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IT’S that time of year when travel supplements are full of the joys of going to markets in far-flung places, with vegetables fresh from the fields, local lavender honey and exceptional meat and fish.
We’ve been a bit slow to recapture the pleasures of such places where eating becomes not something preceded by a slog around a crowded supermarket.
True, farmers’ markets are the thing of the moment – the problem is they often only happen once a month or so.
That’s why the Hawarden Farm Shop is such a godsend. It’s there seven days a week with shelves stacked with unusual items. Fresh cakes at the entrance is the first temptation.
Then come jars of chutneys and jams, followed by wonderful, though sometimes weird, beers and spirits. It is especially good to see unusual Welsh-distilled spirits. is available here but at – it must be said – rather eye-watering prices.
No doubt it’s stuff for the Christmas stocking or the special present for the long-emigrated aunt but it’s not the stuff to provide for pals turning up for a party.
There’s also a wide selection of fruit and vegetables, many grown on the estate. There are some quite exquisite cheeses – many Welsh sourced.
We came away with home-cured bacon, the quality of which we’ve never managed to equal in either supermarket or farmer’s market. The meat selection is also virtually unrivalled locally, as well as the oils and butter. It’s really no surprise it won last year’s
True Taste – Gwir Flas – Retailer of the Year award.
And then it comes to taking a breather after all that shopping – that’s where things take a bit of a dive. There’s a small café area shared with one of those companies that peddles memorabilia.
Service is – how shall we put it? – leisurely. Given the size of the menu, serving something – or, at least, taking the order – should not be as much of a challenge. as they seemed to make it.
It’s also not nice to be made to feel somewhat unwelcome. Standing by the counter and about to place an order, one employee walked past and shouted to the person taking the orders: “Only an hour to go.” “Yes, thank God,” she replied, and then asked what I’d like.
I requested home-made cottage pie. “We’re not serving hot food,” she said. “It’s after three.” There was no notice to warn the unsuspecting customer. hot food is not available after the particular witching hour of this establishment.
So Mark ordered home-made scone with jam and I asked for chocolate cake. We both asked for lattes, which did arrive reasonably promptly though mine had been peppered with powdered chocolate which I don’t like and I’d not asked for.
Mark’s scone was perfectly acceptable, but he found the jam too sweet. My generous portion of cake was good. but its texture and appearance was suspiciously perfect, perhaps just a little too perfect to be home made.
Fortunately, to give this place a totally fair review, we had visited on a previous occasion.
That time, Mark had cream of celeriac soup (£3.49) which he described as “thick, well seasoned, tasty, different and perfect for a cold winter’s day”. It was accompanied by home-baked crusty bread.
My prawn sandwich contained a generous helping of prawns with a marie-rose sauce, which did not overwhelm, and the wholemeal bread, again home baked, was excellent.
It was served with salad, crisps and Hawarden Estate coleslaw – which appears to accompany a good many snacks here. But, at a little under £5 for the sandwich, it is a little pricey.
Other sandwiches on offer included roast beef with Mrs Darlington’s horseradish mustard, the quite excellent Old Shire Welsh cheddar cheese with pickle or roast chicken breast with chilli jam.
There’s also a selection of jacket potatoes at £4.40 as well as the infamous hot dish of the day at £4.95. Afternoon teas are also available along with a children’s lunch box at £3.19.
What’s on offer is good and the quality is excellent, with the largest selection of fruit teas I’ve seen in a long time.
But service is slow and, at times, offhand. It really is, I suppose, a question of taking the rough with the smooth, though in a highly competitive market such as this, it’s hard to know which one is the winner.
first visit
soup£3.49
sandwich£4.95
coffee x2£4.10
total£12.54
second visit
scone and jam£1.32
chocolate cake£2.50
coffee x2£4.10
total£7.92
open mon-thur 9am-6pm, fri 9am-7pm, sat 8.30am-5.30pm, sun 10am-4pm
parking ample
disabled access everything on the level
service could be better
ambience coffee shop is between two busy sections of the shop, so hardly the place for a relaxing snack
value for money reasonable given the quality of the food on offer
Hawarden Estate Farm Shop
Chester Road
Hawarden
Flintshire, CH5 3FB.
01244 533442
www.hawardenestate.co.uk
