The Bell Inn, Caerleon

THE Bell Inn nestles in a quiet location on the outskirts of the Roman town of Caerleon and is ideally situated for a lunchtime visit after a morning spent exploring the area.

The atmosphere is welcoming and we were immediately directed to the lunchtime menu board.

The menu was small but varied and included dishes such as chicken curry, peppered chicken and mushroom stroganoff.

Our morning stroll had meant that we had both built up an appetite so we opted for the cream of broccoli soup as a starter, for £2.95.

The soup contained more cauliflower than broccoli but was very tasty and filling - in fact it could easily have served as a light meal in its own right.

For main course my guest chose gammon which was served with chips and a selection of vegetables.

I opted for the ploughman's lunch which came served with a generous portion of tasty Cheddar cheese. It also came with warm rolls and plenty of pickle and pickled onions.

My guest managed to squeeze in a dessert from the tempting selection, which included treacle sponge and blueberry Tuesday cheesecake.

She opted for the delicious strawberry crush freezecake to round off her meal.

The whole meal, including two soft drinks, came to £20.75, which we thought was good value.

It is worth noting that payment needs to be made by cash or cheque.