Two restaurants in Carmarthenshire have been named among the best in the UK by The Good Food Guide.

Y Polyn in Nantgaredig, Carmarthenshire and The Warren, in Carmarthen, made The Good Food Guide's 100 best local restaurants of 2023.

The Good Food Guide’s best local restaurant award has been running for 13 years and celebrates "the places that are the beating heart of communities around Britain".

This year's awards received more than 37,000 nominations from restaurants across the UK, the strongest field of contenders The Good Food Guide said it had ever seen.

Describing how they decide the winners, The Good Food Guide said: "Using the nominations as a driving force, we inspected all 100 of the restaurants that made our final list, plus a great number more, to decide which ones should make the grade. 

"Some are old favourites, others are new to the Guide and prove that we need you to help us highlight the very best places. This is your brilliant list."

Speaking about the culinary scene in Wales, The Good Food Guide added: "With its food strongly defined by the sea, the mountains and lush pasture, Wales has proved to be a magnet for talented chefs in the past two decades.

"They put the principality’s exceptional produce to very good use."

The Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion restaurants named among the best in the UK:

Y Polyn - Nantgaredig, Carmarthenshire​

Overall rating: Good

Uniqueness: Good

Deliciousness: Good

Warmth: Good

Strength of recommendation: Good

The Good Food Guide said: "Remoteness is a virtue at this strikingly reconfigured 16th-century tollhouse.

"Run by Mark and Susan Manson as a cottagey restaurant with rooms, Y Polyn feels determinedly unpretentious, with bare mismatched tables, staff in jeans and diners encouraged to pour their own wine – although the glass-sided extension adds some modernist cool to proceedings."

The Warren - Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire

Overall rating: Good

Uniqueness: Good

Deliciousness: Good

Warmth: Good

Strength of recommendation: Good

The Good Food Guide said: "Set up by a young painter, a gardener and a chef from the festival scene, this is a free-spirited community hub supporting local and organic businesses – with a side order of open-mic nights, quizzes and sundry get-togethers.

"As the name suggests, the restaurant occupies a labyrinth of little rooms illuminated by candles and fairy lights with exposed beams, shelves of homemade provisions and vintages trappings – and it's driven entirely by renewable energy."

Yr Hen Printworks - Cardigan, Ceredigion

Overall rating: Good

Uniqueness: Good

Deliciousness: Very good

Warmth: Good

Strength of recommendation: Very good

The Good Food Guide said: "No expense has been spared on the conversion of this former printworks into a stylish, relaxed haven.

"The exposed stone walls look good as new – a warm, pale, clean finish bolstered by fresh woodwork – while the upper floor has a pitched, beamed ceiling.

"It’s informal, too, with a well-stocked bar and stylish rustic seating – equally good for a quick drink and a nibble or a full meal.

"With that in mind, the menu is based around small plates, drawing in premium local ingredients and global influences."

The other Welsh restaurants named in the UK's best 100 by The Good Food Guide 2023

There were seven restaurants across Wales named in The Good Food Guide's 100 best local restaurants of 2023:

  • Y Polyn - Nantgaredig, Carmarthenshire
  • Rocket and Rye - Cowbridge, Glamorgan
  • The Warren - Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire
  • Heathcock - Cardiff, Glamorgan
  • Paternoster Farm - Pembroke, Pembrokeshire
  • The Black Bear Inn - Bettws Newydd, Monmouthshire
  • Yr Hen Printworks - Cardigan, Ceredigion

To see all the restaurants in the UK that made the top 100 visit the The Good Food Guide website.