Lunch at ⭐️⭐️ Ynyshir in Wales. As if anyone needed reminding that Gareth Ward has one of the biggest hearts 💜 in the industry, me and Hayley arrived at Ynyshir the day before this meal in time for our original dinner reservation. We were both feeling mildly unwell in the morning, but had put it down to too much booze the day before. It clearly became apparent that this wasn’t the case when upon our arrival mid-afternoon at Ynyshir, I practically barged past a welcoming Amelia, and with a grimaced “hiya”, duly launched myself into their reception loo to spend some up close and personal time with the porcelain. Thankfully that was the worst of it and as it was only 2pm at that point, we hoped and prayed that a couple of hours Kip and a refreshing shower in their incredible rooms would sort us out for dinner.
Ynyshir is not the kind of place that you want to turn up to and then not be able to eat. It’s out of the way and increasingly difficult to book due to it’s excellence. Plus, the food’s fucking tasty 🤷🏼
We both turned up for dinner with gritted determination. Gareth knows us both pretty well by now, so when the first dish of ‘Not French Onion Soup’ went back only half eaten he instantly texted Hayley from the kitchen (first dishes are served in the bar) asking “are you ok 💜?” Hayley replied honestly that we were both feeling a bit better and didn’t want to turn up and not eat.
Next thing, Lewis came to our table, “Please come out to reception, Gaz would like a word”.
Long story short (or maybe not that short), Gaz sent us both to bed without any tea 😬
He basically told us that we must stay the night and he would cook for us the next day if we were feeling better. Or we could reschedule. Of course no chef wants to cook for guests who aren’t really enjoying the experience and we as diners don’t particularly want to sit through a meal feeling like shit, but there are some restaurants and relationships that are very special and you want to try. Anyway, next day we were maybe not 100% but certainly 90% and able to smash through Ynyshir’s 32 servings, and actually enjoy them
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Michelin Guide - ⭐️⭐️
OAD - ‘Highly recommended’
UK restaurant awards - 1