Gwysaney Arms Hotel, Mold

As locals we were thrilled to see the Antelope hotel - now called the Gwysaney Arms reopen recently. Rhydymwyn desperately needs a decent pub and we were hoping this would be an opportunity for the new owners to breather some new life into what has been a rapidly declining village asset. Sadly the name is the only real change they have made, as we discovered last night. The interior has had very little more than a lick of paint and still looks rather faded and old fashioned - not a huge problem if the place is bouncing with custom but when almost empty it comes across as rather tired and sad. To be fair we chose a Tuesday to visit so not traditionally the best night for a pubs atmosphere and indeed it was as dead as a dodo with just us, a family of four and another table of 4 in the conservatory and a mother and her son. Still an opportunity for the restaurant staff to wheel out their best then? Hardly. The menu was not particularly inspiring but it seemed to be trying to provide more than plain pub grub- 3 types of steak, pan fried salmon with crab rissotto, sea bass. and reflected this in the price tag- £4.95 for a starter and about £9 for a main - not cheap and cheerful for sure. Our pleasant waitress took our order and then we waited....and waited... we'd both ordered breaded brie with an apricot chutney - not very complicated...we waited some more....the family next to us complained but that didn't seem to hurry things beyond an offer of more drinks and an explanation that "one of the chefs hadn't turned in ".... ONE of the chefs?? they had barely 20 covers in and that needed more than one chef?? crikey they must be doing something special - would explain the prices anyway. Finally our starter arrived a..a slightly warm slice of pre- packaged brie that had been heated from the pack and served with a dollop of apricot chutney. It wasn't awful but considering the price and the wait ,wasn't value for money either. Our mains arrived in much the same slow manner - they appeared to only have one waitress as well as one chef - both working at much the same speed. My pan fried salmon was decently cooked...the crab risotto it came with was stodgy rather than creamy and a little tasteless but it did have some decent chunks of crab in it - the green beans were practically raw...i like crunchy veg but these definitely needed more time. MY Husbands chicken was moist and he said reasonably tasty..his veg "ok"...the side of chips we ordered were well cooked but very few in number. Finally we ordered dessert to share- chocolate brownie with hazelnut parfait and berry compote....the best part of the meal by far...it sat nicely together on the plate and balanced well in the mouth. The whole meal including a glass of house red for me and a pint for my husband cost us £44. And therein lies the rub...for an at best "ok" meal in rather tired surroundings with slow service it just wasn't value for money. especially when we can travel 4 miles into town and find better. I just don't understand why consecutive owners of the Antelope/Gwysaney Arms keep making the same mistake. the village needs a community hub - a place to take the kids for Sunday lunch and the odd dinner when you don't want to cook..somewhere with a decent pint and menu that doesn't break the bank but offers a decent quality for a decent price. If our meal had cost us £25 or £30 last night we may have accepted the other issues with more equanimity but frankly we wont be going back and we live within walking distance of the place. The new owners need to take stock of who their core customers are and look to provide a family friendly, family cost , bright venue -rather than the same tired formula that has caused consecutive owners to sell up in the past 10 years. I would love to see the Gwysaney arms a success but on last nights showing it will close within the year.