The ordinary-looking pub that serves up stunning fine dining small plates

Traditional ‘pub grub’ was never on the cards for this new pub near Pontypridd that is quickly becoming the talk of the town. The business owners have just opened a new restaurant in The Roberttown in Ynysybwl.

The new venture, Zero Lounge, is on the inside of the old village pub where it is designed with contemporary, relaxed seating which has a sophisticated feel. It looks like it would be a complete surprise if you stepped in, thinking it was a standard local pub as the bar and décor look as trendy as any popular city centre venue you might find.

Located in Robert Street villagers have been loving it so far but it’s also been drawing other people in from all over the valleys. For the latest Pontypridd news sign up to our newsletter here.

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The owners. couple Li Matthews and Elizabeth Cordaly, have never done anything like this before but when the opportunity came up to start their own business in their village they couldn’t resist. They are now selling all sorts of incredible creations from the signature pie with triple-cooked chips and seasonal veg to healthy options like the chicken crunchy noodle salad.

Li told WalesOnline: "We're a small village and there's no other places in the village which do food apart from takeaways so we said we'd give it a go and we had nothing to lose. Our chef, Ryan, is fantastic, and we got him by luck and has come from Brecon but has moved into the village as well now to be closer to work. He has worked at St David's in Cardiff and has also done the Old Rectory in Brecon and a few others as well but they're probably the most known ones."

When asked what the inspiration for the inside of The Roberttown Li said it was all down to Elizabeth. "She sorted out the décor and when she has a vision she sticks to it. We're not looking for the basic pub grub if you know what I mean. It's kind of pub grub with a twist and nicely presented. Good food with good taste and just something that we think people would go for. We travelled to Dubai a lot so a lot of inspiration has come from there."

Before going ahead with their new business venture Li and Elizabeth both worked in completely different industries with Li in construction and Elizabeth in aesthetics. Li added: "We tried to buy a few times without any success and then we had the chance to lease it so we just jumped on it."

And the building, which looks fairly plain on the outside, has been given a whole makeover since Li and Elizabeth took over. They have refurbished the bar, toilets, and the kitchen – and so far it has all been going down a treat with customers.

"We refurbed everything," said Li. "And a lot of people are shocked at the quality of the food to be honest. The chef is doing a great job so we're more than happy and we're getting good compliments as well off people coming in to try the food.

"We didn't expect to get as much good feedback but everyone seems to be raving about it. We've had lots of customers from the village but also from other areas in the valleys at the moment so the word is spreading around and we are just taking it step by step.

"Each week we are just trying to incorporate different stuff and twist the menu a little bit. It's a learning curve for us because we've never done anything like this before and we've got a lot of trust in the chef."