The Hare and Hounds set in the small Welsh village of Aberthin, just outside Cowbridge is a multi-award winning pub including a Michelin Bib Gourmand and the Good Food Guide's Best Local Restaurant for Wales 2018. Chef/patron is Tom Watts-Jones, a local lad who enjoyed his first drink in the pub, and then went on to climb the culinary ladder in a number of noteworthy establishments in London, such as the Anchor & Hope and the Michelin starred St. John.

Inside it still feels like a genuine hostelry, with locals drinking at the bar, but a lot of the action is now centred around the food. The dining room is a cosy affair with a woodburning stove in an inglenook fireplace, whitewashed stone walls and rustic oak tables and chairs set on stripped wood floors. A dresser is filled with home-made preserves and bookshelves are lined with cookery books, while the open kitchen makes a great focal point.

Tom runs an industrious kitchen where everything is made from scratch including the sourdough bread, cultured butter and fresh pasta. The menus change twice daily and runs in tandem with the seasons, with produce sourced locally including pickings from their own garden. For an opener you might fancy crispy pig cheek, chicory, mustard and pickled apple before moving on to a main course of pan-fried skate wing, shrimp, salsify, cockles and brown butter. To finish, the desserts promise blissful indulgence with buttermilk pudding, honeycomb and Bramley or maybe rhubarb and almond tart served with salted caramel and vanilla ice cream.

A carefully curated wine list complements the menu, and there's local ales on tap as well as their own homemade drinks including a very tasty rhubarb gin.

Hare & Hounds is also featured in: Michelin Guide, Good Food Guide, Hardens

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Welsh

Tom Watts-Jones

Lunch: 12.00 - 2.30pm Wed-Fri (3.00pm Sat & 4.00pm Sun)
Dinner: 6.00 - 9.00pm Wed-Fri (9.30pm Sat)

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• Alfresco dining