The Address. ------------------------ Mason's Arms 10 Old St. Mellon's Road Marshfield South Glamorgan CF3 2TX Tel:- 0870 2134744 Fax:- 01633 681348
About The Mason's Arms ---------------------------------------- The Mason's Arms is a small cottage style Pub/Restaurant located on the Old St. Mellon's Road in Marshfield on the borders of Cardiff and Newport. Off the main roads, which link Cardiff and Newport you would think, it would struggle for business when the Main Roads host many other Pub and Restaurants like The Coach and Horses, The Toby Carvery and The Heron Marsh, but this is not the case. To have a Sunday Lunch at The Mason's Arms you need to book at least two weeks in advance and there is never any spare tables should you call in on the off chance.
These changes have only taken place over the last eight months when the pub was taken over by new management and given a completely new lease of life. On arrival at The Mason's Arms, you are greeted by a very large cottage in appearance from the outside with a good-sized customer car park at the side of it with ample spaces for 15-20 cars. The outside of the building is tastefully yet traditionally decorated and very well maintained with a clean, rubbish free, well maintained car parking facility. In the front of the main building is a small but well maintained and clean beer
garden with eight tables, which have umbrella on them during the summer months.
Access. -------------------- The Mason's Arms has good access for the disables with drop curb access to the entrance path and easy access through the main double opening doors. Everything in The Mason's Arms is on ground floor and has good-sized gaps between the tables to the rest room facilities.
Inside. ----------------- Inside The Mason's Arms is tastefully decorated to keep a friendly yet traditional feel to the pub with a large wooden bar directly in front of you as you enter. The flooring around the bar area has real wood flooring which leads up to the carpeted area where all the tables for dining are located. There is plenty of natural lighting from the many traditional windows around the dining tables and the bar, which is not located by any windows, is very well lit. The flooring and carpet is clean in appearance and the decoration in all is well maintained. All the dining tables are well-spaced and solid wood with comfortable backed wooden chairs with arms arranged well all around them to suit the needs of the required number of diners. The tables are all set out and well presented with menus, cutlery, salt, pepper and serviettes presented for each of the diners.
When you first come in you will be shown to your table after you purchase any drinks you require and then when you are ready you can simply return to the till area to order your required meals. Meals have always arrived within 15 minutes of ordering whenever I have dined in The Mason's Arms and are always well presented with generous portions and piping hot.
The Menu. ------------------- The Mason's Arms offers a traditional Sunday lunch menu with a selection of beef, lamb, chicken or pork with Yorkshire pudding roast potatoes, boiled potatoes, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower. This traditional Sunday Lunch costs £6.95 for an adult portion and £3.95 for a Childs portion. In my opinion, it is great value for money when you see the size of the meal you are presented with and the quality of the food.
If you prefer not to have a traditional Sunday Lunch there is a selective menu with starters, main courses and deserts for you to choose from with starters costing £2.95-£3.95, Main Courses ranging from £5.65-£8.95 and deserts ranging from £2.95 up. They do offer as special price on a combined menu such as starter plus main meal for slightly cheaper, but this is not one of the many chain restaurants with a set menu and meal deal offer.
The Meal. ------------------ The meal itself was very well presented and very tasty. I had the Lamb Sunday lunch and was very happy with the quality of the meal I received. On serving the meal, they presented us with an oval plate containing a good portion of the selected meat, a good-sized medium Yorkshire pudding and four well-cooked good-sized Roasted Potatoes all covered in a traditional home made tasty gravy. With this, you are given a side dish containing a good potion of new boiled potatoes, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower that were all clean, well cooked and very well presented. They do serve these in individual portions if required but ours were larger double portions wit more than enough vegetables for the two meals it was meant to accompany.
You are given the serving utensils with the vegetables, and you are supplied with another large gravy boat full of traditional gravy. When the staff brings you your meal they ask you if you require any sauces to accompany your meal and are very polite and pleasant.
The meat was extremely tender, falling apart as you cut it and it was not fatty in any way but had a lovely taste to it. The roasted potatoes were all-medium to large and were crispy on the outside without being over cooked or over crispy and they were lovely and fluffy inside. The broccoli was excellently cooked and dark green in appearance yet still containing its full flavour. The carrots were cooked very well and were full of flavour and I found it unusual as most restaurants slice there carrot in juliennes these days but not The Mason's Arms, they have chosen to stick to the traditional cutting in circles. The cauliflower was cooked to perfection yet still maintained its bright white appearance and had a lovely taste to it. The gravy had a lovely meaty taste to it and was of good texture by not being too thick or thin with a lovely beefy aroma.
The Facilities. ------------------------- The restroom facilities were clean, tidy, well maintained, tastefully decorated and easy accessible for the disabled. They were well lit and rubbish free with a good clean fresh aroma that greeted you upon entry. All the sinks were clean and tidy with full soap dispensers and working hand-driers. There we plenty of toilet paper in all the cubical and paper towel holders were all full. The floor was carpets, clean and rubbish free and all the mirrors were clean and smear free. I give the toilet facilities 10/10.
The Staff / The Atmosphere. ----------------------------------------------- The staff in The Mason's Arms is all extremely well presented with a set dress code and all look very smart. They were polite, helpful and made sure everything was good for you from the service to the quality of food. They come to your table during your meal to check that everything is ok with the meal and if you require anything. They are polite and courteous and regularly check that there are no empty plates and glasses left on the tables for to long. After out meal the manager came around the table and made sure everything was ok and we were happy as he did with all the people dining at the pub at the end of there meal. He prides himself on the service he provides and that his food and staff are up to standard and this has given him a great success and has made him able to achieve such high quality and many booking.
The Mason's Arms is doing a special Christmas dinner menu, which they opened for booking two weeks ago, and is already three quarters booked up. We were considering booking but probably will not bother but when my Father enquired about this, the manager explained to make up our mind soon as they are always fully booked before the end of November.
Payment Method. ----------------------------- The Mason's Arms offers several methods of payment, which are Cash, major Credit Card and Debit Cards, and you, can leave your card open if you wish whilst you enjoy the great atmosphere.
My Summary. -------------------------- This Pub offers a great atmosphere and a top quality of service, which makes the whole visit thoroughly enjoyable. I would give them a massive 9.9/10 for quality of service, quality of food, plus atmosphere and appearance. I highly recommend The Mason's Arms to everyone.
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Nov 8th, 2006
exceptional by (4%):
very helpful by (96%):
