AN ancient recipe for bread pudding has become so addictive to many of its Gwent devotees that The Sugar Bowl restaurant, on the second floor of George Street Furnishers, in Newport, sees regulars' popping in for a slice of what has been claimed is the best bread pudding in Wales.

Partners Vicky Oak and daughter Stacey have told customers from all over Gwent and even parts of Powys and Glamorgan, We're doubling our bread pudding production in the New Year". That's good news for those popping in for a slice on a regular basis.

It's an old family recipe going back generations and Vicky has had it on the restaurant's menu since she took it over some four years ago.

"People come from miles around and just love it," said Vicky, adding that like everything else in the restaurant, "It's just good old-fashioned home-cooked food."

One elderly man walking out of the restaurant with a satisfied smile on his face, said: "It's better than my mum's and she was a good cook.

When I get to Newport that's the first thing I think of, The Sugar Bowl and bread pudding."

He declined his name but did add he was a furniture sales rep and had told his other colleagues of his addictive find.

As for what goes into it that's simple enough but there are a couple of odd tweaks to the recipe that Vicky is keeping to herself. After all when you have something that's selling like hot cakes why tell the world.

On an historical note it was around the start of the 17th century that bread pudding started to make it ways into the mainstream population. Not wishing to waste whatever bread they were able to obtain, the poor would steam the stale bread and add numerous mixtures to it including fruit and meat then place the concoction into an oven for baking.