The Shed, Swansea Marina restaurant review 2025

Considering the ridiculous number of restaurants on my “to visit” list, the chances of us ever revisiting anywhere outside of Cardiff are very slim.

So, it says a lot about how much I enjoy a restaurant if I’ve visited it multiple times.

The Broad Chare. Upstairs at Landrace. Osip. Le Champignon Sauvage. Noble Rot. These are the obvious ones that spring to mind, but there really aren’t very many.

The Shed in Swansea is the latest restaurant to be added to this elite group.

Since visiting shortly after it opened in February last year, The Shed has garnered a clutch of glowing reviews in the national papers.

The reason why it was probably so quick to grab national attention is because it’s owned by Gorseinon native Jonathan Woolway, the former long serving chef-director at St John in London, arguably the UK’s most influential restaurant of the past 30 years.

Located in a former grain warehouse in Swansea Marina, The Shed’s unembellished industrial aesthetic very much belongs in the St John mould. So too does their understated yet flavour-focused seasonal cooking.

A rich seam of Welshness runs through the Shed’s menu, from the produce to the dishes. As expected, I wanted to eat everything on it from black pudding with fried egg (£13) to braised Gower lamb with mint sauce (£29). And its priced fairly enough so that regular visits could be a possibility, especially considering they serve a set lunch menu offering three courses for £28. 

On the night we visited Jonathan wasn't there, but the team calmly worked away in the open kitchen.

Wines, a much bigger selection by the glass than when we last visited, were all lovely. A summery Quinta Raza Vinho Verde (£7.20), vanilla-scented Don Placero Tinto Rioja (£7.20) and nectar-like Ginestet Sauternes (£5.20) were a few of the highlights.

Cockle croquettes (£8) were a lovely bit of nostalgic comfort food. Briny cockles and bechamel in a golden crumb were elevated by a generous dash of malt vinegar and an assertive dust of white pepper.

Patti pan (£13) was a new one on the both of us. It also now happens to be Mrs G’s new nickname. Soft sweet squash pieces were nicely charred and served on leaves dressed in a fragrant mint vinaigrette and creamy ewe's curd. It was the ideal light dish for a hot sunny day.

Sardines (£12.50) are one of my favourite fish, but I know having to fillet them puts a lot of people off. Here someone had gone to the trouble for me and I didn’t find a single bone. All the accompaniments enhanced the oily fish - a vibrantly herby and acidic mojo verde, zingy pink pickled onions with a good crunch, and sweet and fiery pickled red chillies.

Onto mains, and a very good yet smallish skate wing (£27) was uniformly caramelised all over and accompanied by toothsome French beans and a big flavoured nutty, sweet, smoky and spicy romesco sauce.

I love rare breed Mangalitza pork, so I didn't look past the roasted chop (£28) when I saw it on the menu. However, when it arrived, it was disappointingly well-done, dry and chewy. I enquired as to whether that was how it was supposed to be cooked, the manager checked with the kitchen, informed me that it wasn't, and a replacement was knocked up.

This time it was served with a blush of pink, and it was immeasurably better for it. Gorgeously caramelised with a brilliant intensity of flavour and a crisp cap of fat, it was a knockout chop.

Kaliboos cabbage was another new vegetable that I hadn’t tried before. Appearing like a cross between a hispi and a red cabbage, it was served as a lovely sweet spiced braise. Meaty cooking juices, pokey wholegrain mustard and apple sauce completed the dish.

A side of Welsh rarebit (£8) was inevitable. A textbook example with its cheesy beery mustardy topping, a nice bit of tableside theatre saw it grooved with a knife and splashed with Worcestershire sauce.

Mrs G loved the Shed’s bara brith (£9.50) so much last time that there was no decision to be made when it came to dessert. Served warm with a knob of butter melted into it, the loaf’s soft crumb and crisp edges were bang on. Accompanied by pieces of salty and funky Teifi cheese, it was a lovely sweet savoury dessert.

I was in the mood for something naughty and a bowl of baked cookie dough (£11) from the specials board very much fit the bill. The combination of rye, hazelnut and dark chocolate was just on the right side of sweetness with extra indulgence coming from a scoop of fragrant honey ice cream.

Despite the hiccup with my main course, we had another excellent meal at The Shed and a third visit is inevitable. It really is a privilege to have a chef of Jonathan Woolway’s calibre running his own restaurant in south Wales.

The Details:

Address - The Shed, Unit 1-2, J Shed Arcade, Kings Rd, Swansea SA1 8PL

Web - https://theshedsa1.com/

Telephone - 01792 712120

The Kardomah, Swansea cafe review

 

“My Home Sweet Homah”

That’s how Dylan Thomas, described Swansea’s Kardomah Café. 

I may as well leave it there because Thomas’ four-word summation will be far more eloquent than anything I’m going to blurt out over the next few paragraphs.

I think it’s fair to say that the Kardomah had a special place in Dylan Thomas’ heart. As part of the Kardomah Gang, a group of Bohemian artists, musicians, poets and writers, he used to regularly hang out at its previous incarnation on Swansea’s Castle Street in the 1930s. 

Whilst it was sadly destroyed in the Blitz, the Kardomah relocated to Castle Street in 1957, where it’s been operated by the Luporini family since 1970. 

Crossing the Kardomah’s threshold and walking past its many original features, including the cash desk, retro dessert trolley, wood-panelled walls and tiled pillars, immediately transports you back in time. 

It shines through in their laminated menu too, which features cooked breakfasts, toasted sandwiches, roast dinners and jacket potatoes, amongst many other things.

Despite being over 100 years old, the Kardomah certainly hasn’t slowed in pace. Orders are taken and dishes bussed back and forth at a quickfire tempo by the friendly front of house team, many of whom are wearing traditional uniforms. 

Coffee, the Kardomah's own house blend (£2.50), had a good roasty caramel vibe and light bitterness. It’s a nice touch that you can get a free refill before 11.30am and its 95p afterwards.

A jacket potato (£8.50) ticked all the right boxes with its lightly chewy ochre skin and soft innards. Topped with a generous quantity of old skool tuna mayo and accompanied by a dollop of thick coleslaw with a good tang of salad cream, it was a dish which did exactly what it promised.

A Welsh breakfast Saturday special (£10.95) was advertised on the door on the way in. The fry-up was a nice halfway house between a high end brunch and a greasy spoon. Thick cut bacon was top-drawer and a mound of briny cockles punctuated the dish with their salinity. 

Slippery laverbread tasted delicately of the sea and a frilly-edged fried egg, sweet roasted tomato, filthy fried bread and a buttered slice were all bang on. It was only a giant Richmond-esque skinless sausage which I wasn't convinced by - I'd much prefer a course ground juicy number with a snappy exterior.

I couldn't resist a retro trifle for dessert. Sweet strawberry jelly dotted with fruit salad, set custard and thick whipped cream combined well for a very reasonable £3.25.

With its well-priced and down-to-earth cooking, I can see why the Kardomah was packed with families and friends off all generations. 

It's a Welsh institution and one which I hope will be around for another 100 years.

The Shed, Swansea Marina restaurant review

I can't tell you the last time I was this excited about a new restaurant opening in Wales.

It's because Jonathan Woolway, the former chef director of St John, one of the UK's most iconic restaurants, has just opened his own gaff in Swansea.

Repeat, this is not a drill - the former chef director of St John, the Michelin-starred restaurant which pioneered ‘nose to tail’ cooking and was a favourite of Anthony Bourdain, has opened a restaurant just an hour down the road from my house.

Woolway, who originally hails from Gorseinon had worked at St John since 2008, becoming their head chef in 2014 and chef director in 2021.

Now, he’s returned home to Swansea and opened The Shed in Swansea's Marina.

Located in a former grain warehouse that dates back to the 19th century, The Shed’s large industrial space impressively manages to retain an intimate feel. On one side of the dining room there’s an open kitchen where Jonathan oversees the pass and on the other side a bar area with a chalkboard offering negronis as well as local Beer Riff beers.

The menu is straight out of the St John playbook, focusing on first class produce, prepared with precision technique, yet at the same time appearing entirely unfussy.

It's no understatement to say I wanted to order everything and that's before I even got onto the specials board, which included a sharing beef pie for two, steamed marmalade pudding with custard, and giant chocolate and honey choux bun.

Whilst there’s a good selection of sparkling wines by the glass, rather weirdly there's only one white, red and rose on offer. Fortunately, I enjoyed the deliciously fruity and smashable Patagonian Sauvignon Blanc Chardonnay (£6.95) whilst Mrs G tucked away a couple of glasses of Tatty G champagne (£13).

Cockle croquettes (£8) summed up the whole experience. A hyper crisp crumb gave way to a light yet decadent bechamel studded with salty and meaty cockles. But it was a drizzle of malt vinegar that gave it a distinctly British twang, transforming the snack into high end chip shop filth.

A salad of earthy beetroot (£11), creamy and tangy goats cheese, crunchy walnuts, peppery watercress, and a dressing of well-judged acidity, was an example of the simple executed with exactness.

A quenelle of whipped chicken livers (£12.50) was quite simply the finest chicken liver pate I've ever eaten. Silky, light and creamy, the rich pate had a good meatiness and iron rich finish without an off-putting dominating offaliness. Lightly charred sourdough toasts and a sweet and delicately acidic pear and ginger chutney were the ideal accompaniments.

Mrs G's braised rabbit main course (£24) was so good that she described it as Watership Up. Stupidly tender fall of the bone bunny, coarse and creamy celeriac mash with a soft accent of aniseed, silky yet potent aioli, and meaty cooking juices, were all excellent. It wasn’t a looker but every component combined to form a Megazord of deliciousness.

Mackerel (£24) is one of my favourite fish in the world. But, getting it off the bone can be a right faff. Impressively, the Shed's whopping butterflied version didn't have a single bone in it. Lightly charred and smoky skin gave way to beautifully oily flesh that was delicious accompanied by a potently salty and savoury anchovy cream and soft rainbow chard with an almost meaty twang.

Welsh rarebit (£8) was a klaxon of savouriness. The crisp toast, topped with an ooze of poky cheese, warming mustard, and beer, was dialled up in intensity even further by the addition of a few blobs of Worcestershire Sauce.

For dessert, Mrs G took on The Shed's equivalent of St John's eccles cake and Lancashire cheese. Warm bara brith (£9), with a light fruit bread vibe, was topped with a slick of melting salty butter and accompanied by the funky savouriness of Teifi cheese. It was a belter of a sweet-savoury combination.

My pavlova (£9.50) was very good too. The light and crisp meringue (I must admit I did hope for a slightly chewy centre) was topped with shocking pink sweet, tart and fragrant rhubarb and vanilla scented whipped cream.

We had an outstanding meal at the Shed and I could go back every week for their brilliantly accomplished yet understated cooking.

I’m rather jealous that they’re located in Swansea rather than Cardiff. But, most importantly, I’m happy that Wales has a chef of Jonathan Woolway’s calibre cooking in his home country.

The Details:

Address - The Shed, Unit 1-2, J Shed Arcade, Kings Rd, Swansea SA1 8PL

Web - https://theshedsa1.com/

Telephone - 01792 712120

Meat Matters, Online butcher delivery, Wales review

Nothing makes something more desirable than seeing the words “limited release” attached to it.

The latest Nike Dunks.

The newest release from wild brewing maestros Mills.

And the home delivery delights from Hills Brecon, Kapow Ribs, St John and Ty Melin, all of which have been challenging to get hold at various points over the last twelve months.

In recent months I’ve coveted the beautifully marbled beef from Gower-based online butchery Meat Matters. Every Thursday there’s a new beef drop and the most popular items are reported to sell out pretty swiftly. By the time I got my arse into gear to place an order on the Sunday, I’d missed out on beef short ribs and bone in rib-eye.

So, I had to settle for bone-in rib, aged beef mince, shin and bone marrow. It’s a hard life.

Our meat arrived the following Thursday, neatly vac-packed and well-chilled.

A bone-in rib of aged Pembrokeshire ex-dairy cow (£45.90) was an absolute beauty of a piece of meat. Holstein-based in breed, its flesh was a deep ruby red and very well marbled. Over 1.8kg in weight, it was a double rib so we were able to split it in two and freeze half for a later date.

With beef of this calibre, I really wanted to do it justice by cooking it properly. So, I contacted Oliver Woolnough, owner of Meat Matters, who was only too happy to chat me though a suggested method.

A ferocious sear on the hob, an oven cook until the interior temp reached 54 degrees, and a 20 minute rest later and the result was a gorgeous medium rare with a bronze crusted exterior.

 

It was an absolutely class piece of meat, tender, deeply beefy in flavour and juicy with an addictive seam of crisp yellow fat. Served with hispi cabbage, fries and bearnaise sauce, it made for a top notch Friday night dinner.

A 1kg bag of aged beef mince (£9) transformed into delicious burgers. With a lovely intensity of flavour and a good crust, I heaped our double pattied burgers alongside melted American cheese, tangy burger sauce and pickles into toasted Friends in Knead brioche buns.

A trio of Fred Flintstone-esque bone marrow canoes (£4) were used to make St John’s iconic bone marrow on toast. It was a ridiculously easy recipe and seriously delicious.

Toasted Ty Melin seeded sourdough was loaded with beefy, fatty, wobbly marrow and a punchy flat leaf parsley salad with plenty of cutting citrus, caper and shallot.

Behemothic bone-in pieces of beef shin were given the low and slow treatment. After three hours of braising and subsequent sauce reduction, the result was a pot of spoonably soft meat in an aromatic bone marrow-flecked gravy. It certainly wasn’t a looker but it made up for it in flavour.

We used a Nigella Lawson recipe as a starting point and stuffed the pieces of shin into pillowy bao buns alongside a zingy Asian-influenced salad.

The produce from Meat Matters is first class and a showcase of the best that Wales has to offer. With around 14 generous portions for just over £80 including delivery, it’s good value for the quality too. Whether you're a dab hand cooking over open flame or an enthusiastic incompetent in the kitchen like myself, I heartily recommend checking them out. 

The Details:

Web - https://meatmattersltd.co.uk/

The Plough and Harrow, Murton, Swansea pub review

Awards raise punters’ expectations.

When you don't expect the finest (delete as appropriate) roast dinner / burger / spam fritter, it’s much easier to be impressed.

However, when the bar is set high, you're a lot more likely to be disappointed.

Located in the village of Murton (just a few miles from Swansea), the Plough and Harrow was named best gastropub in Wales 2018 in the Food Awards Wales and Tom Parker Bowles named it in his best 50 Sunday roasts in the UK in 2018.

 
Two menus are available in the evening, a bar menu with high-end pub grub and an a la carte with more bistro style food. We went for the latter. 

 
The meal kicked off in very fine form. Thick tranches of warm and soft soda bread were accompanied by soft and salty Netherend Farm butter, pretty much the Rolls-Royce of the dairy world. 

Soup of the day (£6.50), a mix of courgette, dill and fennel was well-seasoned, well-herbed and a little bit different to the norm. It was accompanied by more of that excellent soda bread. 

 
Tenby crab pate en croute (£8) was inexplicably lacking its pastry exterior, one of the key selling points of the dish. Instead, a smooth crab pate with a good hit of brown meat was served on a trio of croutons which could have been a fair bit crisper. Sweet pickled fennel slices provided a lovely acidic note but intensely flavoured grapefruit and pearls of pomegranate were two ingredients too many.

There was a big thumbs up from a friend for their whole Gressingham quail (£9). Crisp of skin and tender of flesh it was joined by a sweet white onion puree, glossy meat sauce and a nice mix of green vegetables. 

Onto mains and Mrs G loved her Welsh Wagyu burger (£16). 

The medium-cooked, big-flavoured and juicy patty was served with thick cut smoky bacon, a punchy and oozy wasabi rarebit, wilted pak choi and a toasted brioche bun. Accompanying triple cooked chips didn’t have the extreme crispness I’d usually associate with this variety but they were still nicely golden and crisp. 

A friend enjoyed her mildly spiced Mauritian curry (£18) loaded with sweet prawns and served with wild rice and a punchy and aromatic coriander chutney. But a pair of generous fillets of monkfish, whilst tasty, were deep fried rather than cooked in a more delicate manner. 

The third main was a letdown. Overnight pork belly (£18) was essentially a pleasant roast dinner. A pair of slices of tender pork were light on meat and consisted mostly of a nicely seasoned stuffing made from white pudding and rhubarb (although the fruit was barely perceptible). 

Crackling was lacking apart from in a couple of small places and the other accompaniments were okay - leek and bacon hash was more like a robust, coarse mashed potato whilst a whopping baked apple was still quite firm. 

A tower of beer battered onion rings (£3.50) were golden and crisp with a soft sweet interior. 

Desserts were both good.

A thick and creamy creme brûlée (£7) studded with pistachios impressively arrived at the table mid-brûlée. It was joined by a tasty slice of almond flapjack. 

A crisp tart (£7) loaded with fragrant and tangy rhubarb was topped with a golden crumble spiced with cardamon and joined by a thick and creamy scoop of Turkish Delight ice cream. The spicing of this dish divided opinion - I felt the intense fragrance of cardamom and rose water detracted from the first rate fruit. Others thought it worked well. 

 
Overall, we had a mixed dinner at the Plough and Harrow. Whilst most of the food was lovely (and Mrs G had a delicious meal), I was a bit disappointed by my choices. 

The Details:

Address - The Plough and Harrow, 88 Oldway, Bishopston, Swansea SA3 3DJ

Web - http://www.ploughandharrow.eu/

Telephone - 01792 234459