King of Prussia Restaurant

One of my favourite assignments with the Abergavenny Focus is getting to do the restaurant reviews so far, ive never been dissapointed with the food on offer, and i am delighted to say The King of Prussia was no exception. In January, editor Janey and I were invited to an evening of food, drink and entertainment at this popular local venue. We would enjoy a three-course meal and then be entertained by Peter Karrie probably most famous for his lead role as the Phantom in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, The Phantom of the Opera.

We were seated very quickly and offered drinks, a menu and fresh bread rolls by an exceptionally friendly waiter. The menu itself was quite diverse, offering a wonderful selection of game, fish and vegetarian options. there was also a specials board with a varied selection of starters, mains and desserts.

Janey opted for pan fried pigeon breast with smoked bacon mash to start, while I ordered chicken liver parfait with red onion marmalade. The starters arrived promptly and were beautifully presented. The pigeon breast was succulent and cooked to perfection, while the bacon mash was sublime - fluffy and creamy, with a delicate bacon overture.

The chicken liver parfait was incredibly smooth, and pleasing to both the eye and the palette and was accompanied with little brushettas and a divine red onion marmalade. I could have eaten this as a main course.

We then had a chance to catch up while our main courses were being prepared, and when they arrived again we were incredibly impressed. Janey had ordered a duo of pork with cream of mash potato, buttered mushrooms and wholegrain mustard sauce. The portion size was generous and I was slightly jealous until my own main course arrived seconds later, I had shoulder of local Welsh lamb with leek and mash potato in a red wine jus. This was the chef's specialty and was slow cooked for 12 hours, you only had to delicately touch the meat with your fork for it to fall apart. It really was beautifully tender and the leek mash was a triumph too. This was all set off nicely by the red wine jus which was a great accompaniment to the lamb, it was clear to see why this was the speciality of the house. Janeys pork meanwhile came in two cuts, she had a beautifully cooked piece of belly pork and also slices of pork tenderloin. My mouth was watering just looking at it. The wholegrain mustard sauce was a suitable and refreshing sauce to accompany the dish and we both quite happilt devoured every morsel.

We really didn't think we had any room for dessert after that, but once we saw the menu we couldn't resist the temptations on offer. We ordered Penpergwm raspberry crumble, which arrived piping hot and had just the right ratio of fruit to crumble. The raspberries had an exquisite balance of sweetness and sharpness and the crumble provided that comforting crunch factor. The rum and raisin cheesecake was also superb, it was a thoughtfully, generous portion and the texture was incredibly delicate. The taste of rum came through right at the end in a very pleasing manner.

Life at The King of Prussia is very much a family affair, and is run by Jeff and Kay Weare and their head chef son richard, who does the King proud with his exceptional culinary flair and a menu consisting of the finest locally produced, fresh ingredients. We had a wonderful, wam and friendly welcome and our hosts went to great lengths to ensure we had a top-class dining experience.

Once our meals were over, we left the restaurant area and made our way to the large function room, where we were then entertained by Peter Karrie. He sang a number of famous show songs, including the title song from the Phantom of the Opera, which was simply chilling. Apparently Karrie had a sore throat on the night, this he revealed when he amused the audience with sories and celebrity gossip in between songs, although his affliction wasn't apparent as he 'belted' out the numbers with his incredibly powerful voice. We were treated to a mixed genre of music and the charismatic Karrie engaged the audience with warmth and humour. Not suprisingly, the act was a huge hit with the guests and it's great to see a local venue going to such lengths to provide first-class service entertainment like this.

We wouldn't hesitate to come again to one of these special evenings.