Gwynedd Restaurant Guide

Stephen & Bethan Stevens’s converted butcher’s shop is the “best in North Wales” – (surprise) menus morph daily to take account of supply, so “you get what is on offer – all local and fresh”, and uniformly “terrific”. Top Tip – “booking is a MUST, as it may be months before a table becomes available”.

There’s no overlooking the gorgeous setting of this lavish Dee valley Relais & Chateaux country house hotel – owned by the UK’s richest man, the Duke of Westminster in the 1950s and 1960s. Chef Gareth Stevenson produces a short à la carte alongside some “exceptional” tasting menus (five courses for £70, eight for £90), all with very careful sourcing and “the impression of impressive attention to detail”.

“Excellent views” of the Menai Straits through its large, floor-to-ceiling windows are a defining feature of this modern, timber-clad café by the water (which also has spin-offs in Criccieth and Llandudno). Seafood dishes are served alongside more everyday staples like pizza, but while some reports praise the overall quality of the offering, others are less certain: “is it because everywhere else on Anglesey (apart from Sosban) is so mediocre that we all love Dylan’s?”