A renowned Welsh restaurant with two Michelin stars has been given a one-star hygiene rating by food safety inspectors, despite the chef’s claims that the establishment upholds the “highest standards in the world.”
Ynysyir, located near Machynlleth on the southern edge of the Eryri national park, has been praised as one of the best restaurants globally. It opened in 2013 and gained its first Michelin star a year later, with a second star added in 2022, making it the first site in Wales to win two prestigious accolades. However, a recent inspection by the Food Standards Agency on 5 November resulted in the restaurant scoring just one out of five, meaning “major improvement” is necessary.
Chef patron Gareth Ward told the BBC that he was “not embarrassed” by the low rating, which he attributed to inspectors’ concerns about the use of raw and aged ingredients. “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?'” Ward said. “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.”
Ward, a former contestant on MasterChef: The Professionals, explained that Ynysyir employs a specialist compliance company to address food safety and has a £50,000 freezer capable of reaching temperatures of -80°C (-112°F). After the inspection, the restaurant’s fish was sent away for independent laboratory testing, which found no concerns.
The chef acknowledged that the food safety officers were “not 100% wrong” and has since installed an additional hand-washing station in the fish preparation area. He also cited paperwork problems as contributing to the poor score, saying, “Sometimes you miss stuff or sometimes you write stuff down wrong or forget … I’d need a full-time office worker doing the paperwork to get it perfect every time.”
In Wales and Northern Ireland, all food establishments are legally required to display their hygiene rating in a prominent place. A spokesperson for Ynysyir said the business had requested a re-inspection, but no date had been set.
