The Felin Fach Griffin

'A relaxed but attentive place; everyone is friendly, and knowledgeable about the food.' New praise this year for this old inn on a main road between the Brecon Beacons and the Black Mountains. Its owners, brothers Charles and Edmund Inkin, also own The Gurnard's Head, Zennor, Cornwall (qv). In a restaurant noted for its 'evening buzz', the cooking of Simon Potter is 'imaginative and delicious'. He uses local produce with vegetables and herbs from the kitchen garden for his modern dishes, eg, soft-boiled egg, creamed morel mushrooms; slow-roasted pork belly, buttered savoy cabbage. 'The perfectly cooked pork cheek restored my husband's confidence in less than prime cuts.' 'Slices of fresh soda bread were already on the table; replenished on request.' More than 20 wines are available by the glass. The simple bedrooms have 'luxurious bedlinen', a Roberts radio; three have a four-poster bed. Visitors 'won over by the food' found that their bedroom 'belied our first impressions that it was cramped; there was plenty of storage, the bed was firm and comfortable; a well-designed bathroom'. Background music is sometimes played: Edmund Inkin writes that 'the type of music (if any) depends on the customers'. Radio 4 is usually played at the 'excellent' breakfast, taken at a communal table in the old farmhouse kitchen. 'Scrambled eggs were delicious.' 'Inform the staff if you want an early start, as the approach is relaxed,' says a visitor who is 'looking for an opportunity to book again'. (Deborah Starbuck-Edwards, Jill and Mike Bennett)