Llangollen, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

It would be “difficult to find a more perfect setting” for a pub than this former watermill “nestling on the side of the River Dee, with decking overhanging the water and stunning views in all directions” – “in the evening there are candlelit tables with views looking out from the mill building, some situated directly above the original water wheel”. “Part of the Brunning & Price chain, it offers well prepared and varied food on a daily changing menu” and “a large selection of wines to suit all pockets”.

2023 Review: “Marc Willkinson is a genius” and “never fails to impress” at his “compact” venue – an unexpected find “off the beaten track” out on The Wirral, in a conservation village bordering Birkenhead. It has, on several occasions, topped our diners’ poll as the UK’s No. 1 destination. With just a dozen covers, it’s very much one man’s labour of love with its “imaginative visuals and playlist”, not to mention his really “unusual” and distinctive cuisine, delivered as a six-course tasting menu. Save space for the end of the meal: chef really knows his way around pudding and chocolates. Early in 2022, there was news that the restaurant was to close, but this is not the case. Marc is hunting for new premises, though, and if he finds them change will be afoot.

Sixteenth-century inn ‘the Pant’ (as owners Brunning & Price fondly call it) occupies a substantial, “very comfortable” Victorian property a short drive outside Wrexham; and its conversion has created “a great pub: warm and bustling in the winter, loads of outside space in the summer” and offering a “reliably good beer selection” too. Given its high standards, the odd reporter this year did quibble with the food, but overall this “very busy” destination remains a “favourite year after year”.

“The very best quality ingredients, the very best cooking and excellent service” have long singled out Bryan & Susan Webb’s upscale converted shooting lodge, in the rolling Dee Valley; while it no longer has the tyre men’s acclaim, the “cooking is still of a very high standard” indeed, and “this combined with the spacious dining room and lounge makes for a memorable evening”. Top Tip – “just visit quick before they sell”: after 20 years, the duo put the property on the market recently and are looking to retire.

On the edge of Snowdonia National Park, this Relais & Châteaux property occupies a former hunting lodge once owned by the Duke of Westminster, and was relaunched in 2016 as a luxury hotel. Its culinary ambitions have always run high, and were underpinned in May 2023 with the recruitment of Sam Griffths (Welsh Chef of the Year 2021) as their new head chef; Gareth Stevenson who had run the kitchen here since opening is stepping back. Griffiths was formerly the executive sous chef in The Chester Grosvenor’s restaurant Arkle.