Souffle
is a lovely place, a cosy inn nestled in the estuary village of Laugharne on the coast of Carmarthenshire. Like the village, the pub is closely associated with Dylan Thomas, indeed it was basically his local. And I think the man liked a beer. They’ve modernised since then, with handsome wood furniture and dark painted walls, but I think they’ve kept the essence of the place very well. It felt like Mr Thomas could walk in for a pint any time.
We were there to stay (lovely room, but this isn’t a hotel blog!) and to eat dinner. Dexters specialise in steak, so I felt the need for a sirloin, while Maureen went for lamb cooked over the coals. Before that we started with a twice-baked Perl Las souffle and a braised beef arancini. The arancini was lovely, with gooey beef innards and a crisp shell. The souffle was splendid, lightly fluffy within and coated in some extra creamy cheese sauce. Perl Las is milder than a strong cheddar but worked perfectly for me.
Lamb
My steak was a prime piece of beef, cooked somewhere on the rare side of medium-rare and glazed with pan juices, a nice touch. Full of flavour. The bearnaise sauce with it was a good, thick example but I’d have liked it a little tangier to cut the richness. Nevertheless, the chips dipped in it very well. Not epic chips, but plenty good enough. Maureen’s lamb was rather wonderful, of an incredibly soft texture that almost verged on livery, and packed with taste. I loved the generous amount of caramelised onion puree with it, and a bit of salsa verde to lift the rich fattiness of the lamb. The truffled dauphinoise potatoes on the side were impossible not to finish.
No room for pudding! Laugharne is lovely, and if you want to stay here I’d recommend Brown’s instantly and also a meal at Dexters. Jolly good, probably £40 for two courses and that’s fair value, albeit a bit dear for the wilds of west Wales.
Steak
