Penallt, British, Modern Restaurant Guide

In a “beautiful setting overlooking the sea” and Three Cliffs Bay, Hywel Griffith’s foodie mecca (beloved by the Michelin men) occupies a rugged former coal house on the idyllic Gower Peninsula. At the less pricey end of the scale there are three-course lunches (also available some evenings), but if you want to push the boat out, go for the eight-course tasting menu (£135 per person). Fans rate it highly for its accomplished cuisine and as an attractive venue for a business or romantic occasion; but ratings are capped by a minority who find it “below par” at the price.

Sue & Mark Manson serve a daily changing menu based around seasonal local ingredients that draws regular diners from a wide radius to their studiously unpretentious rural bistro in Carmarthenshire’s Towy Valley – mismatched tables, no tablecloths, and you pour your own wine. There’s a “remarkable set-price menu at £44 for three courses at lunchtime” (two courses £34; dinner £40 and £54 respectively). Top Menu Tip – “wonderful Welsh saltmarsh lamb”.

“A gem of a restaurant in the docks” say fans of Jonathan Woolway’s yearling on the city’s developing waterfront which most reports say is “good value given the standard of cooking and very friendly waiting staff”. The menu is in a modern bistro mould and ranges from the meaty (a recent sample includes Barnsley Chop, Road Pork Collar and Steak Pie) to “really fresh fish, cooked simply but perfectly and accompanied by local ingredients like cockles and seaweed”. Ratings though are capped by those who are not fully bowled over (“I don’t know what restaurant Grace Dent ate in but it can’t have been this one!”)