A foodies guide to Cardigan

One of the things I remember best about holidays is the meals.  Not just the food, but where we ate them, the atmosphere, the smells, the sounds. 

I can remember eating spit roast chicken on the beach in Spain with my parents like it was yesterday.  My children are the same.  Days out on holiday are defined by what they had for lunch, be it a picnic in the car in the rain, or a tasty Italian dish in the sunshine.  

If you are like me, then the meals, snacks and treats that you enjoy on holiday form a big part of the memories you take home with you, and Cardigan has no shortage of special places to help you create your own foodie memories of your holiday here.  From ice cream, to fine cuisine, pizza in a tipi, Mexican street food and locally sourced sea food, Cardigan has a diverse menu on offer.

First we eat…

“Where can we go to eat?” 

That’s probably the one question we spend the most time asking on holiday.  Something good, tasty, and affordable.  Something different to what you can find in any town.  Something that satisfies us all.  Like any family, we all want something different!    “Where can we go to eat?”  That’s also probably the one question we get asked the most by our visitors to the area too. 

For a little town, Cardigan is bursting at the seams with places to eat.  For a fabulous Italian style lunch, you can’t go far wrong with Belottis Delicatessen and café.  At the beginning of the High Street, just after the castle, Belottis offers a delicious range homemade meals, including anti-pasti, pasta, barra gallegas and coffee, ice cream and cakes too.  If you are a lover of bacon and cream, like me, the carbonara is the dish for you.  Otherwise the Italian meat platter is a feast, and one I can also personally recommend!

 While we are at that end of the High Street, lets not forget about the Cegin 1176, at Cardigan Castle, which offers deli takeway boxes and a tasty sit down menu in a glass walled restaurant overlooking the river and quayside from a majestic elevated position.  On the other side of the road from here, close to the quayside, hidden away behind an archway absolutely covered in ivy, is a personal favourite destination of ours, the Pizza Tipi.  Nowhere in the UK could make you feel more like you are abroad than this place!  Outside seating, right on the rivers edge, or under the shelter of the giant tipi, around open fires, breathing in the warm, smoky aromas of pizzas cooking in wood fired ovens, time seems to lose its meaning here.  Your doggy friends are very welcome here, and this is a lovely place to kick back and chill out with a cold drink on a sunny evening.  Oh, and the pizzas are amazing too! 

 Right at the other end of the High Street, you will find Food for Thought café, a homely café with an extensive lunchtime menu, including omelettes, savoury pancakes, sandwiches and hot meals, as well as wonderful homemade cakes and, my personal favourite, Teapigs tea.  Loads of seating, in a quirky and cosy environment, as well as kerbside seating.  Just up from here, La Fontana is your destination for delicious ice creams and snacks for either take away or eat in.  They offer a delicious dairy free hot chocolate too. 

Cardigan Bay Brownies, right in the middle of the high street are masters in the art of the brownie, with more divine varieties than you could shake a stick at, all package conveniently in boxes for you to bring back for tea, or for your picnic.  Directly opposite there, you can find Truly Scumptious, who make a wide range of sweet treats, including macaroons and other tasty delights, and also take away lunches.  Also in the middle of town, you’ll find Taste the Bay, a newly opened take away offering a mouthwatering array of salad boxes and sandwiches comprising local ham and locally sourced sea food, perfect for your picnic.  If you prefer to make your own packed lunch, Queens Bakery, Bara Menyn and Crwst are all wonderful little local bakers with a range of traditional and artisan breads guaranteed to put you into carb overload!  Get there early though, when its gone, its gone!

The aforementioned Crwst also have a seating area for you to consume their delicious lunches, and if you’re there, it would really be rather rude not to try one of their yummy donuts, or other sweet plates of deliciousness! 

 Hiding away in a car park at the lower end of town, is El Salsa, a casual cantina style barn with unique Mexican décor and Mexican street food that is making my mouth water just to write about it.  Tacos, burritos and nachos, paired with a cocktail in the sun.  What could be better?  Tucked away in the corner of a different car park, overlooking the river Teifi, is the Fishermans Rest, where the catch of the day is turned into wholesome and tasty chowder, fishcakes and more. 

If you like a steak, don’t miss The Copper Pot.  On the high street, The Copper Pot has tasteful indoor seating. And a hidden secret garden for outdoor dining, where you can enjoy a cocktail in the sun before devouring a divine meal.  Our personal favourite is the highly recommended Delmonico steak from local high class butcher, Tom Samways, cooked in garlic butter, with fries coated in Maldon sea salt and parsley. 

Yr Hen Printworks, so named as it occupies in the newly renovated newspaper press, offers small plates, great for sharing in a tapas style.  Each one a taste sensation, the menu here is unique and creative, the atmosphere is casual and cosy, and the cocktails are superb.

 On a sunny day you might prefer fish and chips on the beach, and there are several very good fish and chip shops to choose from also, all of which we can vouch for!  In Cardigan town itself, you will find Cardigan Arms and Pendre, or further afield, Mor Ffein in St Dogmaels and Taten Eirw in Blaenporth come with our taste test stamp of approval!

If you are looking for somewhere to eat out of town, there are sea and river views from the Teifi Waterside waterfront restaurant and The Ferry pub in St Dogmaels, The Flat Rock and the Carreg Restaurant at the Cliff Hotel at Gwbert, and The Ship at Tresaith, all of which offer very good pub food, or you could try The Nags Head at Abercych for tasty homecooked pub food.

And that, as they say, is a wrap, as it is now lunchtime and all this talk of food has made me hungry!