A Light Lunch at The Honey Café, Bronllys

Last weekend we popped up to Brecon for their annual food festival inside the market hall. Lots of great vendors from whom we bought baklava, garlicky smoked bacon, a chocolate brownie featuring turkish delight, three jars of fruit curd in mango, passion fruit and orange flavours, a hunk of pancetta, and a punnet of fresh locally-grown strawberries.

We came across a local brewery at the festival too, called Antur and decided to head up to the brewery’s bottle shop in Three Cocks on leaving Brecon (rather than hefting lots of heavy bottles from Brecon’s market hall back to the car park).

Timing was perfect to pause for an early lunch near the brewery and a quick search online led of us to the Honey Café, a family-run business in nearby Bronllys, about 8 miles north east of Brecon town centre. The cafe describes itself as a TexMex but as well as their TextMex-inspired dishes they also offer cooked breakfasts, sandwiches and wraps, jacket potatoes, burgers, and other hot meals such as battered cod, and hunters chicken. They sell homemade cakes and desserts too.

We rocked up without a reservation and were lucky to grab the very last free table outside on a gloriously sunny Saturday. A long row of parked cars and a parking area full of motorcycles gave clear evidence to how popular this place is, especially when the weather allows visitors to sit out in the beautifully-planted garden out front.

Orders are placed inside, so make sure you note your table number before heading inside – we were surprised how many customers failed to do this despite instructions on the menu and a number of clear signs! It took a long time in the queue to place our order (at least 20 minutes) and it took nearly half an hour for the food to then be served to our table (drinks came out pretty quickly), but we were very happy to sit and wait.

We were seated under a wooden pergola up on the patio, shaded by a gorgeous, well-established wisteria (in flower) and some beautifully-perfumed old-fashioned roses were planted nearby. Sparrows chirruped as they flitted about above our heads and there were bees and other insects enjoying the planting.

We ordered quesadillas with chilli beef, cheese, and sour cream (£7.95), a Honey Café southern fried chicken wrap (£8.15) and a side of onion rings with sour cream (£4.50). Food was simple, homely and delicious. Pete also singled out his honey-sweetened latte for praise, made with the Honey Café’s own honey, which you can buy jars of if you wish.

Honey Café was established by the current owners’ grandmother back in 1933 in what was once a malt house and brewery. In the ’60s, the site’s cellar was home to a live music night club known as the Honey Cavern. The TexMex theme was introduced in 1994, though there’s a good range of options to suit most tastes.

I appreciate how the business keep things as local as they can, buying meat, bread and milk from producers within 2 miles of them. They also make use of seasonal produce, some of it grown in their back garden. Definitely one to visit again, and perfect for visitors exploring Brecon, Hay-on-Wye and the Bannau Brycheiniog (Brecon Beacons) National Park.