A PEMBROKESHIRE hotel’s restaurant has been named one of the best places to eat, just 18 months after opening.

Dulse restaurant – which is based at Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront – won top place in The Place to Eat category of the 2023 Croeso Awards.

Dulse – which is named after an edible native seaweed which also features on the menu – impressed the judges at a restaurant tasting held for shortlisted nominations. It impressed enough to score full points with two of the judges!

Milford Mercury: The restaurant scored top points with two of the judges.The restaurant scored top points with two of the judges. (Image: Ty Waterfront)

Former Wales National Chef of the Year, Simon Crockford, heads up the restaurant, bringing his experience as a former executive restaurant chef at the Celtic Manor Resort to provide fine dining at the new restaurant which opened its doors in April 2022.

Simon said: “I am so proud of the whole team at Dulse for winning this award. As a Pembrokeshire lad originally, to be given the chance to name the restaurant and lead on the concept was way beyond humbling for me. Then to recruit the team locally and open such an exciting restaurant in an absolutely stunning location was a real privilege.

“We have a young team, but I always knew that with passion and staying true to Pembrokeshire and all its fantastic produce from both the land and sea, we could create something really special.

“The feedback from guests has been amazing since the day we opened and to win this award so quickly, with competition from so many fantastic restaurants, is the icing on the cake.”

Milford Mercury: The ingredients are locally sourced.The ingredients are locally sourced. (Image: Ty Waterfront)

Dulse is one of five restaurants in Pembrokeshire to be listed in the respected Harden’s restaurant guide and Visit Wales gave it four stars for its ‘technically excellent’ dishes using ‘flavoursome, quality ingredients’. The Western Telegraph described Simon as ‘pure genius’ at a 'chef's table' for selected guests, which you can read more about here. At the chef's table, he told the Western Telegraph: "I’m not trying to create anything fancy,  and I never will. All I want to do is put Pembrokeshire on the map for the incredible produce it’s producing and create humble dishes that are bursting in flavour.”

Milford Mercury: The restaurant has stunning views of the marinaThe restaurant has stunning views of the marina (Image: Ty Waterfront)

Tŷ Hotel Milford Waterfront – which is run by The Celtic Collection in partnership with the Port of Milford Haven – was also featured in the awards ceremony as a runner-up in the Hotel of the Year category.

The hotel has 100 bedrooms, with the majority of these rooms and all the tables in Dulse restaurant and bar looking over the stunning Milford Marina and the working harbour.

The Croeso Awards were held by Visit Pembrokeshire at Pembrokeshire College to celebrate the very best of Pembrokeshire’s vibrant tourism sector.