Machynlleth, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“Blurring the line between a meal and theatre… 31 odd courses and all excellent!” – Gareth Ward has achieved the kind of success most chefs dream of with his maximalist, black-painted mansion: an unlikely but nowadays fully established culinary mecca whose renown is all the more impressive given its off-the-beaten track location, deep in the boondocks of mid Wales. With its shades-of-grey decor, loud music, smoke effects, mirror-ball and menu options designated as ‘Restaurant tickets’, ‘Front row seat tickets’ and ‘Backstage passes’ it’s all very rock ’n’ roll. The culinary emphasis on being ‘fat-fuelled, meat-obsessed’ seems to have been dialled down of late, with the menu featuring Caviar, Atlantic Black Cod, Bluefin Tuna and local Dyfi Shrimp and Lobster as counterfoils to the rib-sticking meat for which it’s known. Feedback this year was more limited than in the past when the venture was less established and forging its reputation. All reports this year were also upbeat despite the staggering expense and lacked the pushback of the past against the approach. Maybe it’s mellowing. Or maybe folks just know now what they’re in for?

“An awesome set up” – “more accessible than Ynshir, but equally inspirational and worth the drive to mid-Wales” – practically all of the growing number of reports on Gareth Ward’s spin-off from his nearby mothership, are a heartfelt shout-out to this wine bar/restaurant (named after his mother) in a historic but somewhat remote and undiscovered, mid-Wales market town. Only 3m wide, there’s a drop-in wine bar up front, but if you stray behind the curtain at the back, you’re in for £135 per person for a ten-course meal, served in a single sitting by chef Corrin Harrison to eight diners at a time grouped around the open kitchen. It’s “so much fun and a perfect blend of top quality and enjoyment”… “Love it: tiny… intimate… unforgettable!”