Renowned food critic Giles Coren has once again been in Wales, this time having the time of his life in Pembrokeshire. And despite the arguably common misconception that the area's splendid view is not matched by the quality of its food, Coren found himself in heaven, saying: "I’d much rather eat this food here than, say, the food they serve at Sketch or Noma".
It's the second time this summer The Times critic has been in Wales — in July he visited Wales' (and possibly Britain's) best restaurant and ended up "battered" in the garden, which you can read about here. At Gareth Ward's now-famous two Michelin-starred restaurant, Coren "spaffed many hundreds of pounds on multiple small plates of teeny-weeny morsels" of food. But he spends the first week of the summer holidays every year in Pembrokeshire with his family. And this time managed to get "four meals for four that will come, altogether, to no more than I paid, for just me, on that one night".
Read more: 29 reasons Pembrokeshire should be chopped off Wales and shoved out to sea
Where did Giles Coren visit that was so good?
Renting "an old farmhouse above Whitesands" with his family - an utterly idyllic start - the critic mentions four cafes and restaurants that blew his socks off and left him in awe over not just the delicious food but the cost of those four meals combined.
At Whitesands Beach House he fell in love with the cafe's freshly-made sandwiches which he was pleased did not arrive on "stupid poncey E5 sourdough punishment loaves from Hackney". In fact, he says he has found "the best egg sandwiches in the world": plump, airy and not at all soggy. He adds: "There’s an old saw that the quality of food served in restaurants is in general inversely proportional to the quality of the view, but not here."
At Solva's 16th-century Cambrian Inn, he enjoyed "prawn cocktail, Caesar salad, Greek salad, terrific ribeye and chips, hilariously loaded 'Fat Cow' burger, excellent Mangalore chicken curry and a perfectly serviceable rosé for just £21.50 a bottle", getting it all for less than £100.
At Peter’s Plaice in St Davids, which had a "long, slow queue outside for good fish and chips" he got two scampi and fries twice, one haddock, one “cod bites” and a mushy peas for £32.70, all constituting "very good old-fashioned F&C".
But the nosh that came out on top was a pizzeria back in St David's called Grain, "an indoor/outdoor beer and pizza place" with bright orange menus and fantastic-sounding topping combinations like manchego, garlic confit, parsley and Marmite: "The garlic gave it real heft and elbow and the Marmite was a neat dagger stab in the gastronomic goolies that made me giggle at first and then nod with approval."
To read the whole review, visit The Times website.
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