Picnic Lunches
On an Original Escape, your Upland Manager will provide you with a healthy, varied and nutritionally balanced deli-style packed-lunch, freshly made every day.
A wide selection of locally produced and often organic fruits and vegetables, meats and cheeses, bread, grains and pulses will be used, giving you the opportunity to really savour the flavours of the Rhinogs. Try local sausages, cheeses from local farmers, delicious salads of seasonal vegetables, and home-baked bara brith.
If you have chosen a No-Frills Escape, you will find a wide choice of delicious picnic ingredients available to buy in the little shops of Harlech, Dyffryn Ardudwy and Llanbedr.
Evening Meals
The Castle Cottage restaurant in Harlech offers a locally renowned fine dining experience, and the reputation of the Plas, also in Harlech, is swiftly catching up; in both cases mouthwatering dishes are prepared using local lamb, beef, lobster and crab. Along the coast in Barmouth, the cosy Bistro offers a sophisticated take on Welsh cuisine at very reasonable prices, and the Harbour Fish Bar is thought to do the best fish and chips in the area. Just down the hill from Byrdir, in Dyffryn Ardudwy, the Ael y Bryn serves good, unpretentious food – as do a selection of other nearby hostelries. You will of course be attempting to do justice to lavish breakfasts too.
Traditional Welsh cooking took leeks and cabbage from the garden, fish from the rivers, lakes or sea, and meat from the family pig. Lamb or beef was probably only served on feast days. A local classic is cawl, a broth or stew originally cooked in an iron pot over an open fire: seasonal vegetables, any scraps of lamb available, and home-cured bacon for flavour. Bara brith – speckled bread – is the most famous of numerous tea-time treats, and there are also some wonderful local cheeses to be found.
