Gales uncorks a new daytime eatery

* The inside of the new Wine Shop in an old building on Bridge Street.

llanblogger review

A smart, new daytime eatery has just been uncorked in the heart of Llangollen by the oldest winebar in Wales.

Gales, which has been in business in the town for the past 40-odd years, has opened a new venture called the Wine Shop, located at 16 Bridge Street, which is open during the day until the main winebar takes over in the evening.

They’ve spent months doing up what was previously the first bit of their wine accessory shop adjacent to the winebar and fitted it out in the most modern style of decor, which contrasts perfectly with the the oak beamy and Victorian shop-windowy orginal building a good deal of which thankfully remains.

It’s now all white walls, narrow tables and sit-up benches within shallow alcoves done in toning greys and yellows, giving a pleasantly light and airy feel to the place.

There’s even a couple of Parisian-style bistro tables on the pavement outside.

And all this is perfect for the sort of middle-of-the-day food and drink they’re offering from a menu based on deli board items.

There’s also a pretty short but well-thought-out selection of wines on offer which benefits from the Gale family’s decades of fine wine familiarity.

You can pick ‘n’ mix your own from the quite extensive menu but my wife and I went for a sharing platter of six items, which is the optimum number they recommend to split between two people.

We opted for three tasty continental meats, including prosciutto, salami and chorizo, along with three cheeses - a couple of tangy blues and a runny brie. You’ll need bread, which was tomatoy and came with some nice mini-crackers on the side.

Not over-facing but perfectly adequate, I reckon.

I chose a nice big glass of fruity sauvingon blanc to accompany my lunch while my wife, with a pressing appointment later, ordered a small cafetiere of Gales’ good coffee.

The whole thing came in at a respectable £25.70 and that’s not bad for a nice treat on a busy and very sunny eisteddfod afternoon.