Aydin’s Traditional Fish & Chips Llangollen in Denbighshire

Oh dear oh dear oh dear, I was taking some friends from Canada all around Snowdonia to see the sights and experience Welsh hospitality. Being welsh myself I am incredibly proud of my country. Sadly the cafe at the top of the horseshoe pass was closed, where I explained that I always get friendly service with plain wholesome food. It was 19.30 and sadly not many places were open on our journey back from the very North of Wales. I had passed here many times and couldn't believe our luck that it was open.....that is where our excitement ended. I was in pain from the walking and driving to and fro, and so my friend went in to enquire if they were still serving food. "we shut at 8" came the reply. So they quickly beckoned me in and order we did. To say that the middle aged female serving would turn milk sour was an understatement. We ordered plaice and chips....there were three of us. "we only have 2 fish" came the surly reply. Ok we will have the steak and ale pie and the 2 fish please we said. No acknowledgement, no please or thank you, so extra loudly I said "Diolch yn fawr cariad"hoping that she would at least give a smile if she was a fellow welsh person. Nope, not a crack. I immediately thought of a female Basil Fawlty. "are you sitting here or in the restaurant part" she enquired in a "I wish you would go away" kind of tone. So taking the initiative we moved into the restaurant area, where another group of Americans attempted their ordering.....poor things we thought. Out came the fish and chips (clearly frozen beforehand, but fair play they were cooked well and frankly cardboard would have tasted good, as we were very very hungry). The Pie....well, it was obviously again taken from the freezer. Which to be honest I get that, you cannot rely on custom so fresh would be impossible to achieve. BUT, that does not give the excuse for being miserable and downright rude. My visitors had not experienced this for the whole of our trip and have been greeted by my fellow welshmen with interest and friendly chat. I would avoid this place like the plague, I certainly will not be bringing foreign visitors again and suggest that maybe the staff attend some training on customer relations. It costs nothing to smile and be polite for me "manners maketh man". No wonder the place looks run down, if you treat customers like this then word will get around. Give up now, put it up for sale and sell it to someone who is interested in making some money as I am fairly sure people would flock around if you were a little cleaner and friendlier.

What a change to this place, new management clearly know what they are doing and deserve all of our support, especially after the previous incumbents (literally). Ate there today 31st October and had a lovely meal from a very good pub menu, just what this place wanted, give it a go, I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I paid nearly £40 for three meals and a cup of tea. Firstly, the wrong dish arrived for my friend. She’d ordered one dish and another arrived- a sausage casserole which when tasted was disgusting. . She left most of the pork stroganoff as it was slop. I had the veg pasta. It was cold and overcooked to mush with little taste. My mum’s jacket potato was ok. Very disappointed. A very expensive mistake. :(

On our way to Barmouth, we called in for lunch. We have been before and liked it for the comfortable surroundings and quality food and drinks. We were not disappointed, we had homemade soup and fish and chips, all good and fair prices.

We stayed here for a stag weekend and the staff were great, the atmosphere was great, and we were super impressed with the food, especially breakfast (veggie brioche - trust me). The hotel was a bit wonky but the beds were comfy, the biscuits were topped up, and the showers were hot. We'd definitely stay again. Thanks Gales!