China Garden Take Away

Wynnstay

➤ Heol Maengwyn, SY20 8EB, Powys, United Kingdom

Full • Pizza • Steak • Lunch

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"We has a two day mid week break here between 14th and 16th of December courtesy of a Travelzoo deal. Given the generosity of the terms we weren't expecting too much, but were really pleasantly surprised by the experience. Despite outside temperatures down to as low as 11C overnight and a local outbreak of seasonal lurgies that meant that they were short of staff the welcome was warm and courteous. The Wynnstay appears to privately owned and this means that it packed with thoughtful and charming little personal touches. Real coffee bags and Welsh tea in the rooms, fresh butter on the table cut from an actual block, not in the usually ubiquitous individual foil packs. Catering here is superb. All ingredients are locally sourced and cooked to a uniformly excellent standard by a multiple award winning kitchen. I urge you (if you are either carnivore or omnivore) to try the chef's signature duck. Worth going back for on it's own, (and we will), but everything that we tried was of a similar standard. Wine is imported by the owner directly from single vineyards in Italy and is both very good and reasonably priced, not an equation that one comes across too, as was the menu, which meant the £30pp allowance we had with our deal went quite a long way . I loved the décor, not made over by some corporate entity, but clearly painstakingly collected and augmented over a long period of time and the Christmas decorations were lovely. There was plenty to do in the locale despite the cold snap. The town has some lovely shops pubs and cafes, small enough to walk around in an hour or so, big enough to lose an afternoon browsing and or indulging. There are plenty of interesting attractions in a half hour drive or so, including the coast and of course the local Welsh countryside is beautiful. All in all a real find of a place for us. It deserves to be overrun, but selfishly, I really hope it isn't. It really is a little hidden gem."

The Green Goat Cafe

➤ A487, SY20 8EU, Powys, United Kingdom

Cafe • Vegetarian • Street Food • Contemporary

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"The restaurant is situated on the main road, with a large tent in the front for outdoor dining. Since we were in the area on vacation with our dog, we decided to eat outside. Dogs are only allowed indoors if they are service animals. The service was average, our drinks arrived quickly but we had to remind the staff to take our food order. The menu offers a variety of options, and I chose the fish and chips while my wife had the duck. Both dishes were hearty and stayed warm despite the cool breeze in the tent. In total, two meals and a bottle of wine cost approximately £50, which we found to be reasonable considering the location."

C.a.t Cafe

➤ Llwyngwern Quarry, Pantperthog, Powys, United Kingdom

Cafe • Vegan • British • Vegetarian

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"I visited CAT twice in August with one friend who is an architect and with a friend who works in sustainable tourism. We were not the target audience which is families with children but still very much enjoyed our visit. The cafe at CAT manages that tricky thing of food that is healthy, sustainable and children and adults will all eat. There is a good range of vegetarian and vegan food without you really noticing it. All reasonably priced. There is plenty of outdoor seating and four outdoor benches under cover of the solar PV roof good to keep out both strong sun and rain. These are popular, especially at lunch time. There is also indoor seating available. The cafe, like a lot of places at the moment was struggling for staffing with some time spent queueing. They can also run out of cakes quite early in the afternoon (well before the 16.30 cafe closing time). They could look at the arrangements and perhaps separate out people who are buying coffee from people ordering lunch....or have people go and sit down rather than standing around waiting (as happens at Corris Crafts)."

Y Llew Coch Mach (the Red Lion Machynlleth Town)

➤ 11 Heol Maengwyn, Machynlleth, United Kingdom, MACHYNLLETH

Soup • Welsh • Coffee • Cheese

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"Lovely pub! Brilliant venue to hold a party at we hired the back room and had a band and DJs in the main pub area. It was a brilliant night and the staff were so welcoming, hospitable, and helpful. The back room is a lovely space for a function, with nice tables and chairs. Also taken family on a meal out here and the food and welcome was excellent. Highly recommended. Vegetarian options: Veggie curry was really good and nicely presented"