders (always annoying, that , we got a bit impatient and went in search of some staff. Our order was taken, and after another 15 minutes more complimentary things arrived broad bean and caramelised onion purée, which married the beany bitterness and sweet oniony caramel very nicely. In another 10 minutes some likewise unexpected bread, oil and vinegar arrived we explained (again that my wife needed something gluten free, so some suitable rolls were duly found and provided. These proved still to be frozen inside, although given the timescales we were working to, they had plenty of time to defrost. Then the actual food started arriving, all of which was superb (although, on a small point of Italian grammar, Arancini is plural if you 're only getting one, it 's an Arancino . Mains were lamb (Madame and sole (me , and a special word about the green veg, which is not always British restaurants ' strong point, but here was succulent and just al dente. Our house Romanian red was earthy and piquant, and slipped down very nicely. Stuffed to the gills as we were with multiple starters, we skipped the puds and just got the bill which, when it arrived, was £49. I did think (who wouldn 't? of paying up and running, but, being honest folk, we felt bound to point out that, haphazard service notwithstanding, it should probably be at least twice that amount. Unfortunately (for the restaurant, not us tips could not be added to the amount on the card machine, but could only be left as cash, so sadly in these cashless, contactless times they had to go without. So an all round 5 stars for food, a solid 3 for service, given that they made amends for their slowness with lots of extra goodies."

White Hart Village Inn

White Hart Village Inn

Usk Road, Monmouthshire, United Kingdom

Pub • Steak • Seafood • British


"I have never waited so long for a pre booked table. Our table was booked for 3pm on Mother's Day, and we finally got seated (whilst the table was being cleaned around us) at 3:45pm. We had placed our food order whilst we had been waiting, but we waited another 40 minutes for the food to arrive. On asking the landlord why the food was taking so long, he blamed it on the veggie burger that I had ordered I fail to realise how this was possible, given that if a veggie burger had been cooked for 40 minutes, there would have been nothing left if it. My burger arrived cold and with a burnt bun, half a dozen overcooked chips and a tablespoon of chopped up cucumber and tomato. The other members of my family had roast dinners, meat was fatty and chewy, vegetables had hardly seen a boiling pan, and the yorkshire puddings burnt and stone cold. We ordered our deserts, which we waited another 25 minutes for. On attempting to cancel the order, we were told by the landlord that the delay was due to large table that had been served before us and that the delay wasn't his fault. It was just excuse after excuse with this landlord. He clearly is not experienced enough at dealing with a busy pub and does not accept any responsibility for things going wrong. The poor waiting staff were embarrassed and did their best to smooth things over. We will definitely not be customers of this establishment ever again."