The Vine Tree, Crickhowell

A pleasant enough pub in a nice spot just over the road from the river. The main bar is suitably olde worlde, with a flagstone floor, open fire, copper topped bar, beams on the ceiling, exposed stone walls and some chairs made out of old beer barrels. The right hand bar is more geared up for dining, and there’s a smaller area adjoining the two with a selection of tables and a smaller rear area with some bench seating. Overall you feel that this could perhaps to with a bit of TLC, but there’s nothing particularly wrong with it. The landlord, although not unpleasant, seemed somewhat indifferent. The barmaids/waitresses were all friendly enough though. There was a very extensive menu with the main courses alone running to several pages, as well as a small specials board. This of course suggests that the food is mostly bought in rather than freshly prepared onsite, and what we had bore this out. The chicken pie had some decent, tender chunks of chicken, but wasn’t especially tasty and had a very soggy pastry topping. Portion sizes were equally extensive, and between the two of us we had no less then four vegetable side dishes – a massive bowl of chips, peas/carrots, dauphinoise potatoes and cauliflower cheese. It was far too much, and personally I’d have preferred a little less quantity and a little more quality but I suppose if you’ve got a very hearty appetite it may be just the job. The solitary beer on tap was Rhymney’s Hobby Horse. Ciders were Strongbow and Kingston Press.