Launch Night At The Travellers Rest In Caerphilly

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One attended the launch opening of The Travellers Rest In Caerphilly, South Wales on Wednesday 5th April. Guests were invited through Spotty Dog Communications, an award-winning PR company with more than twenty-six industry awards under it’s belt, including PRCA DARE Midlands and CIPR Midlands Outstanding Consultancy of the Year.

Well where should one start with regards to the launch, one was limited to one small glass of orange juice for the whole eventide event, may I add one had to ask for juice as there was no non-alcoholic drink on arrival. There was however prosecco and additional gin with tonic for those that drink, certainly not very ideal for those that do not drink due to religious or health reasons, the only joy I did feel was that all were limited to one drink too, well two if you took gin and prosecco. What was upsetting was that there was more than enough drink available however it was not allowed to be given out, not great for sustainability unless it is also going to the staff at the end of the launch event.

Time For Food At The Travellers Rest 

Besides networking and music, the next best thing is food and especially for a grand restaurant launch. The canapés started with a vegetable salad, which included a dash of red pepper, couscous, butternut squash, spinach, and pomegranate, and a single shallot and was a little bland to say the least, yet very healthy indeed. This was followed by mackerel and mayonnaise with rocket and bay leaf lettuce and a wedge of lemon, this was very flavourful and a major improvement from the salad. However one of my party did have a bone in the mackerel so a warning should be presented.

The third small dish to come out was your classic fish and chunky chips with tartare sauce and this was rather scrumptious to say the least plus this was a keen favourite by all as there was so much fish going around all night compared to other dishes. If anything is to say for sure the canapés are improving as the night progresses and the music has slightly reduced creating a rather peaceful eventide event as it was far too loud to start with drowning out the meaningful conversations one was having with others.

Onto dish four which was a piece of chicken on a skewer, it was sweet and sour and very tender to say the least and must one say juicy, the fifth dish was a pork belly option but with hoisin sauce but not my cup of tea due to the sauce being a little overpowering plus the pork was a tad chewy for a party member. Dish six was a lamb kofta and although I wasn’t able to eat it, I did ask my one guest her thoughts and she mentioned it was very Greek and it invoked memories of Mykonos, she was very delighted with this dish.

They say the best comes last and dish seven was calamari. I’m a major fan of fish so I was a happy bunny especially as I couldn’t eat dish six, however, my one guest said it was a little salty, each to their own and that is the power of tastebuds, you can’t please everybody, especially on every dish.

I did oversee a little commotion with one guest being told off by a woman sporting a brown spotty dress for taking a canapé, you couldn’t exactly blame the attendee though as food was rather sparse as it was only circulating around one area all night. To get in on the action, you had to be near the kitchen to get the most benefits as the staff forgot to take them around the restaurant fairly, much to some attendees’ annoyance, to the point where guests were calling over the waiting staff to be fed.

The food at “The Travellers Rest” that one was able to eat was rather tasty overall and my only tip would be better organisation skills by management. One attendee I spoke to with a disability was rather upset as she was not able-bodied enough to reach the food and unfortunately she couldn’t move to go seek the food (would she want to though if it meant being scolded by the mystery women in the brown spotted dress), sadly this guest in particular missed out on many opportunities of the evening to sample what was on offer. It was noted by 8:30 pm a few tables near the bar area left as the food was not being served around that area, to our delight though one was given an extra glass of orange juice as waiting staff noticed nobody else was attending plus the restaurant quieting out and this was all before pudding.

The Travellers Rest – Puddings

Dish 8 was some form of yogurt parfait with strawberries which was soft and smooth. One managed to grab the last passion fruit cheesecake to sample for dish 9 and it was ok, it felt like a layer of gelatin ontop, where as if it had been more of a puree it may have tasted nicer, that said this was just a sample. Dish 10 was a crème brûlée, alas another dish I sadly could not partake in, however my guests were happy that they were eventually fed their puddings at 9:15 pm, the guests thought the crème brûlée was divine and paired perfectly with the earl grey tea that they had ordered.

Overall a lovely evening at The Travellers Rest, perhaps 7/10 however there were plumbing issues on the evening resulting in a foul smell by the gents loos particularly in the latter part of the event and the music was nice at some points however it was incredibly loud to the point where you could not converse with another, one loves sax and the musician did try his best and they had an official press photographer sent by Spotty Dog Communications which makes an amazing addition. 

To finish off with as it certainly is the quote of the day from one guest “I felt like a little bird in the wild trying to find food fighting against other birds”, I should not have laughed however it certainly made me chuckle.

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