Conwy Restaurant Guide

In the “stylish National Trust-owned surroundings” of this Grade I-listed seventeenth-century manor house on the outskirts of town – run these days as a spa hotel – this dining room is notable for its reliable standards, although it is “not adventurous in any way”, and the formality can make for a “slightly stuffy atmosphere” for some tastes. Unless you have a major appetite, you do “need to decide between afternoon tea and dinner” – both would be a stretch!

2022 Review: “A fabulous selection of fresh seafood” (and the “best chips in north Wales!”) are “cooked to perfection” in this Grade II-listed building housing a split-level restaurant. Downstairs is an intimate, informal bistro with stone walls and church pews, while upstairs has a distinctly Victorian feel with many nineteenth-century features still intact.

“Excellent views” are a highlight at this beachside unit, with outside tables for good weather: part of a modern development created in a spirit of regeneration by the local council. All reports applaud the “great meals” to be had here, but don’t go expecting the culinary pyrotechnics Bryn W is known for: it serves relatively simple fare (daily catch fish fingers, steak, risotto…)

No reports yet on this ambitious 30-seater, which opened in autumn 2021 run by ex-Fat Duck chef Nick Rudge. In May 2022, though, Marina O’Loughlin from The Sunday Times made the trip to this “small room in a curiously gothic building (that was formerly Conwy’s cinema and bingo hall”), finding a “scene of buzz and busyness, full and welcoming” and food that “elicits a great sigh of relief”. Local ingredients make up dishes full of flourishes – not everything works, but she was “mollified by a riot of Welsh cheeses”. She concludes: “there’s no doubt that Rudge can cook. If he concentrated more on showcasing the innate quality of the spectacular Welsh produce he’s using and less on the likes of Great British Menu, he’d be unstoppable”.

“Best Chinese in Llandudno” is arguably a double-edged compliment to this well-established fixture, which occupies an old ice cream factory in this characterful Victorian seaside resort. But local reporters say its cooking is “consistently good” – “vegetables and fish dishes always seem particularly fresh and tasty”.