What the experts recommend

Ynyshir Eglwys Fach, Machynlleth, Powys (01654-781209) In the 18 months since it opened, Gareth Ward’s restaurant in a beautifully refurbished country house in Snowdonia has found its way onto every where-to-eat list that counts, says Grace Dent in The Guardian. And if it stays at just the one Michelin star I’ll be amazed. The first course of our 19-course tasting menu, called “Not French Onion Soup”, was a “sublime” and “silken rabbit punch of miso, fermented fruit, seaweed and shisopickled vegetables. It was a taste of the joys to come, but I’d already “fallen madly in love with the place”. For the first 14 courses or so, there was nothing creamy or soothing: lamb saddle was flavoured with kombucha; a riff on Welsh cawl featured fermented mussels, raw asparagus and dashi; duck mousse came with birch sap and smoked eel. This is bold, risk-taking cookery. And each of the six puddings was a triumph, including a “bedazzling” take on tiramisu and a toffee pudding with medjool dates. Not cheap: definitely worth it. Eleven-course lunch £75; 19-course dinner £110-£125, plus drinks and service.

Neptune The Principal London, Russell Square, London WC1 (020-7520 1806) The team behind the raved-about Richmond in Dalston have now brought their “considerable skills” to Bloomsbury, says Tony Turnbull in The Times. The excellent Neptune is a plush room with round tables and sweeping banquettes, which feels “modern and glamorous at lunchtime”, and hints at a “certain louche quality come the evening”. We kicked off with some oysters, including a brace of “Morecambe Bay beauties that sharpened us up like a slap in the face from a Lancastrian fisherwoman”. The starters proper were “among the best things I’ve eaten all year”. Melon and crab gazpacho – its sweetness tempered by the faintest tickle of green chilli – was so good “I’d have traded two weeks in a villa in Provence for another bowl”. But then I would have missed out on the amazing homemade stracciatella (buffalo curd) with melon, mint and Vesuvius tomatoes. Grilled camarón rojo with ajillo (minced parsley and garlic) was “another dish that rattled heaven’s door”. And a fabulous hake broth and a “top-notch” cheesecake followed. “Just perfect.” Starters, £8-£16; mains, £18-£81.

Angela’s 21 The Parade, Margate, Kent (01843-319978) The chef-patron of Angela’s, Lee Coad, used to be this newspaper’s art director, says Nicholas Lander in the FT. So when I visited his charming Margate restaurant with my wife (the paper’s long-standing wine critic), we were identified straightaway. But with all due professional objectivity, I can report that “yet another individual has found his true métier as a restaurateur”. Every dish on the short menu was appealing: mussels, cider and garlic; cured mackerel and kohlrabi; trout and fennel with a rock oyster sauce; hake with cuttlefish and clams. And all were decent value. I went for a starter of six enormous Whitstable oysters; my wife for scallops and broad beans (that were a touch the wrong side of al dente). Our mains were “simple but outstanding”: a fillet of turbot served on the bone with a delicious smoked paprika hollandaise, and half a lobster with garlic and hazelnut butter. And for pudding, junket with strawberries was incredibly moreish. Starters, £2.50-£8.50; mains, £12-£19.50.