REPUTATIONS

The last entry (I think) in what seems to have evolved into this - perhaps self-indulgent - short series of postings about the holiday eateries we experienced during this year's summer break in Anglesey, which I hope haven't been too much of an endurance test for your patience. After all, other people's holidays are always SO entertaining, aren't they...?

Some places have reputations.

Sometimes they're good and sometimes they're not so good, but, generally, if you find yourself in a place with which you're generally unfamiliar, you tend to go off the recommendations of others and trust that, when people tell you that somewhere is a good place to eat, you tend to believe them.

This is why, for the last night of our holidays this year, a date which also coincided approximately with one of the "significant dates" in our annual diary, we decided to book ourselves into a restaurant with a reputation...

We'd tried to go there before, to be honest, after being told about its rather impressive seafood menu before we visited last year and, after weaving our way through a labyrinth of tiny country roads, we found ourselves pulling up outside just as they finished serving lunch at 1.30 in the afternoon, and so we had to find somewhere else to eat.

At the time I thought that it was an odd time to close your doors for the afternoon but then, well, I've never actually run a restaurant, so what do I know...?

This was, perhaps, not the best of starts for our relationship with the place, but it did, at least, give us twelve months to anticipate the meal that we knew that we were almost certain that we were going to enjoy there.

And so, having arrived on the island again, we made a point of booking our table for the Saturday evening several days in advance, and found that we were quite looking forward to ending our holiday sitting in this well respected seafood restaurant and watching the sun set.

An unfortunate midweek encounter did rather put us on our guard, however. After a meal at another restaurant, one which was far more local to the place we were staying in, we went for a bit of a stroll along the seafront and ran into a wise old couple who had seen us eating earlier on in the evening. When we mentioned our Saturday night plans they paused and gave each other a look which I  can only describe as being "significant" before proceeding to mention a whole list of other excellent eateries.

Hmmm...

Still, we refused to be put off and stuck to our plans. After all, bookings were still hard to come by at this place, so it couldn't be surviving merely upon reputation alone, could it...? People wouldn't just go there because it was popular and without showing any kind of personal discernment, would they...?

Part of me thinks that perhaps they actually would.

It's not that the meal was awful because it wasn't, and it's not that we had a dreadful evening, because we didn't, it's just that... Oh, I don't know... There was just something that didn't quite gel for me. It was almost as if that fine reputation it had meant that they didn't have to try too hard any more, if you get my meaning...?

The place kind of gave out the air that it was, perhaps, resting on its laurels and failing to move with the times.

The decor generally looked as if it hadn't been updated since the 1970s and, whilst I accept that they were trying to maintain that homely air that you were eating in someone's living room, even living rooms do get redecorated from time to time. Even as we were being seated in the bar area for our order to be taken (a nice touch that I always prefer), I noticed the kind of wrought ironwork surrounding an archway that instantly reminded me of the kind of Spanish package tour hotels that my parents used to take me to when I was a child which, whilst it added a pleasant enough nostalgic touch, didn't really make me feel as if the place was very up-to-date.

On our previous fleeting visit, we had got a glimpse of the very modern furniture and been persuaded by this that the interior was far classier than it turned out to be, but, if you are going to buy modern furniture, surely you'd shut down for a month in the winter and spruce up the surroundings a little too, wouldn't you? Other mall touches like the leather placemats reminded you of the infamous Berni Inns, and other detailing like a small stereo playing the greatest hits of Michael Buble or someone just perched upon a spare chair, the very visible children's high chair holding open a door, and the very tired looking wallpaper and cornicing made me want to find them the number of a decent plasterer to give the place a refreshing skim over. On the whole, you were left thinking that the interior was all rather "retro" but neither in a good way, nor in an ironic way, if you get my drift...?

I'll try to ignore the antics of the family on the table next to us, where the younger daughter Nadia obviously had a massive crush on Marcus, the boyfriend of her not-yet-sixteen-year-old-but looking-twenty-if-she was-a-day big sister and didn't seem afraid to let everyone know it, because it's hardly fair to hold a restaurant responsible for its clientele, is it...?

Nevertheless, before this turns into the total whinge-fest I suspect it already is, I wouldn't want anyone to think that we didn't have a good evening, because we did, and, really, the food was excellent. I will have to admit that and, ultimately, I guess that's the most important thing when you're going out for a meal...

Isn't it...?

And the sunset was pretty spectacular and all rather fabulous, too...