Located between Cardiff and pernath , a stones throw away from the barrage is The Oyster Catcher. Part of the Hungry Horse chain, it is easily bookable online, with menus also avaliable to browse before hand. We booked about 2 weeks in advance with there being 8 of us in total.
When we got there it is was very busy as it was a beautiful summers day. We were shown to our tables and told to order at the bar. We took a while talking and catching up. Eventually we had narrowed it down, so our food came at the same time we ordered in one lot. Writting everyone's food and drinks orders down. If you have a blue light card as well this is accepted at this venue, saving you some money.
So this is where the problems started, we had gotten to the till to order, just before a queue of people came in. So I know a lot of resturants are experiencing shortages of items, but this one had tones.
This first order was a big belter breakfast. On a Thursday you get a selected free starters or dessert with any big plate. Our friend had to change that as certain items were missing. Instead she had the basic breakfast. I felt they could of just added extra items instead on the big belter and then allowing her free item.
They have a selection as well of pick a mix food. You can choose 2 meats, 2 sides and a sauce(£11.99 without a blue light card). Well half a chicken was unavailable so another chicken option had to be picked. Next was the salmon not being available, so that plan had to be changed.
When the food eventually came out we noticed some discrepancies. My mum had ordered the big plate of a chicken sandwich. With chicken, salad, sauce between two chiibbata breads. These were to come with a side of fries and onion rings. The onion rings were no where to be seen. When asking apparently more chips were given to compensate. In my opinion something like maybe an upgrade to sweet potato fries or at least letting people know at point of order would be great. Despite the onion rings missing my mum enjoyed her food.
Myself I had looked the menu up before hand and planned my order and stuck to my guns. I opted for the steak and Ruddles ale pie, with mash, peas and gravy. Firstly I was very impressed with the mash, for mass produced mash it was actually very tasty. The peas were a bit standard but there was plenty of gravy. The pie itself had a great filling but the edge of the pastry was a bit thick so harder to eat.
The mix and match our other friends had meant you could choose healthier options. The food though was medicoure, the steak was well done. The coleslaw though was creamy and seemed homemade. It was only at the end of the meal my friend realised her second side of corn of the cob was not there. It felt like we could not be bothered to ask and be told another item was not in stock.
It was finally time to get the free pudding with my mums big plate. Unless you ask you won't get mind, as the staff cleared all the dishes then vanished . We hunted someone down for it then 10 minutes later got it. The pudding was actually really tasty and had lashings of custard.
Overall I have had better experiences at a Hungry Horse resturant as well as The Oyster Catcher. I may return in the future, but on a quieter day.
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