Seachain an duine a bhíonn ina thost

Chez Goggin, we celebrate major occasions with food. Graduation is a pretty major (albeit not very exciting) occasion, so Mum, Dad and Gran took me to Bodysgallen Hall. Goldie and Pippa stayed here, but shh, don't tell my landlady.

Bodysgallen is a fantastic hotel near Llandudno. Its website tells me it's believed to have 13th century origins, but the main part of the house was built in the 17th century and is Grade 1 listed. It has a wonderful garden, part formal terraces, part informal rock gardens. And the trees have been beautifully shaped (while appearing completely natural) so that the castle in Conwy is framed between the trees when you look down the garden from the hotel.

We were shown into the bar when we arrived. I had a lovely refreshing drink called .. agh I can't remember, even though Mum spelt it for me. Anyway, it was lovely. Dad was impressed by the range of beer, although when he asked what beer they had he was offered Carling, Stella or Budweiser (pretty poor). But when he stood up to examine the spirit cabinet, he spotted some Old Speckled Hen. Odd, concealing good beer and offering rubbish.

We initially had the second dining room to ourselves; a little daunting, with three people ready to pounce on our water glasses and bread plates every time they emptied. We had a bottle of champagne, mostly between me and Dad (Mum was driving and Gran doesn't drink). House champagne! What a concept! Imagine champagne being such a frequent tipple that you offer house bottles! I had one of the nicest soups I've ever eaten to start: a beautifully frothy celeriac and wild mushroom soup. I could have sat there all night drinking buckets of it. My cod main course was also delicious with this WONDERFUL truffle potato thingy, fresh peas and bacon diced really finely. Gran's lamb came with this cute little baby shepherd's pie in pastry. Looked lovely.

The desserts .. oh I love dessert (and not desert, as I see they sell in The Harp). I had a chocolate tart thingy with Horlicks ice-cream. MmmmmMMMmmm. The chocolate part of it was like the most perfect brownie you could ever imagine, fresh out of the oven. But not too hot. Just lovely. Mum had a selection of sorbets (I love sorbet so much and have just bought a tub of mango sorbet, hooray!), and Dad had a selection from an extremely well-stocked cheese tray. He was particularly delighted to find that the cheese was at room-temperature: there's nothing worse than cold cheese. It's so flavourless compared to nice warm cheese.

Then we had our tea and coffee on the terrace (where else, darling?). They had those little crystals of sugar. I haven't seen them for years; I used to eat them when I was little. So I ate a couple for old time's sake.

Delicious all round, really. I could quite happily live there, I think. Can I have one of these, please?

Bodysgallen "25th Anniversary Heritage" Break 2006/2007
(excluding Bank Holidays and Bank Holiday weekends)

A five night break, with rates charged per person, inclusive of overnight accommodation, early morning tea, cooked breakfast, table d’hote dinner, full use of the Bodysgallen Spa, service and VAT, and admission into two local historic places of interest. There will also be a chilled bottle of champagne placed in your room to welcome you on arrival.Single room £665.00 per person