Seconds Away

Eiliadau opened in the middle of last week, in the former Crown House. It's run by Resource of Exemewe Hall.

What, another café? Well, there used to be one on these premises†. But this one is slightly different. It's called 'Seconds' for a reason, though eiliadau and seconds can mean different things.

So, it's 'Eliadau' because of the time you can spend in the café. Then it's 'Seconds' because:

• The furniture is upcycled (i.e. second hand) and can seem a little random

• The food is on the brink of expiry (but, we're reassured, nothing's past its use-by date). It's from Dinbych somewhere and expect dishes revolving around what's available

• The staff employed are those described as being 'second in the queue' elsewhere but first at Eiliadau (i.e. those who find it difficult to secure employment).

The café isn't at all upmarket. But it's incredible value. The tray-load below plus fruit muffin cost £7. Mind you, the side salad was just seemingly half am iceberg lettuce with a few chunks of cucumber thrown in for good measure. They'd also run out of coffee filters, hence the soft drink: it looked a little like diluted dentists' mouthwash but was rather tasty.

The jacket potato (referred to as 'baked' though clearly it was not) was medium sized and filling

What was noticeable was the straining on table cloths, just about visible on the above image, and the fact that they weren't ironed well. 

There were two tables occupied while I was there but the town wasn't at all busy. Here is the number of tables occupied in town at lunchtime yesterday:

Eiliadau	2
Chatwin's	2
Costa	4
Koffeehaus	0
Coffee Cabin	0
Teacups	0
Naturally Ethical	0
Leonardo's	Closed
Candy Shack‡	3
Market Hall■	3

As for Eiliadau, it's basic but good value. It's also ethical.  

† This was once Crown House Café. That closed by 2016, later re-opened as Miss B's, which itself closed in 2018. The site's been empty ever since

‡ The transferred business from Pen y Bryn but still t/a Candy Shack. These days more of a café than a children's sweetie shop

■ This is the most appropriate competitor, using local (unexpired) produce but similarly run as a community interest company