Restaurants in Swansea (Abertawe)
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A
Bizzie Lizzie's Bistro
A warmly lit basement with country-kitchen pine furniture and green-and-white check tablecloths, decorated with bric-a-brac and old street signs, Bizzie's has a half-vegetarian, half-carnivore menu - whichever you are, go for the delicious nut roast with chilli and tomato sauce.
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Mermaid Restaurant & Coffee Lounge
A bright décor of blond wood and fresh flowers complement the menu of fresh local produce, home-baked bread, good wine and real ale. The Mermaid is famous for its slow-roast salt-marsh lamb from the Gower peninsula, and a kid's menu where everything is freshly prepared - no frozen chicken nuggets here. The building was once the Mermaid Hotel, a favourite haunt of Dylan Thomas.
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Knights Restaurant
Seafood is the speciality of the house at this intimate and elegant waterfront restaurant (chef Michael Knight is a favourite of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones). Local crab, sea bass, salmon and Dover sole make regular appearances on the menu, as does sewin (Welsh sea trout) in season. The monkfish with bacon, leeks and brandy sauce is recommended.
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Chelsea Café
Golden yellow tablecloths and dark red banquettes against wood-panelled walls and a red-brick chimney breast make for a snug dining room at this popular restaurant. Check the blackboard specials for filo-pastry parcels filled with prawns, squat lobster tails, cockles and laver bread, and roast loin of lamb with a smoked bacon, date and rosemary jus.
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E
Joe's Ice Cream Parlour
For an ice-cream sundae or a cone, locals love Joe's – a Swansea institution founded in 1922 by Joe Cascarini, son of immigrants from Italy's Abruzzi mountains. There are also branches at Parc Tawe Shopping Centreand Mumbles.
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698
A very stylish bistro and coffee lounge with a modern European menu (pan-fried scallops on pea purée to start, followed by grilled fillet steak with creamy mash and a wild mushroom jus), the 698 is also family-friendly, with high-chairs, baby-changing facilities, and books and toys to borrow.
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G
Vietnam
Rather girly red, pink and white décor here, but it's a firm favourite with the local Asian community so the kitchen must be doing something right. Authentic Vietnamese dishes such as bo bia (rice-paper rolls with peanut sauce) and thit vit quay (roast duck with rice).
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La Braseria
Having gained a reputation as a favourite hang-out of the Swansea glitterati (Catherine Douglas-Zeta-Jones is a fan), this place is enormously popular, often packed solid at weekends. It's a Spanish bodega-style place, with a global menu ranging from beef satay to local lobster.
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Govinda's
This sparkling restaurant specialises in vegetarian and vegan cuisine using locally sourced organic produce. The menu ranges from Indian samosa, dhal and vegetable curry, to veggie lasagne, nut burger and vegan cheesecake. It's run by Hare Krishna, but there's no proselytising.
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Didier & Stephanie
Swansea's top restaurant is an intimate and relaxed place, run by the Gallic duo with their names on the door. It's well regarded for its French cooking, refined setting and attentive service, and it offers good-value set menus at lunch (two/three courses £14/17).
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Wild Swan
Swansea's best Cantonese restaurant is sumptuously decked out with red leather sofas, delicate Chinese screens, and even a pond filled with koi carp. The menu covers all the classics from stir-fry squid with black bean sauce to aromatic crispy duck.
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Dylan's Books'n'Bites
Armchairs and tables scattered among the bookshelves in the Dylan Thomas Centre bookshop make an agreeable spot for a coffee and a read. The lunch menu includes home-made soup and sandwiches, plus dishes from the more formal restaurant upstairs.
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Miah's
Housed in a beautifully converted church with bare stone walls, exposed roof beams and tables ranged around a mezzanine at half-height, Miah's is a cut above the six-pints-and-a-curry type of Indian restaurant. The tandoori trout is exquisite.
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Retreat
Part of an incense-perfumed holistic centre, this New Age vegetarian and vegan café serves a range of healthy salads and sandwiches, as well as some naughtier dishes, including a delicious dairy-free chocolate fudge brownie.
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Bella Napoli
This cheery little southern Italian restaurant serves up classic pizza and pasta dishes, and is staffed by cheeky waiters who occasionally burst into song. Children are welcome.
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Chelsea Restaurant
Perfect for a romantic liaison, this elegant little dining room is discreetly tucked away behind the frenzy of Wind St. Seafood's the focus and blackboard specials are chalked up daily. While the name sounds flash, the prices aren't too bad: a £20 three-course set dinner is offered from Monday to Thursday.
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