Atmosphere was enjoyable and the service was friendly and efficient. 4 diners: 3 ordered the fish…read moreand chips and 1 ordered the vegan burger. The fish was so hard that it was almost impossible to cut with a knife, and of course difficult to eat and rather tasteless. The burger was similarly prepared. Each seemed to have been cooked earlier and left to warm and serve later. Truly disappointing. Suggest eating at the local alternatives.

Spooners has a nice atmosphere, surrounded by railway artifacts, including a real narrow gauge…read moresteam locomotive! The head barman is a great host, and runs a fun pub quiz. Sadly the pub is often understaffed at busy times. The food is good, but the service can be slow and indifferent. The food prices are more in line with restaurants than other pubs in the area. Stick to drinks and you will have a good evening!

Tonight I ate the best Italian meal I've had outside of Italy... at Osteria Caernarfon in Wales…read more The chef is from Florence, and he has a passion for his work, often coming out of the kitchen to chat with patrons, talking about his creations, genuinely interested in how the food was being received. Highly recommended!

What a find! This little spot (fewer than 10 tables total) is on the aptly named Hole in the Wall…read moreStreet. The owner is from Florence and it shows in the authentic food. The menu is small - bruschetta, trays of meats and vegetables, and homemade pastas. But it is all made to order, fresh and flavorful. We shared a few different bruschetta's to start, all of which were delicious. Then we each had a different pasta dish. There is a decent wine list and there are sweets to finish the meal, although we were too full.

Great food. Well presented. Excellent service. Friendly staff…read more Also love the decor inside and out too. Loved the 'beach chalet' tables outside. All added to the great atmosphere of the place. Our Curry Club had a great evening there. Will definitely go again. Very highly recommended. Stuffed after our visit this evening. Time to sleep it off. Haha! Matt

I so wanted to give the Oyster Catcher a good review, but in the end it's going to get an overly…read moregenerous three stars, and here's why... Anglesey is not the most gastronomic of places, so when we stumbled across the Oyster Catcher we were pleasantly surprised. The massive, modern building loomed out of the sea mist and immediately we decided to pull over and investigate. The building itself was designed Haf Haus, a German company famed for its large, glass-fronted, environmentally friendly buildings. It really stands out, particularly on an island which still boasts mainly 60's architecture! The building itself boasts a bar, cafe and restaurant so we decided to stop for lunch. The Oyster Catcher is the brainchild of the Timpson Family, more famous for shoe repairs than fine dining! However, they decided to set up the OC as a chefs academy to help young unemployed people on the island, the idea originally stemming from a visit to Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurant in London. With this kind of motivation behind the project and a fantastic building to boot, I was really excited about our lunch here. The menu was large and varied, and many of the dishes were designed and cooked by the cadets. Some of the servers were a little shy but there was obviously some more experienced staff to keep the cadets in check. We started with some focaccia bread and a glass of wine each and all was looking good. However, the mains were a bit of a let down. I went for the mackerel with parsley mash and tomato and mussel casserole. It was fairly tasty but not massive in size. My partner went for one of the specials, the plaice with new potatoes. When it arrived it came as a giant bowl of spuds and a tiny fish. A bit bemused, my boyf went ahead and ate the first side (it took three mouthfuls) but when he turned the fish over there was nothing on the other side! A £13 main dish gone in three bites?? - this can't be right! When the waitress came to clear our plates we mentioned that the fish was very small and on top of this, something had obviously gone wrong in the cooking as one side was missing completely and someone had obviously tried to cover this up by serving it the other way up! We were very polite about our complaint, wanting to feedback to the trainee chefs more than anything. The waitress said she would feedback to the kitchen and the mistake would be rectified in the bill. We didn't get a response, which to be honest I was expecting, and when we finally got someones attention for the bill, we found that 10% had been knocked off his dish alone. A gesture I guess, but not really an appropriate one. I don't often complain in restaurants, and when I do I'm not necessarily expecting this to be reflected in the bill, but some feedback and explanation from the kitchen would have been appreciated. We left feeling a little disappointed as I had really wanted to love this place. I would certainly give it another chance, and urge other people to do the same as what they are trying to achieve here is fantastic, but at the same time, they need to provide better food and service if they want to sustain this project over the long term.

The Maenan Abbey is a grand, regal looking hotel with a large car park and well kept formal gardens…read moreto the front, and dense woodland across the road. Coupled with the backdrop of the imposing Welsh hills, over which a storm was brewing, this was a great location for a hotel, save for the static caravan site. On entering, the whole place was opulently decorated, if slightly shabby in places, the central staircase was particularly impressive. Things started to go a little awry through as we checked in, as the person behind reception gestured to us 'Your rooms up the stairs on the left', rather dismissively. The room itself was tidy enough, with a good view of the hilly scenery, but again the decoration was in need of a bit of attention. The bed as it turned out, creaked even if you stretched your leg and was very uncomfortable, leading to one of the worst nights sleep I've had in a hotel. The tiny TV in the room would have better situated on the wall adjacent to the bed, rather than on a set of drawers, from which it was difficult for two people to watch. As Qype stars were falling off at an alarming rate, I decided to look for some positives. The bathroom was large and spacious, but unfortunately rang out a symphony of noise as you flushed the loo (air in the pipes), the bath when I tried to run one, was lukewarm and the frosted glass only covered the bottom half of the bathroom window! As we watched the football results before going down for an evening meal, the strong smell of fried food wafted under the bedroom door from the kitchen, delightful, still on a plus we knew when our breakfast was ready in the morning! As we descended down for our evening meal, the Maenan Abbey was definitely at a solitary star, however, our evening meal was a very pleasurable experience. Friendly staff beckoned us into a large lounge area, bathed in fading September light and we were seated in some rather grandiose armchairs whilst we had a drink from the well-stocked bar. In these pleasant surrounding we chose our three dishes from the menu for a set price of £12.95 - bargain! When our starters were ready, we were taken into a very impressive, if again slightly worn dining room. The meal was excellent, with the highlight being the superb Tempura King Prawn starter, and the sea bass and steak mains, which came with a slight supplementary price. Just for this meal alone, I have added a star. After getting little sleep, the Welsh breakfast was great, just what we needed for long journey. Would we dine here again? - definitely, if we had not stayed here and only dined, Maenan Abbey would be looking at a solid four stars. The accommodation however, leaves a lot to be desired, it could be so good, with just a bit of money spent on it!

I used to pass the Maenan Abbey on the way to school every day but it isn't somewhere I've actually…read moreset foot in too often. However I did get to visit recently when the organisation I work for opted to hold their Christmas meal there. Apparently the area director had been there earlier in the year and was so impressed he decided it was the ideal venue. The first thing to bear in mind if you do intend to visit (or attend a party) is that it's pretty much impossible to reach the Abbey via any public transport other than a taxi. The road outside is busy and doesn't have a footpath, the nearest railway station is some distance away across fields and buses only run down the other side of the valley. Fortunately I managed to arrange a lift. The building itself is quite impressive and inside has a kind of authentic shabbiness that somehow adds character to the place. In the lobby is a piano that is played by a teddy bear which isn't something you see every day. As for the food, well it was better than I had anticipated, although the menu did sound impressive. I had a duck starter, small slices of duck served with a pot of red onions in some sort of dressing and a small pot of chutney. Very tasty, well presented (a little bit Masterchef) and just the right size. My main course was sirloin of beef, two thick cut slices served on a bed of mashed potato. Each table got plates of roast potatos and vegetables to share. There was plenty to go around and on the whole most people enjoyed their food. The one exception seemed to be the lamb. For dessert I had mandarian and chocolate triangle with honeycomb ice cream, very nice (not surprisingly it tasted a bit like a Jaffa cake) and again a lot of thought had gone into the presentation. Service was efficient and friendly which all added to a very enjoyable afternoon.

I feel that I must reply to the review re Granvilles Restaurant in Cricieth by a Mike Pullin. My…read morefamily and I have been going to Granvilles for the last seven years and have never had trouble with bookings. We are always welcomed with a smile and the staff are warm and friendly and the food is always excellent and the price very reasonable. I cannot believe that any of the staff would be rude to Mr Pullin, and why would they think that his name was funny. After all they are intelligent people and not some 'dimwits ' as Mr Pullin makes out. Try Granvilles yourselves and make your own decisions. I do not think that you will be disappointed.

I really liked this restaurant. Very friendly staff. This place has a nice quiet, cozy atmosphere…read more The food was excellent and the menu offered a good variety of things. If you're looking for a nice restaurant and a great meal, this is a good place. I highly recommend it.

Cwmni Cacen Gri is small caffi in Betws-y_Coed which I wished we'd discovered earlier on our trip…read more It's located with a dozen other shops and restaurants next to the railway station. And they open at 7:30am (at least on the day when we needed some really good coffee before hitting the road). They also make heavenly Welsh cakes. As we walked in that morning we also bought a small bag of them for our trip. Warm and friendly people, great coffee, and great Welsh cakes. Highly recommended.