(7/10) 
It's good to be entertained down the pub. And I'm not talking karaoke. What a pub needs is something unexpected, something to bring a smile, something which seems so weird you wonder if you're dreaming.
That's why I love the Old Swan. When you walk in from the picturesque village square first impressions are good, if not a cause for surprise. Imagine ye olde pub and this is something like it. Lots of stone to make you glad there's a log fire, comfy seats in the window bays, and a distinct shortage of daylight. Then you notice the menus. It's impossible not too - they cover the walls, and not because everything's printed more than once. One board is dedicated to curries (a good dozen), one to fish (you'll be lucky if more than 5 of the 15 or so is on) and one to, er, mash. Yes this pub offers 15 variations of mashed potato.
Beer is slightly disappointing: Rev James plus all the usual Guinness, Guinness Extra Cold, Guinness Super Chilled etc. etc. Then another surprise. Kelham Wheat Beer on tap, and it's good stuff. And do take their recommendations from the Wines of the Week too. For once this is a pub which employs staff who know about wine. Nice one.
There's a fun game to play if you're eating. Order the nachos (see left) for your mate and bet him he can't stuff it all down. The mega nachos option seems to be some kind of running joke akin to the 'eat our 2lb steak and get your money back' ruse. As for the sensible food, we loved the rich tomato sauce with the meatballs (even if the meat was a bit cold), the spiral chips which come with most dishes, and the solid chicken jalfrezi with chips, rice and naan. One warning, they have a 'good food takes time' poster, and evidently agree with us that this is good food.
One final tip for some more entertainment. Go on Sunday night for the quiz c.9pm. It's an absolute fiasco with no prizes to speak of. A terrific laugh though
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They're beginning to take the mick with their cooking times now. Had to wait almost an hour this time, and some of the food was mighty weird (definitely avoid the salmon - sauce is not for most taste buds). Menu size has been slashed too. Real pity.
That's just cost them a Jammy Dodger.
Me and the wife think that this place is positively the best pub we have come across for many a long wandering mile (although our sample size is quite small). The publican was very eager to share her life with us but we were impressed that she was so confident in our counselling powers after such a brief meeting. It is a charming place and benefits from not having disgusting giant TV projectors or loud music (or indeed music of any kind). Local but very friendly. Marvellous!
Bad news about this establishment. We had Sunday lunch at the Old Swan yesterday, our first visit for a while. Ownership of the pub has changed since the last time we ate Sunday lunch there, as has the menu, and the quality of the food, and seemingly the patronage of the locals. We've eaten here lots of times and know that if we want to get a table anywhere near Sunday lunchtime, we needed to get there early. Not so anymore. The place was very quiet, eerily so. We should have picked up on that clue and removed ourselves up the street to Iltyds, but we ordered on.... I loved the Swan because they did a great nut roast. This has changed too. The whole menu has changed, no more 99 varieties of mash potatoes (which may only affect the mash potato afficionados, but is telling nonetheless) but the weekly menu which I looked at was infinitely less interesitng than it used to be in days of yore. Anyhow, cutting to the chase. Nut roast was dreadful, a tomatoey, mush that looked as if it had been previously digested. It was very nice of them to cook it for me since it's not on the Sunday roast menu, but on the normal daily menu instead. And that's the one good thing we have to say about the Swan these days, the staff are lovely and obliging. However back to the food:Roast potatoes were a nightmare....(cooked, we figured, about five days ago and re-cooked daily since then) tough hard outer and nothing much left inside -they deflated once the knife finally made it through the outer layer (quater mass). Purple sprouting broccoli, also overcooked about two days ago, carrots and mange tout were passable although mainly just in comparison to the rest of the dreadful mess that was our Sunday lunch). There was plenty of food, but the qaulity was ghastly. Roast beef was cold which my partner didn't mind too much, but some might. The yorkshire pudding was about a millimetre thick, flat, tough and inedible. RIP Sunday lunch at the Swan in Llantwit Major. So bad - too sad.
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