Dinner at the Plymouth Arms, St Fagans, Cardiff

I love taking my son to St Fagans National History Museum, and on almost every occasion as we drive home we pass The Plymouth Arms, a pub restaurant in the Vintage Inns group. One evening we decided to head in for a meal and check it out – especially as I’ll be moving to this area in the next few months, making it a local for me!

Although driving through St Fagans has a village feel, with narrow roads, winding lanes and historical properties, I was pleasantly surprised to find a massive car park to the rear of The Plymouth Arms, well hidden down a small side road (signposted so you can find it easily). This gets you direct access to the extensive beer garden, which nestles in the shadow of St. Mary’s Church with it’s imposing turret-like tower. If you’ve been to – or are going to – St Fagan’s National History Museum, it’s a few minutes walk across the road to the pedestrian entrance, or less than a five minute drive to the main car park.

Fitting well with the surrounding village, The Plymouth Arms is in a 17th century building and would originally have been a bustling coaching inn for those traveling into Cardiff by horse and cart. The name comes from the fact that the building and surrounding land was owned by the third Earl of Plymouth (via his wife’s wealthy landowner family). Much of the land around St Fagans today is still owned by the Earl of Plymouth – a title passed down many times through different lines.

The inside is charming, traditional, rustic, with the pub area and restaurant separate. We visited at 6pm on a week day, so had no problem finding a table without a booking, but I’d definitely recommend booking ahead on a weekend as I imagine it gets quite busy. We visited with four of us, myself, my husband, my mother and my son, who was 23 months at the time of the visit. Our waitress was fast, efficient, friendly and had a ridiculously good memory!

The Plymouth Arms Food Review

Our meals came quickly, well prepared and cooked to our specifications. Everything seemed fresh, tasty and with good portion sizes. Here’s the food that we ordered:

Fish and chips, with garden peas £12.75

Wagyu Burger with chips, burger relish and onion rings – added bacon and cheese extra £13.25 + £2

Fillet steak with chips, salad and an extra peppercorn sauce – £20.95 + £1.50

Kids meal selection was a cheese pizza, baked beans and chips – £5.50

We were all happy with the quality and quantity of our meals and felt they were good value for money but it’s worth signing up to the email newsletter as we’ve received a few voucher offers from it which makes it even better value. The kids meal in particular was massive (especially for a toddler!) and William thought having his beans served in a separate bowl was great fun. Whilst there’s no play area for children, there is the large garden to run around in and burn some energy whilst waiting for food, and of course highchairs were plentiful so I would be happy to recommend The Plymouth Arms to families.

There was a lot of choice on the menu and I’m sure we will eat here many many times and not get bored of the options.

If you enjoyed this you might also like to read some of my other food related posts about Cardiff and South Wales, such as:

• Review of Bills Restaurant – with a baby!
• Our Vegan Experience at Anna Loka, Cardiff
• Cafe’s and Restaurants with Play Areas in Cardiff
• Date Night in Cardiff – Red Dragon Centre, Odeon & Cardiff Bay Tavern
• A Birthday Meal at Miller & Carter, Cardiff Bay
• Cosmeston Parks Country Park & Cafe

I bet you’re hungry now!