The Monkey Tree, Blackwood

A NEW carvery has just opened at the restaurant of the Monkey Tree, to add to this Blackwood pub's tasty range of bar meals.

For £5.95 you can have a starter of soup, then a choice of three meats - turkey, pork or beef - and a large selection of vegetables with gravy.

Unfortunately, however, the carvery was not open when we visited for a working lunch recently.

We were told it is open from 6pm to 9pm on Wednesdays to Sundays - and also at lunchtimes at the latter end of the week.

As we couldn't get a roast meal, we sampled a couple of the selection of bar meals instead.

I asked for the chicken fajitas (£7.95), but as there was no chicken, settled for the steak fajitas instead.

These came exactly as they should be, on a large platter and sizzling nicely.

They were extremely tasty and came with four large tortillas, which was a more than adequate portion.

My colleague decided on the Rumpsteak sizzler, (£6.95) which came with the usual mushroom, tomatoes and a large bowl of chips.

Although his steak wasn't quite the medium rare he'd wanted, he still described it as tender and succulent.

Also on the board was a selection of curries, for £5.95, bolognese, and a variety of jacket potatoes and panini with various fillings.

The service, on a rather quiet lunchtime, was excellent - and the bill, including a couple of drinks from the bar, came to less than £20.

We both decided we'd be returning to try out the carvery in the future.