The Croes Howell transformed by local hospitality super team! #News

Victoria Hayes
22nd March 2022

ReLaunch events are always a fascinating experience for the team here at Taste Cheshire. The hospitality industry is going through a revolution; lockdown has inevitably changed everybody’s businesses, some of them massively for the better. Unfortunately, we have lost some great people in our industry, but those who survive are stronger, more creative, and more inspiring than ever. One huge success story through the pandemic has been Ubuntu restaurant group.

The man behind Ubuntu is the infamous Kingdom Thenga a long time leader in the Chester hospitality scene, owner of The Suburbs in Hoole, The Yard on City Road in Chester and The Old Dukes nestled in the stunning shadow of Chester Cathedral. But the appeal of Kingdom is more than just as a restaurant owner. Kingdom is creating a movement, an idea of working together in a more positive fashion. Following the ideal of Ubuntu if we benefit, you benefit, and if you benefit, we benefit.

Ubuntu restaurant group is not just a business, it’s a family and when family invite you to dinner, you go.!

So when this wonderful family invited Team Taste Cheshire to pop over to the latest venture, the Croes Howell in Llay near Rossett, of course we went!

We should mention at this point that we have been to this pub before. The building itself has been there as a pub for quite a long time. But it is always been a slightly unappealing prospect which is surprising given its location. It has these incredible views across the Welsh countryside. But what should’ve been a great pub ended up an empty canteen lacking soul and in desperate need of someone with vision.

Thankfully Kingdom has stepped in with his abundance of vision and his incredible team to create what is now a wonderful family friendly, foodie location.

The inside of the venue has been transformed to create smaller more intimate areas for group and family dining. To encourage you in for their incredible Sunday roast, with your whole family and of course the dogs as well.

What they have created is a fabulous new space, warm and inviting, welcoming the locals and visitors alike making them very much the heart of this new venue.

We’re not the only ones to be completely blown away by the improvements, Through the evening that we spoke to many locals who all delighted with the upgrades at the local pub. We are particularly impressed with the child friendly nature of the new venue, highchairs. entertaining colouring sheets and the kids menu all readily available. Which is very much a feature of all Kingdom’s restaurants, family first. 

It’s always a pleasure to be wined and dined at one of Kingdom‘s venues and this was no different. The drinks were flowing handed out on arrival alongside delicious canapés served by the fantastic staff. It was lovely to see a staff so excited and engaged by the venue they work in. I’m sure some of you reading this don’t get quite as excited by light fittings and table layouts as I do but you will thoroughly enjoy the overall effect. And the smaller fun details must not be missed, for example the ‘motorbike wine rack’ sparked quite the debate in our party as to how much glassware would be smashed if we actually started the engine!

And so onto the food.

Melt in the mouth mushroom Arancini balls, creamy goats cheese on home made olive crackers, honey glazed chipolata‘s and jalapeño bites were all passed around to enjoy with a drink. 

We were treated to a gorgeous array of ‘small plates’ (‘small’ is not a size Kingdom is very good at, so I will rename them ‘medium plates’!) The ham hock terrine with Caerphilly cheese inside, served with a crispy egg and smoked tomato chutney was just divine.

Just as I was telling my colleagues how wonderful this was, I was immediately ordered to eat the Black pudding with rhubarb chutney which has been declared to be the best Black pudding Team Taste Cheshire has ever tasted! Yes it is homemade on the site… We checked! Absolutely gorgeous! If earthy, rich black pudding isn’t your thing, we thoroughly recommend the sardines on bruschetta, A gorgeous light Mediterranean style dish which could be a lovely lunch with a crisp glass of white wine or a large delightful starter for fish fans. The Welsh rarebit was a stunning example of how a classic dish done well can be a true superstar on a menu.

After trying all these incredible ‘medium plates’ we were already feeling pleasantly full but we had no idea the spoils that were to come. Perfect pub food is not easy. Too many people are relying on frozen food and microwaves are not paying enough attention to the importance of a local produce. This is not the case at the Croes Howell. This is in part due to their fantastic executive chef Carl Noller, a legend in Chester kitchens, whose menus are always filled with stunning local produce, perfectly cooked and lovingly prepared and this one is no different.

We were lucky enough to sample two of their main dishes and were equally in love with both. I’ll start with the vegetarian option, because this has recently been a difficult option on a menu. More and more often chefs are creating vegan dishes, and overlooking those who are just vegetarian, well, I can assure you that the cauliflower cheese pie is a thing of joy. 

Served with mash, creamy, unctuous, gorgeous, and perfectly cooked root vegetables; The cheesy bliss of their cauliflower pie is a thing of beauty. Topped with Crisp pastry, we were literally fighting over the melty goodness.

 

From Melty to Meaty, the other main dish we retreated to what is the most incredible mixed grill.

The mixed grill has long been a feature of this pubs menu and one of the locals favourites. The Ubuntu team are always listening to what people want from their venues and of course they kept the dish on the menu but gave it a local produce stunning upgrade. Once again we were treated to the home-made black pudding but local sausages perfectly cooked steak lamb pork and gorgeous fried egg meant that the fighting between us continued or scrambling to get the best morsels of this fabulous local meat. Everything was immaculately cooked including the pork which is never easy to do. 

There is a running joke in our office the highest compliment we can pay a venue is to say that we would take our parents there and we all agreed our parents would absolutely love the all new and improved Croes Howell. From their family to our family and now hopefully to yours we look forward to seeing you there!

The Croes Howell is open now seven days a week for family and friends to enjoy their reasonably priced, something for everyone food.

It’s a great venue with a wonderful atmosphere and has certainly massively benefited from its recent work. But there’s much more to come the team isn’t done yet… We look forward to seeing the introduction of a children’s play area and its development as a beautiful, intimate wedding venue. Nothing can stop the incredible creativity of the Ubuntu group.

The food and drinks we experienced at this venue were gifted to Taste Cheshire however all the opinions in this article belong to us and us alone.

We thoroughly recommend you visit this venue, we think it’s wonderful but if you don’t believe it or even if you do encourage you to try it for yourself.

Croeshowell Hill Nr Rosset, Wrexham, Wrexham,  LL12 0NY

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