Pant-yr-Ochain

Doing exceedingly well at the moment, this 16th-c former country house is a particularly fine example of the pubs in the Brunning & Price chain. Its light and airy rooms are stylishly decorated, with a wide range of interesting prints and bric-a-brac, and a good mix of individually chosen country furnishings, including comfortable seats for relaxing as well as more upright ones for eating, and there's a recently rebuilt conservatory as well as a good open fire; one area is set out as a library, with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Their terrific range of drinks includes Flowers Original, Snowdonia Gold, Phoenix Brunning & Price Original and a couple of guests from brewers such as Butty Bach, Slaters, Wincle and Wye Valley, a good range of decent wines (strong on up-front new world ones), with 15 by the glass, and around 100 malt whiskies. Disabled access is good. The particularly charming garden has solid wooden furniture overlooking a pretty lake visited by waterfowl, mature trees and shrubs, lovely herbaceous borders and thriving box-edged herb beds.