Annwn
Narberth, Pembrokeshire
In the spring of 2023, Annwn's chef-owner Matt Powell relocated to new premises in the centre of Narberth. The set-up may look freshly minted, but it's a place with a purpose, a blink-and-you-miss-it spot, squished between other high-street shops. And with its simple white walls, slate floor and minimally laid oak tables, it’s a welcome pop of urban cool for this market town. Indeed, the juxtaposition of theatre-style seating facing an open-plan kitchen gives an interesting insight into the ordered working of the solo chef – just don’t expect the rigmarole of fine dining. Instead, an air of fresh informality and genuine friendliness prevails. The multi-course tasting menu sings lustily of food that's been caught, cured, foraged, picked, pickled and preserved – all from the estuaries, forests and fields of Pembrokeshire. We loved the individuality, the localism, the backstories to the dishes – the sheer skill on display. There was a wistfulness to some of the ingredients, from the use of Welsh in some descriptions and the reference to an ancient and dying Welsh language to the revival of an almost lost Welsh grain used in the bread. Luxury is not necessarily defined by a flash of lobster (deliciously served with laver seaweed, shoreline plants and lobster dressing), but by garden-fresh produce whose flavours are allowed to shine. Carrots, picked from Matt's garden that afternoon, teamed with some saltier preserved slices, preserved blackcurrants and hogweed seeds (all lapped by a rich, buttery carrot sauce) proved to be a fabulous amalgamation of sweet and salty. Elsewhere, a play on wild garlic, 'preserved in its life cycle' (bud, flower, leaves, seeds) and presented like a botanical painting, was simply sensational. By contrast, there was a rusticity to shoulder of saltmarsh lamb braised in honey and beer (a traditional Welsh way); tender enough to be eaten with a spoon, it was offset by a sea buckthorn emulsification, sea radish and scurvy grass. And as a finale, a delicate gorse-flower custard served in an eggshell with birch-vinegar meringue and sweet cicely proved to be a studiously assembled masterpiece. On our visit, the wine list (entirely English and Welsh) provided just two by the glass: a Lyme Bay Chardonnay (£19), and a Beaujolais-style White Castle Regent from Monmouthshire (£18), which drank well with our meal.
