BOWENS FISH & CHIPS

1 x Handy Welsh Picnic Blanket

1 x Cardigan Bay Estuary

1 x St. Dogmaels Potting Shed

1 x St Dogmaels Car Park Mosaic

1 x The House Of Bowens

1 x Five Star Rating

4 x Saturday Night Table Reservations

2 x Catch Of The Day

1 x Under Starting Orders

1 x En Route

1 x Making Clear Headway

1 x Landed

 Colloquialism from Rhos, North Wales

1 x Bowens Unwrapped 

#33 Dirty Knees

Wales Finest Fish And Chipped Potatoes.

This is the 5th and last post in the mini series of 'Wales Favourite Places To Eat' and I have a feeling this one will prove popular with the foodies.

What happens when you go in search of the tastiest Sgod a Sglod in Wales ?

Well... it is a helpful head start if you can ask a local insider for a tip off - especially if they are big participators in the local Do Lectures scene.

David & Clare Hieatt thought about it - for two seconds - and  recommended Bowens Fish & Chip Shop in St Dogmaels, located at the sea end of the winding estuary running into Cardigan Bay along the B4546. Even any Tokyo resident worth their salt, who knows the taste of fresh fish and sushi would call this place........."an excellent chippie."

The journey out of town from Cardigan to Bowens, sumps up Wales with winding, picturesque, leafy, relaxed, clean air and an active community spirit. Just a mile or two from Poppit Sands we found the institution of Bowens the pride of St Dogmaels. After skipping lunch our eyes started spinning like the winning fruit on a one-arm bandit.

For those who favour TripAdvisor for a ratings run down, you will see there is one happy Bowens punter who describes it : "As good as Rick Steins fish but with tastier chips"

Who are we to argue? Certainly judging by the fully booked reservation cards on the four tables inside Bowens on the Saturday night we dropped by, even Rick Stein wouldn't get a walk in table here.

If you ever found yourself as online secretary of the UK's "Love Chips!" group, you would certainly make a personal visit to this Welsh chip landmark.  We ordered 2 x Haddock and Chips, 1 x Mushy Peas, 2 x Red Ketchup cartons and asked for our treasure bounty to be lightly salted and a dash of vinegar. The 2 slices of lemon were kindly thrown in free.

Bowens embraces Wales enterprising new law, which helps to reduce the number of carrier bags circulating in Wales. A charge of 5p is made for every carrier bag requested in every shop in Wales and the money is donated to charitable environmental projects. Da iawn Cymru !

We headed out to the very edge of the estuary and plonked our catch on our Welsh Melin Trefin blanket on the grass, with a view out to the Peninsula. You can always tell the signs of a good feed when everyone goes silent and smiles broadly through rosy cheeks.

If you are ever lucky enough to find yourself in deepest west Wales, you might like to ring this number: 01239 613814 and the tiny team of two at Bowens will have a round of F&C ready for your personal collection.

100% Welsh Fish & Chips. 100% Quality Of Life.  One Hundred Per Cent Wales.

This brings a close to this mini blog series on Wales. And if you fancy sampling this wonderful country's authentic food but prefer it with the blazing sun, you could of course always consider a trip to Welsh Patagonia .

 

LLYS MEDDYG

Llys Meddyg Facade - Original Welsh Stone & Slate

The In House Smokery

The View From The Cosy Garden Cottage

The Wood Clad, Copper Rivet Dining Room 

Original Tiles Surrounding Open Fireplace

Original Timbers + Local Art with Flute

Fish And Chips - Amuse Bouche

Rolled Butter And Cucumber Slices 

Home Smoked Salmon, Pickled Beetroot, 

Hereford Beef Sirloin, Garlic Puree

Line-Caught Seabass, Scallop And Crab Foam

Newport Y Parrog Beach

Community Plaque

Beach Stone Cottage - Uninhabited

Cow Rambler

Ascending Welsh Terrain. 

Conquering the Mountain Of The Angels

#32 Buckle My Shoe

Wales The New Cornwall

Llys Meddyg is quite possibly one of the nicest places to stay in Wales. A one time Georgian coaching Inn, this stylish and down to earth restaurant & rooms is nestled under the Carningli Mountain Of The Angels and a very short jog away from Newport's ever-so stunning Y Parog beach.

Coastal walks, coastal cycles, coastal rambles and coastal drives, Wales has it all.

Why bother budging up amongst the Cornwall crowds when you can come to this beautiful idyllic stretch of unpopulated Welsh coastline. Newport is perfectly small and big enough to find. The mouth of the River Nervern forms two beaches with curiosity rock pools and miles of empty beaches to explore with your dog, fly a kite or challenge your partner to a razor clam haul.

Llys Meddyg also has a cute cosy cottage tucked around the back which was our abode for 3 days, we felt so at home and snug we didn't fancy the very kind offer of an upgrade. The food which is this blog's raison d'être, is locally and seasonally sourced, with a provenance and  quality you would find in any michelin star restaurant. The proprietors Ed and Lou and head chef James Oakely have already established a lasting reputation. The LM Welsh Breakfast was equally memorable, a treat that hit the spot.

We made an after-breakfast climb high up the Carningli mountain with its amazing 360 degree views around the Pembrokshire tundra and coastline, stretching out to the sea and around to the National Park.  Cairns are dotted about all over the Mountain and the strong Welsh breeze flaps your tail feathers, making you feel alive as you observe the fell runners and local bird habitat glide and soar ...

From Newport, we took a day trip to The National Wool Museum Of Wales and discovered the beautiful weaving of Melin Teifi who also produce a wonderful range of clothing inspired by traditional Welsh workwear and Melin Trefin weaving from the village of Trefin, whose hand loom work is equally beautiful.

When we bring our friends back to Wales, we will definitely invite them to stay with us at the Llys Meddyg, a quiet gem of style and comfort, deep in Wales.

25 MILE

The 25 Mile Peninsula

St Davids Head = Caer Bwdy Bay

Collins Road Atlas Lookout

Crochendy Pottery Aprons

Melin Tregwynt Knitting Needles & Wool Ball

Melin Tregwynt - Welsh Weaving For Japan

Welsh Blanket

Wales National Wool Museum

Ty Pen Pownd at Wool Museum

Welsh Spinning Wheels

Vintage Flat Bed Knitting Machine

Cows relaxing on Mwnt Beach Head

Owner of Toby Fashions - Cardigan

25M Eating House - Potted Sewin

#31 Get up and run

Lucky Wales trades M25 for 25M 

What happens when a clever little green country, without circular gridlock motorways adopts a marketing strategy to change the adjacency of the letter 'M' from the front of 25 and then pops it back at the end ?

This happens:  25M  

This 3rd blog in the mini series of 'Welsh Favourite Places To Eat' features photographs of the amazing people and places we found within the 25 Mile peninsula. It ends with our arrival at the 25 Mile Local Eating House in Cardigan.

The 25 Mile Local Eating House adopts a simple and intuitive strategy of only serving food that is grown within a twenty-five mile radius of their kitchen. Resulting in local-fresh-quality-ingredients. So simple and so good. Their desire for roasting coffee from good beans being the one understandable geographic exception.

This visit presented my first experience to taste potted Sewin, the Welsh Sea Trout, complete with they're amazing taste and brand story. These very shy fish are only catchable at 4.00am in the morning and have an almost mythical status in their storytelling. Starting their lives as brown river trout, they head out into the wild open oceans of the sea to become Sewin. The full life cycle of these fishy Welsh creatures is still not known by scientists, other than observing they only return to local freshwater rivers when they spawn.

As with all of nature, their existence is rare and threatened and fortunately Sewin are being carefully monitored by those who care about their preservation.

If you are heading to Mwnt for your hols, pop into the 25Mile in Cardigan and head home to preach the gospel and recount the potted history of the potted Sewin.

CAPEL DEWI UCHAF B&B

The Breakfast Banquet

Original 500 Year Old Oak Beams

Fruits and Homemade Preservatives

Home Made Cheese Scones & Everything Else Under The Sun

#30 Flirty Thirty

Wales The Land Of Breakfasts.

No stay in Wales is complete without a breakfast, and no stay in Wales is complete without a  Capel Dewi Uchaf  County House breakfast.

This 500 year old grade II listed farmhouse is nestled along a leafy gravel track, off a windy, leafy country road in the middle of nowhere, in a leafy place called Wales.

The picturesque Local Towy Valley is well known as the Garden Of Wales. The river Towy is also a wonderful spot for fishing for your tea.

Legend has it the Capel Dewi Uchaf breakfast spread is like no other, even the Carmarthen taxi drivers and newsagents who were miles away, referred to its splendour.

The breakfast preparation, rumoured to start at 5.00am is served to all comers at 8.00am in the Baronial style lower end of the house, complete with its grandiose banquet flavour, lovely old original floor tiles and huge oak beams.  It would be a sin to sleep in and miss it.

There is nothing as wonderful as a bespoke a-la-carte breakfast, especially when you are on holiday - without the pressure or awareness of any pressing time zone. We were in no rush to head off to Melin Tregwynt the beautiful weaving mill and family owned business celebrating their 100th birthday.

Fredenas home made Cheese scones were so delicious, we wrapped them up in little paper napkins and took them away for lunch. The cooked breakfast was custom-made to order, with option of a local duck egg and all the tea in Wales. The homemade bread was individual mini loaves all pillow soft and served with lashings of Welsh butter and homemade strawberry jam. Divine.

Our breakfast was a truly ingratiating experience, served by two very gracious hosts. Sadly we are some of the very fortunate, last few punters to sample this breakfast experience, as the lovely owners Fredena & John have decided this summer will be their last one at the house and they are hanging up their B&B awards, to enjoy their summers of retirement. They certainly deserve it for their craft was a fine art.

Da Iawn Diolch.

Capel Dewi Uchaf Country House