Aunty Ann's Cafe

 

Finding food while driving anywhere in the UK can be challenging. While still finding our feet as travellers after an extended COVID hiatis of five years, and managing jetlag we drive from Cwmparc in the Rhondda Valley to the seaside resort town of Tenby.

 

As lunchtime approaches we are determined to avoid the standard fast food options on the M4. In Australia most towns have a local bakery. A pie or a fresh bread roll would be our preferred option. But driving around looking for options with petrol at $AUD 3.50 a litre seems extravagant and risky so we punt for an online search.

 

Winding through some back streets we find Plan A: Rose’s Teahouse. This turns out to be a soccer club with an impressive sign, but no food. Plan B: is a well-reviewed local pub which we find only serves evening meals and lunch on Sunday. This is disappointing because today is Wednesday. Option C, D and E are also closed. Siri appears to be letting us down.

 

Option F is ten miles away, Aunty Ann’s Café in Port Talbot promising traditional, hearty British food. Visions of a trendy café beckon, but disappointment grows as we drive into an light industrial estate called Bryn’s Garden. This does not look promising, however, tucked in the corner on the side of a warehouse is a sign Aunty Ann’s Café.

 

Downstairs a sign warning of the necessity to cover muddy boots with provided plastic covering does not deter us and upstairs reveals an industrial canteen staffed by two very friendly women who call all their customers ‘lovie’. Encouragingly, it seems exceptionally clean, there is a bathroom, they take credit cards and it smells inviting. Our order includes blackboard Special No 3: Cheese and Pot Pie, two sausages and baked beans and Special No 6: Baked Jacket Potato filled with chicken curry. To these we add two mugs of tea.

 

When the food arrives on a real china plate, with metal cutlery, it is plentiful, flavoursome, warm and hearty. Not a smashed avocado in sight. While the meals were rather carbs heavy they are inexpensive and very filling . Cheese and Pot pie turns out to be a large serve of mashed potato topped with cheese – not what we expected but surprisingly enjoyable.

An overflow room next door suggests that up to 60 workers at time can enjoy Aunty Ann’s traditional British food.

 

No guided tour would ever include a stop at Aunty Ann’s Café as part of its well-planned itinerary, but sometimes Plan F turns out to be surprisingly memorable.