Where Chefs Eat: International Women’s Day Special

To celebrate International Women’s Day on the 8th March, I contacted some of my favourite women in the North Wales food industry and other fellow Instagrammers asking them where there favourite places to eat are.

North Wales may be small, but our female talent is mighty!

Laura from Two Islands Ice Cream Parlour, Abersoch

Laura is Head Baker and part owner of the wonderful Two Islands with her partner Jack. Both the ice cream and bakes are made in-house daily with seasonal and local produce.

I always head to Crust for a pizza after a busy day at the shop and kitchen as we don't fancy cooking. I always have the white sausage, tomato base and no cheese. Always good!
The Erskine Arms always provides a nice pub lunch. I then take a look around the independent shops in Conwy.
Over to Llandudno, we love looking round second hand and antiques shops so we'll do a day trip, with lunch at the Cottage Loaf, followed by coffee from Providero.
One of my recent favourite day trips to Anglesey was when we grabbed some picnic food from & Caws in Menai before heading to Newbrough Beach and a walk around the forest. Another favourite is a day trip to Rhosneigr and lunch at the Oyster Catcher.

Maggie’s African Twist

Maggie from Maggie’s African Twist creates and sells a fantastic range of exotic flavours including African spices and pastes right in the heart of Gwynedd.

I recommend Bwyd Da in Bangor. Bwyd Da is a community interest cafe and restaurant on the High Street. It houses excellent staff, food and locally sourced produce.

Meg from Ffika

Meg is the owner of the wonderful Ffika. Ffika are known for creating innovative menus by using locally sourced food from their funky yellow and red food truck.

I'm recommending Cegin Flodau.
Cegin Flodau is a local Welsh baker and her cakes are amazing! With options for every diet we would recommend her bakes for any occasion. Her bespoke wedding cakes are absolutely beautiful and her tray bakes are delish! We will be stocking these Cegin Flodau bakes at our North Wales events soon.

For breakfast, I recommend The Mill Bistro in Pontrug. They serve absolutely banging food, especially the veggie breakfast.
For a cheeky take away I recommend Jones pizza who are based in Caernarfon, and about to open a new place in Upper Bangor - the best pizza I've tried in Cymru!

Becky from Cafe Notos, Rhosneigr

Becky from Cafe Notos with her dog — *Image from Cafe Notos Facebook*

Becky opened Cafe Notos back in 2022, and was an instant success with locals and holiday makers. They are well known for serving quality breakfasts, lunches, fresh bakes and hot drinks with sustainability in mind.

My recommendation is Catch 22 over in Valley. The food is incredible, the atmosphere is super welcoming and the staff are uber friendly! You can never go wrong eating here.

Marie Lam, Food with Marie

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Marie runs the food account @foodwithmarie, and is based in Rhyl. As you can imagine, her recommendations are plentiful!

Botanical Lounge in Colwyn Bay is a great lunch spot. Every corner has its own little nook. The cafe also serve afternoon teas and breakfasts - my favourite is the French toast .
Another gem is the Jesters towers in Conwy. It’s my go to coffee spot. Jesters is a quirky place with so much character and histtory - it’s within the tower quarters within Conwy’s town walls. Try to get the window seats that looks over Conwy’s harbour.
If you wish to venture out of Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy, I recommend Hawarden Estate Farm shop and cafe for the breakfast. My favourite are the eggs Florentine and eggs Benedict.
Last but not least is The White Horse Hendrerwydd in Ruthin, a small family run business who serve small plates. Wow, it blew me away! Every dish we ate was outstanding. We couldn’t choose a favourite. In my opinion, it should deserve a MICHELIN Star! It’s a place we just can’t wait to visit again and the menu is forever changing using local produce.

Naomi, Little Welsh Foodie

Naomi runs @littlewelshfoodie, and is now Head Baker at The Wylde Bakery over in Birkenhead with thanks to the success of her social media account! Naomi embraces her Welshness with everything she bakes, and creates recipe Reels that are easy to follow.

I recommend the Popty Conwy Bakery! This is my favourite kind of bakery - home baked cakes, buns, bread and biscuits in all varieties! There’s always a queue out of the door whenever we visit and I can’t stop by Conwy without picking up a sweet treat from here. The homemade sandwiches are also lovely, so this is a great pre-picnic stop.