Dolgellau, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

“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”).

“It‘s a dark little dining room, with eight covers all sat around one high table, and an open kitchen with open flames at the end” at this “small and personal” spin-off from the team at Gareth Ward’s nearby Ynyshir: a wine bar/restaurant named after his mother in this nearby un-touristy Welsh market town. Launched too late for feedback in last year’s guide, this year’s reports carry little but superlatives. “It’s a stunning little location and so intimate with the chef and staff”. The tasting menu offers 10 courses for £135 per person: “bursting with big flavours and inventive cooking” (“BBQ pork jowl with jalapeno sauce was outstanding”). “You need to be ready to get to know your neighbours though!”