15 Best Restaurants in Wales

Wales has undergone something of a culinary renaissance in the last couple of decades and this fantastic center is a great place to explore why. Traditional cheeses, house-made ice creams, and other artisanal food products are for sale in the farm shop and deli; there's also a bakery, a butcher, a coffee bar, and a wineshop where you can pick up Welsh malt whisky. The Furnace restaurant serves breakfast and snacks including pizzas, while the Hayloft Bar & Grill has plenty of local meat dishes on the menu for lunch and dinner. Bodnant is on A470, 12 miles north of Conwy.

Flickering candles, open fireplaces, exposed stone walls, and top-notch locally sourced food are hallmarks of this restaurant and bar, which dates back to the 10th century. The menu contains a selection of Welsh-reared steaks and other meat dishes, but outstanding seafood is the real specialty—try the shellfish platter for two. The romantic setting is as much of a draw as the food. Check out the huge stone Flemish chimney.

If you're vegan, it's beyond worth the ten-minute drive north of the city center to visit this award-winning vegan café. Run by a Hare Krishna monk, it's popular with the local student community for its good-value, creative dishes such as "bowls" made with a wide variety of ingredients including seitan, greens, and seeds. Be sure to try one of the house-made juices. 

This fashionable, cozy café-bar with a social conscience has plenty of options for vegans and vegetarians. During the day, the menu features mainly soups, sandwiches, and salads while in the evening there are sourdough pizzas and sharing boards—all made with local produce where possible. A popular student hang-out, Hoogah has a good range of local craft beers and some great cocktails. There's usually live music on Saturday night.

This 17th-century coaching inn close to Hay's center is ideal for a lunch break after you're done ransacking the nearby bookshops. The restaurant's sophisticated cooking emphasizes local meats and produce—for example, the pan-roasted Welsh lamb rump with gratin dauphinoise. There are also some interesting hot sandwiches available at lunchtime. You can even opt for an overnight stay in one of the country-style rooms.

This 19th-century chapel has been successfully converted into a café, complete with its original features. It's a good spot for breakfast, and at lunchtime, you'll find sandwiches and salads on the menu. Book ahead for a delicious Afternoon Tea. The owners use local produce where possible. The café is 3 miles east of Llangollen.

In a converted mill on the River Dee, this pub and restaurant has an old waterwheel that turns behind the bar. Dine on the open-air deck or in the cozy dining room, sampling stylishly updated pub fare, such as grilled sea bass with potato and shallot terrine. There are light bites too, and dessert classics such as hot waffles with toffee sauce and bananas. Several of the ales are from Welsh microbreweries.

Attached to the Holyhead Maritime Museum on Newry Beach, this bistro café offers the best view in town from its patio. Watch yachts, catamarans, and vintage sailboats crisscross the harbor while you wait for fish chowder, slow roasted pork belly, and lamb shank in minted red wine sauce, and marvel at the Victorian engineering skill required to build the breakwater, the United Kingdom's longest. Fresh ingredients from the bistro's own farm and local fishermen factor highly in the general praise, but it's the sunset seating Thursday through Saturday that is particularly coveted.

Up a small hill next to Ogmore Castle, The Pelican stands like a mirage. This friendly little pub is a welcome spot for lunch or a restorative pint after the long walk from Merthyr Mawr. Try the Welsh Farmer's Cheeseboard. 

A short drive from Nash Point is this historic pub, on the edge of the tiny clifftop village of Monknash. The food is delicious and unfussy; the menu changes regularly, but features tasty pub classics like burgers and fish-and-chips. Everything is served in a cozy dining room with a fireplace. There's a small but decent wine list, and an even better selection of real ales and ciders. It's popular with locals, so call ahead or be prepared to wait.

In a seafront building in picture-postcard Porthdinllaen, this pub has what is undoubtedly one of the best locations in Wales. The lunches are honest and unpretentious: pies, sandwiches, or perhaps a plate of local mussels in garlic butter. Everything is delicious and reasonably priced. The atmosphere is friendly and slightly bohemian; this is the kind of place where they're pleasantly surprised you've managed to find it.

This family-run ice-cream parlor, café, and restaurant sits right on the seafront. Housemade pizza is a specialty, or you could just join the queue for the delicious fresh gelato. Every indoor and outdoor table has panoramic views of Swansea Bay. It's in Mumbles, a resort town southwest of Swansea.