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.

You eat surrounded by the bottles of wine and tempting produce of the deli when you perch in the ‘vinoteca’ of Paul Grimwood and Shumana Palit’s debut venue, which opened in 2001 and has since spawned a Narberth spin-off and a wholesale business based on the nearby industrial estate. Away from the remoteness of the mid-Wales coastline, perhaps its few seats for superior tapas, nibbles and imbibements would have escaped notice, but – here in the boonies – it has earnt a place in the annals of Welsh foodie-ism.

“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?

“Situated right on the end of the quay with lovely views overlooking the harbour and Cardigan Bay”, this very blue former harbourmaster’s home was built in 1811, but has been run as a boutique hotel and restaurant since the early 2000s. The menu showcases fine Welsh produce (lamb, beef, Ceredigion cheese), with particular mention for the “fine range of fish and seafood dishes” (including “great oysters, but you must try the local mackerel” too).