United Kingdom
This family-run ice cream parlour, cafe and restaurant is something of an institution and THE place to be seen in The Mumbles.
More than 30 varieties of Italian ice cream are produced each day - I wolfed down a divine selection of three sorbets: lemon, creamy strawberry and raspberry, served with a crisp wafer. There is great coffee and a fine dining menu, chalked up on the blackboard, offering pasta, pizzas, soups, stews and salads.
The cafe is always full and visitors gaze through the vast glass windows at the view of Swansea bay; it's almost like being in Naples on a cloudy day!
www.verdis-cafe.co.uk
Knab Rock, The Mumbles, Swansea SA3 4EN
+44 1792 369 135
Google map: bit.ly/pK8STM
We arrived in Swansea at 11pm, long after everything in Swansea, bar the kebab shops, had closed.
After several days of bland burgers and delicious, but samey fish and chips, Rose Indienne offered a wake-up call to the tired taste buds.
Everything about Rose Indienne breathes class. The service is polite and friendly without being overwhelming. The decor is delightful and the selection of starters contained some spices I had never experienced before. The vegetarian dishes were top-notch and I would dare to recommend this place as the best Indian restaurant in Swansea, maybe in all Wales?
www.roseindienne.co.uk
73-74 St Helen's Road, Swansea SA1 4BG
+44 1792 467 000
Google map: bit.ly/okkSQR
Desperate for an early-morning, wake-up brew, we found this tiny cafe quite by chance on the corner of a back street, ten minutes' walk from Swansea town centre.
It's located in a sweet former cobbler's workshop, and you can still see the gorgeous greeny-yellow stained glass sign reading 'Leonard's, for good boots and shoes' while you're perched on one of the three high, tractor-style metal (but surprisingly comfy!) stools. The coffee maker in the window is an authentic Elektra and there are sweet touches like the cobbler's wooden shoe mould in a frame and the little boot holding the door ajar.
Oh, and did I mention the coffee?
Smooth cappuccinos, rich dark espressos, lethal mocchas...all you could ask for, plus panini, home-made browies and bacon butties.
A real find.
1 King Edward Road, Swansea
+44 7543 439 595
Google map: bit.ly/qW43nF
There is a great local food scene going on here, not only restaurants but delis, and loads of local produce markets. Lots of the restaurants only use local produce. Food Passion is a great place to read about it!
Peaceful, inventive restaurant run by Hare Krishnas. Great food, yoga classes, astrology and aura readings, interesting gift shop but no preaching.
8 Cradock St
Tel: 0871 5292354
www.govindasvegetarianrestaurant.org
Just go there, the ice cream is well nice!
85 St. Helens Road Swansea West Glamorgan SA1 4BQ
A funked-up glass restaurant on the sea front in Swansea, Wales, run by Italians with Welsh accents and with home-made concoctions like tiramisu and pistachio flavour ice-creams.
This is the most beautiful, friendly, chilled-out place to relax and the staff are young, friendly, and attractive with a startling consistency - moody dark Italians mix with cheerful Welsh blondes as the cherry on top, though, of course, there are many cherries in the ice cream, should you wish.
A favourite among families, sundae-sharing couples and grannies treating themselves, a summer sundae there is divine, and the city lights shimmering over the sea at night make the old city look more magical than it looks close up, that's for sure!
Verdi's Restaurant
Knab Rock, Mumbles, Swansea, Wales, SA3 4EN
tel +44 (01792) 369 135
www.verdis-cafe.co.uk/frameset.htm
The phrase "Ambition is critical" greets visitors leaving Swansea railway station. The city has a reputation as a graveyard of ambition, a distinction which owes as much to Joe's Ice Cream as to its scenery and beaches. One taste and you'll never eat ice cream anywhere else.
Anyone who's ever lived in Swansea can tell you that Joe's was established in 1922: it says so on the side of their cartons. Since then, millions of litres of the stuff have been sold to locals and visitors alike.
Make your choice from the extensive range of specials, or just have a cone or carton of pure vanilla ice cream as it comes, rolled in chocolate strands or chopped nuts as you wish.
In addition to the original premises on St Helen's Road (near the cricket ground, Guildhall and university), there are two newer branches at Mumbles and Parc Tawe.
85 St Helen's Road - 01792 653880
524 Mumbles Road, Mumbles - 01792 368212
The Piazza, Parc Tawe - 01792 460370
joes.webmediaworks.co.uk
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