Aberystwyth Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: Set to open early 2023 on Deansgate, the second offshoot of a US-based hotel chain aiming to make a splash in the city-centre with this 216-bedroom launch: we are promised “a breath of fresh air for a thriving global city in its ascent… designed to appeal to the youthful spirit in all of us and inspired by life’s joys”. Foodwise, this will include collaborations with chefs and restaurateurs Mary-Ellen McTague, Sam Grainger and Luke Cowdrey and there will be a ground-floor restaurant, 14th-floor bar and restaurant and ‘crowning rooftop’ bar and terrace, with views for miles.

2022 Review: “Excellent local produce” gets pride of place on the menu at this attractive little hotel on the Victorian promenade overlooking Cardigan Bay.

A pioneer of Spanish food and wine in Wales since 2001, Paul Grimwood & Shumana Palit’s flagship restaurant has been replaced by a 14-seat bar serving deli-style plates to make way for a ‘vinoteca’, Not all regulars are wild about the change (“the reduction in size has not improved it at all” for diners), but in fairness there is now the “opportunity to roam around the big store of Spanish wines”. The couple have a second branch in Narberth and the Curado tapas bar in Cardiff.

“OMFG. That’s the best meal – bar none – I’ve ever had. Best food; best creativity around each course, best setting, best service, best atmosphere… can’t be faulted and perhaps can’t be bettered either. Amazing. Just amazing. And compared to similarly priced per-head restaurants: blows them away in terms of VFM and the whole experience. Gareth Ward is a 5-star genius!” – That’s the convert’s take on this matt-black-painted mansion in mid-Wales, whose ‘take-no-prisoners’ style, complete with loud music, restaurant theatre, love of meat” and also nigh on the UK’s most expensive tasting menu (from £385 per person) leaves fans saying “it’s hyper-expensive, but worth it” (“even if it was a bit of a marathon and the last course was served in almost complete darkness, so you couldn’t see what you were eating!!”). Feedback, though, is becoming more cautious over the years and ratings more middling. For some diners “it’s good but ludicrously expensive” (“there is a lot of hype about how wonderful it is at Ynyshir... BUT we found it to be no better than many other places and therefore the fact it seems to be priced on reputation rather than actual quality means it is overpriced for what you get as an overall experience”). And then there are a one or two for whom it’s become a “ludicrously macho, long-winded and pretentious experience” (“Once, this was one of our favourite restaurants in the UK, but now the owner seems to firmly believe that it’s his way or no way. Extremely loud and very monotonous music is played for four hours by a DJ. And it’s in the middle of nowhere. Pay half the price and enjoy a far better night in Mayfair”). Overall in our annual diners’ poll, though, the ‘ayes’ still carry the vote… just… perhaps it‘s fairest to say you either love it or hate it. (“It was not our first visit and we had booked the Chef’s Table which gives you the opportunity to chat with the chefs as they work and we had great banter throughout the evening. You do need to attend with the right attitude otherwise the 33 courses can turn into an endurance-test. Needless to say, the food was sensational and in some instances a bit of an enjoyable challenge: many local ingredients, but everything of the highest quality. The entire evening we were serenaded by a DJ and some great music. Is it expensive? Yes… but not outrageous for the quality. Ist it challenging? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes, which is why we keep going back”).

“Situated at the end of the quay in Aberaeron, this well commented-on converted harbourmaster’s house is now solely dedicated to hotel and restaurant service, dispensing with the bar area which drew many people to it” before its takeover by the Cardigan-based FlatRock hospitality group. While that might seem like a worrying development (one which has “somewhat reduced the atmosphere”), for “excellent-quality fresh fish and seafood it is still worth the visit”.