A taste of Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire enjoys a unique location surrounded by pristine blue coastal waters and with swathes of green fields and rugged hills inland. Because of this, the produce that grows, is reared or foraged and caught here is some of the best in the UK. You don’t have to take our word for it: The Lonely Planet guide even included Pembrokeshire in its best gourmet food experiences in Europe. The guide featured the 'Rising Tides of Pembrokeshire' alongside the likes of experiences in Tuscany, San Sebastian and the Black Forest.

The Gourmet Trails Europe guide described the food scene in Pembrokeshire as "booming like the Atlantic surf with producers and chefs playing up foraged flavours". We couldn’t agree more and here are some of our favourites.

Let’s begin at the most westerly point, out on the St Davids Peninsula within the walls of the old Twr Y Felin Hotel. Now refurbished to a distinctly high standard, the 3 AA rosette restaurant, Blas (meaning taste in Welsh), is run under the watchful eye of head chef Sammy Owen. With an emphasis on the seasonal, the menu here blends classic and modern in a stylish setting. With service that excels from start to finish, we like to start our visits off with a trip to their excellent cocktail bar!

Heading inland to Narberth, make time during your stay for dinner at The Fernery at The Grove Narberth. Michelin starred executive chef Douglas Balish will oversee the fining dining experience.

With 3 AA Rosettes, The Fernery at The Grove Narberth is well recognised and celebrated alongside its sister establishment to the south of the county, Lan y Môr (formerly Coast). Lan y Môr takes pride of place on Coppet Hall beach and although perhaps a more relaxed environment, looking right out across the bay, the attention to detail and passion for seasonality and locality is clearly evident. Both must be tried by the travelling gourmet!

Penally Abbey hosts another 2 AA Rosette restaurant, Rhosyn, and is home to head chef Richard Browning who is shining amongst the newly renovated hotel. With a classic menu full of modern British twists, the team here are clearly passionate about living and working in Pembrokeshire and the abundance of local produce that comes with it. If at this pointyou’re feeling spoilt for choice, perhaps we can recommend the high tea for an afternoon break, before dinner of course, with beautiful views over the grounds.

In the old HSBC bank in Narberth you will find Annwn, a Welsh food movement created by renowned Pembrokeshire forager Matt Powell who aims to shun food miles and support local ecosystems. The intimate dining room with an open kitchen serves a seasonal 10-course tasting menu featuring a variety of locally-foraged delicacies so expect combinations such as lobster and laver seaweed, estuary plants, lobster sauce, crab apple ice, and desserts such as gorse flower custard and birch meringue. Annwn was named the 67th best restaurant in the UK at the 2024 National Restaurant Awards, and the second best in Wales.

We have to mention Paternoster Farm where farmer and chef Michelle Evans has quietly racked up national attention despite being off the beaten track. Eating in the former milking parlour, perhaps snuggled into one of the old stalls, watch Michelle cook at the open kitchen as she calmly produces a steady stream of ingenious and heterogeneous plates from her fertile culinary imagination.The seasonal set menu is a rolling feast that changes every day depending on supplies from the farm and beyond, but the following should give a clue to the kind of food on offer: asparagus with crab, pickled chilli, lemon and dill, with the brown meat folded through a silky mayonnaise; baked whole bream with romesco; glossy, golden-crusted mutton, leek and smoked Snowdonia cheese pie served with garden kale and Café de Paris butter. Veggie options are always intriguing too – perhaps wild mushroom and truffle arancini or BBQ hispi cabbage lathered in umami-rich miso butter with some chilli heat and soothing, creamy aïoli. Dessert could bring chocolate mousse or cherry and tahini ice cream; otherwise, opt for a plate of Welsh cheeses. There might also be honey madeleines by the half dozen too.

Last but by no means least jump in the car and head north to a wilder countryside and work up an appetite going for a walk on Carn Ingli (the mountain of angels) before dropping down into Newport for supper at Llys Meddyg Hotel (Doctors Court Hotel). Well established and lovingly revisited, Ed, Lou and head chef Jake Smith design their 2 AA Rosette restaurant and a dining experience, that is at once relaxed, fun and innovative. Slip down the slate steps to the cellar bar for an aperitif and then settle in the dining room for local and foraged produce served with skill and finesse. Their home smoked salmon is worth the visit alone. Bon appetit!