Located near Machynlleth in Wales, Ynyshir Restaurant and Rooms is renowned around the country as one of the UK’s most inventive and prestigious restaurants. It has earned plaudits from far and wide, including winning two Michelin stars in 2022, but its latest award is rather less welcome - a one star hygiene rating from the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
According to the FSA report, it found ‘major improvement’ necessary when it came to the restaurant's management of food safety, and it also noted that improvement was necessary regarding the ‘cleanliness and condition’ of the facilities.
The prognosis sounds stark, but that isn’t the whole story. The report also found that Ynyshir’s hygiene and food handling was ‘generally satisfactory’, and chef patron Gareth Ward has come out fighting, claiming that the restaurant’s ‘specialised’ cooking methods ‘don’t fit their rules’.
Talking to the BBC, Ward believed that the FSA’s regulations didn’t account for the restaurant’s unique use of raw ingredients and modern equipment. ‘I'm buying sashimi-grade fish from Japan and they're questioning, 'well, we don't know the water, so how do we know it's sashimi grade?'
‘Well, it is sashimi grade. This stuff's eaten raw all over the world and, just because our rules don't fit their rules, they're questioning it.’
Ynyshir has invested huge amounts of money into cutting edge technology, such as the dry-aging salt chamber, and a £50,000 freezer, which reaches temperatures of -80C. ‘I've got a salt chamber for ageing fish but they obviously don't like the idea of ageing stuff,’ he added.
Ceredigion council - the local council that is responsible for hygiene inspections - has said that it stands by the ‘professional judgement of its staff in applying UK food hygiene standards.’
Ward did accept that the FSA had suggested some changes which the restaurant would be implementing, and that paperwork was also not at the required standard. ‘Some of our paperwork wasn’t right, and that’s our fault,’ he said. ‘Sometimes you miss stuff or sometimes you write stuff down wrong or forget stuff. I'd need a full-time office worker doing the paperwork to get it perfect every time.’
The restaurant has dealt with all the issues raised and requested a follow-up inspection, with a spokesman for the restaurant saying: ‘We remain fully confident in our processes, our team, and the safety of our operation.’
![]()