Here is a quick quiz question for you: Outside of London, which current restaurant has appeared in the Which? Good Food Guide for the most consecutive years?

Is it the famous Regano oyster restaurant in Glasgow?  Perhaps the Manchester eating institution that is Old Sam’s Chop House?  Or maybe it’s Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir in Oxfordshire?

You might be a little surprised by the answer: the Abersoch institution that is Porth Tocyn Hotel! The hotel and restaurant is about to hit 50 consecutive years of being in “The Guide.”  It was once described by an editor of the Good Food Guide as “The Mouse Trap of the Restaurant World”…There are headline grabbing restaurants which are in fashion for a while and then fade away.  Then there are the very few which have the quality and enduring appeal to go on and on.

The hotel’s restaurant first entered the Good Food Guide in 1957, the year that Harold McMillan was elected Prime Minister and the Russian’s launched Sputnik II and Laika the dog into space!  Much has changed in 50 years but the Porth Tocyn Hotel Restaurant still graces the coveted gastronomic pages.

So how has a Country Hotel restaurant in this quiet corner of North Wales managed to maintain such recognition over the years?  Owner Nick Fletcher-Brewer is unsure: “luck probably” he says: “To stay in the Guide for that long we must have had our fair share of it.”

Surely there’s more to it than luck? “Oh of course there is” explains Nick: “You have to set your standards high and maintain them year-in-year-out.  The chefs and menus may change over the years but fundamentally we feel we know good food and service and we stick to it.

Continues Nick: “The place is nearly 60 years old now and it has always been owned by the family.  This has probably given us a certain independence to do things our way.  Our guests seem to love the standards we set and the performance we lay on night after night and seemingly so does The Which? Good Food Guide.”

Elizabeth Carter, Consultant Editor at The Which? Good Food Guide said: “The Guide has a long history of recognising the highest standards of food across the United Kingdom, so any restaurant that achieves a listing for 50 consecutive years has something to be proud of.”

Any dishes survived 50 year? “To be honest no” says Nick: “Tastes have moved on so much over the past 50 years and the range of produce available now would have been unimaginable in 1957.  After all rationing had only finished in 1954!

“Although I suppose things have turned full circle in a way, as increasingly we try and source as much produce as possible locally just as they would have had to do in the 50s.”

How about another 50 years then Nick?  “Well let’s hope so, but you definitely won’t be talking to me in 2057” he laughs.

The Porth Tocyn opens for its 59th season on Friday March 23rd.

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For further information with regards this release or The Porth Tocyn Hotel call David Innes-Edwards at Frontier PR on 07939 137 098 or email david@frontierpr.co.uk.

For nearly 60 years Abersoch’s Porth Tocyn Hotel has been one of North Wales premier family owned hospitality destinations.  Perched high above Cardigan Bay the hotel boasts a enviable combination of stunning views and award winning hospitality and facilities; and over the last twenty years has particularly caught the eyes, ears and taste buds of the discerning family market. 

Visit: www.which.co.uk/gfgfeedback to register your opinions.