Tafarn Pencei Cafe Bar in Gwynedd

Fish and chips were the best I’ve ever had, lovely friendly place - stumbled on this place whilst away for my hubby’s 60th - definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area

We ate here as a party of 10 a couple of weeks ago. The food was great (katsu 10/10) and our waitress was first class. Thanks a lot.

Tafarn Pencei is an excellent pub that’s located right next to the marina at Porthmadog. They have a pretty broad selection of beers, wines and spirits and a surprisingly exciting food menu including some excellent vegan options. The staff are also really friendly and helpful, and you can usually watch live sport, normally without the associated rowdy atmosphere that other pubs get. On sunny days, you can sit outside, either in one of the seats directly in front of the pub, or in the raised beer garden at the side. Tafarn Pencei is one of the best pubs in Porthmadog and is definitely recommended.

Didn't have food but nice atmosphere.

Love this place! Food is great and the staff make your visit worth it!

Great people and great atmosphere. What a gem. Will be returning.

Best Ice cream ever perfect warm welcome and service you expect 😉 can't recommend enough. Can't wait to go again yum 😋

Excellent food and service. Nothing was too much trouble for the helpful team. Food all arrived together and the quality was outstanding. I would highly recommend this establishment to anyone. Very fairly priced.

A proper pub. Only been in for drinks but it's homely and welcoming

Just had a meal with friends a table of eight of us to celebrate a birthday Food was amazing cooked to perfection nothing was to much trouble Service was excellent would highly recommend this place for a visit not to missed we will definitely be back again

My wife and I have just had an excellent meal in a happy pub on the harbour in Porthmadog. Great atmosphere, lovely food, friendly staff. Free parking.

A great bar, sat outside with a pint of IPA. Great service, friendly staff.

Amazing meal tonight in a lovely atmospheric pub, a gem in porthmadog. The staff were so attentive and polite and really made you feel at home. 100 percent recommendation. i actually ate here on two nights, each night was perfect the food was just wonderful

Excellent pub, right on the harbour. Staff are attentive and friendly. Vibe is nice and relaxed, yet has a bustle to it. A few great real ales are available. Food was ace; I had the smash burger which was really great. All in all, highly recommended 🏁

Super evening meal, rump steak, perfectly cooked, atmospheric pub with wonderful attentive staff, totally recommend

We drove up from Cardiff on a trip through Wales, stayed right around the corner, and walked into this place + were welcomed w/open arms! Had a great night w/Andres +friends. Amazing drinks! Hospitality through the roof. Highly recommend.

We haven't had a bad meal here, service is always goods , nice friendly pub with lovely food, dog friendly and shows sports on large tvs👌😋

We only stopped for a cuppa and found the staff really friendly, the tea was great and very reasonable and we had two lovely couples sit by us with dogs all really friendly. Looking forward to returning for food.

This place for us, we had a meal there with our dogs, one a nervous one. The waiter, I think he was called Russ was great with him and us. He was very friendly and food came out very quickly. It was delicious and had good vegetarian options. It was busy but the dining area was very spacious, would recommend this to anyone, hopefully be back again. Thanks again Russ for a great service

Walk in group of 8 on a lazy Wednesday. Staff were very friendly and attentive, really cozy atmosphere. Food was very good! I wish I took photos but the smash burger I had was delicious and just the right size! Reasonable prices - very strong reccomend for those looking to enjoy a lovely little pub lunch 😀

A great local. Friendly people . Even to non Welsh speakers

Oh wow wow, absolutely stunning. Staff are amazing, tentative, and very friendly. Food was out of this world, especially the rice pudding, new one for me marmalade, changed my life, no more strawberry jam, marmalade all the way. Totally recommend, you will not be disappointed.

A bustling pub/restaurant on a Friday evening. Food was fine (the Ukrainian beet soup was excellent) and service good. Dog friendly, too.

Very nice little pub. Nice staff helpful and friendly.

Excellent little spot - I'm not a regular here as such but I grew up nearby and and usually pop in when back in the area for a visit.

Lovely food, very welcoming staff, dog friendly, you can watch footie too, outdoor area, have had 2 meals in the last week or so definitely will be back and recommend

Quiet this time of year but still a nice pub to go to

can’t say a lot, not my type of place, reheated food from frozen.

We were staying for a few days near Porthmadog and wanted somewhere that was dog friendly but also showing the Manchester United match on a Sunday evening. Tafarn Pencei was the perfect place, there was a brilliant atmosphere, our dog was given lots of attention which he loved and we even got some free roast potatoes, beef and a Yorkshire pudding off the back of the Sunday roast service.

Stopped here for lunch while sightseeing in Wales. The staff were very friendly and a nice atmosphere. We had the Sunday roasts. The portions were huge compared to what we get in Southampton. In fact so big that we could not eat everything. Very delicious food cooked to order. This pub is highly recommended. Thank you for the delicious lunch.

Friendly, professional & knowledgeable staff. Great selection of drinks available. Warm Friendly atmosphere, which also goes for the local clientele who were there.

Only had a coffee and cake but very nice place and some walks around there mountain all around you

We came to this lovely pub after enjoying the food and beer here when we visited last year. We had an excellent Sunday lunch and a most enjoyable birthday celebrating evening meal later in the week. The food is top quality, the staff wonderful, and we all loved the draft Bass. It is a proper pub with a great landlord. I our opinion it is the best one in town

We didn't eat here. Just popped in for a Guinness after a lovely walk around the town

We almost didn’t go in on Monday as the menu outside said food sold from Wednesday so worth checking if you go earlier in the week. The food was lovely and a cosy atmosphere. Unfortunately could smell the damp from the bathroom but wouldn’t change anything else.

Excellent food, good value, family friendly and great service! Totally recommend 👍👍

Good pub atmosphere. Nice pint of Bass. Toilets could do with upgrading.

Brilliant service..food was lovely ..big dog hot 🌭 👌

We are blow ins from Manchester, googled good dog friendly pubs and didnt disappoint. Top little place. Staff are great and so helpful (we had a very annoying pain in the arse with us and they were very patient with his daft requests and nonsense), food is great! Highly recommend the big dog, im a hot dog hunter and this was 👌 Mates had the steaks, cooked to perfection!

Best burger we've had in Wales. Also the fries are perfect.

A very friendly reception and a good cup of coffee to boot!

food was lovely, piping hot very tasty and all dishes we ordered was just fab, the service was outstanding, will deffo return

LOVE LOVE LOVED this place!!! Amazing atmosphere, amazing staff and the food!! Oh phenomenal! Can't wait to go back again 🤩

You just cannot walk past this lovely pub, which is situated in the corner of Porthmadog Harbour, not far from the Yacht club. For many years, we've visited Porthmadog walking from Black Rock Sands along the coast line through Borth-y-Gest and arriving in the harbour where you need a little break, so we popped into Tafarn Pencei. Outside the pub, there are benches, but to the side of the pub, there's a rooftop terrace with a lovely view of the harbour just a note that this pub is very dog friendly, Tess loves it anyway. Inside it has a dining area to the left and the centre of the pub is the bar which has seating beyond and to the right a further 4 large tables. The landlord and all the staff are very friendly and attentive, which includes the chef and kitchen staff as your food is absolutely amazing (5✨️) The bar has 3 to 4 real ales on Bass, a favourite, is always on, good selection of largers and a nice wine list which are all reasonably priced. The Pencei is a go-to pub and restaurant it has its regulars, who I must say are also lovely but what we love about it is the atmosphere the way that the landlord is checking that your ok "have you had a good day" I hear him say, you don't get this very often and this is why we come back every year. The food served here is outstanding from the fish & chips, mussels, steaks, and smashed burgers all home cooked. So don't just walk around the harbour pop in and try for yourselves. I must say, you won't be disappointed at all. So thank you to you all at Tafarn Pencei for making our little break away so special we'll see you again. The H's

We were greeted by a friendly young lady, she was polite and we were served very promptly. The restaurant had no drinks menu, the choice on the menu was quite restricted. The restaurant was also very cold and the WIFI did not work. The burger was cooked well. However, the fries were cold. We had a decent meal.

Absolutely cracking pub, and beautiful food. I had the Muscles, king prawns and Octopuss in Katsu sauce, top food.

We have been coming to Porthmadog for several years and hadn't discovered this gem. They serve a wide range of beers, which are well kept. Decent selection on the menu, all the good was piping hot and well presented, only grumble was that some of the muscle shells had broken and were in the white sauce, chips were a good as I've had anywhere really crispy. The service was good and friendly

We thought wed try here for sunday lunch because we couldnt get it where we normally go and it was a terrible sunday dinner , the roast potatoes were rock hard the parsnips were hard , barley any gravy, no salt and pepper on the table , dint even get asked if we wanted any sauce i had high hopes seeing how full it was and reading the reviews, £16 for half a plate of sunday dinner ! Sorry but its not worth that price tag !

Best gluten free fish and chips I've ever had! The batter is really light and crispy, chips are perfect and portions are huge! The lamb chops melt in your mouth... Child friendly, dog friendly! Would highly recommend it to anyone in town.

Delicious food. A few good vegan options.

Lovely traditional pub serving good quality food and drink.

I reserved a table for myself and my partner. We arrived early to get drinks, however, the welcome my afro-caribbean partner received was icy cold. We had our drinks, I cancelled my reservation then left. My partner was clearly uncomfortable which made me feel the same. Definitely not a venue to visit if you are non-white.

Delicious, imaginative lunch, very reasonably priced and excellent service.

Great down to earth pub serving great food. The Porth Niegwl IPA is great on hand pump.

Lovely venue, free WiFi, friendly and attentive staff and wonderful food bar one item - the skinny fries were incredibly salty. However, every other food item we had (about 6 for a table of 4) was superb so it's only a minor nitpick. The Korean chicken wings were particularly delicious. Still heartily recommend to people!

Absolutely delicious prawn, mussels and clams in lemongrass and coconut broth. Very helpful waitress as we were on a time limit. Would have loved to try a dessert. Couldn't recommend more highly

A great little place atmosphere brilliant staff and service fantastic

Big portions, good price, tasty

Excellent fish and chips for just £15. Cheap g&t and perfect leek and potato pie.

Nice food and a nice location. Good portions and well priced. Will be coming back.

Very busy but we were welcomed and found a table quickly. Although we only wanted a light supper, the quality and variety of food was amazing. Excellent value all round.

Myself and my family stopped here earlier this week, the place was very charming and the lady that served us was very pleasant. We ordered a drink and decided to sit outside on an upstairs area located to the side of the pub. We sat at an empty table one from the front (was quite busy up there) where we sat with our drinks and looked at the menu. Sadly we had an awful experience where a chubby slightly odd looking man with a female sat close to us seemed uncomfortable with us being there, my two boys are very well behaved so can’t think they would have caused offence but this man continued to look agitated by our presence and kept looking at my children, the female pulled his head away from our direction at one point and with him being that close to my boys didn’t make for a comfortable visit so we drank up and dropped the menus back downstairs and had to make an excuse to our boys as to why they couldn’t have the food they had decided to order. I don’t want to leave a bad review for the venue itself however this was very disturbing. My wife said afterwards the table next to us seemed a little upset to see us leave but I don’t think they could see what was going on. We went round the corner and purchased some food and found a bench on the platform where the steam trains were and ate there instead.

Nice bar near the water, very friendly!

When everything was booked we found a great little place

Lovely cosy pub + restaurant near Porthmadog quay. Great well-above- average menu, excellent tasty food, very reasonably priced, and (above all) brilliant friendly staff. Never been disappointed!

Brillaint food and great atmosphere.

Absolutely delicious food, very reasonable prices, great service - we loved it!

Traditional pub for locals with a side room for eating mainly used by visitors. Pub grub with a twist esp the starters. Recommend the ham hock starter and the smash burger.

Great discovery. Amazing food with a fantastic gluten-free menu.

We were staying in a cottage nearby. This was a great wee find. Food was homemade and very good, service was great and the place was very friendly.

Can’t comment on food because they don’t serve any on a Monday or Tuesday,doesn't say that on the website . Didn’t stay because we wanted lunch . Looked nice inside tho.

Good atmosphere, and food and drink is very good

Popped in for a quick bite , what a joy ! Staff very friendly and welcoming , efficient service with a smile . Ordered a selection of the starters to share , an absolute hit . The prawn were perfect, fresh plump and tasty , the beetroot was to die for and the ham hock terrine was tender and flavoursome , then there was a super scrummy baked potato and leek , absolutely lip smacking . Can’t praise the chef enough , the whole experience was fabulous , we really felt like we had had a real treat . Thank you all guys , we will definitely be back as often as possible.

Just to be there! and still get served:)) Was nice ,with some nice people.

Had a nice pint on the terrace roof.

Friendly staff, food was delicious would definitely reccomend.

Our bnb owner recommended Tafarn Pencei on our first day in Porthmadog, so we decided to find it and loved it. We were able to enjoy the rooftop terrace twice (be sure to go early as sadly they have to close it at 19:30 every evening for the neighbours) where we enjoyed the delicious burgers, gin-tonics and local ale. Service was very friendly and quick. Definitely recommended!

We arrive at the cafe bar at around 1pm on the Thursday during half term it was busy and we found a table to sit down opposite another large party of people who where drinking- we where approached by a member of staff who rudely stopped us all from talking asking if we where all eating to which our table replied yes and the other no. He advised that the kitchen couldn't cope with such an amount of order before storming off, causing members in our party to comment how rude he was. We where disappointed with this as our experience here has always been very good and had recommended our family and friends meet with us this day to eat here. Our orders where taken rather abruptly and as our friends had already ordered at the bar said gentlemen did not bring them any cutlery making a point that he didn't take there order! We couldn't believe his attitude to the business being busy and thriving and discussed within our group how rude he was again- I beleive this was overheard by the bar staff and then resulted in our sandwiches- yes sandwiches taking 1 hour 20 minutes to arrive at the table by this point our children where all very hungry and we'll abit fed up. We love this place usually and come quite regularly when visiting portmadog but after this trip I think we will go elsewhere which is a shame as the food was great.

Could not have been more welcoming and helpful. Great table services and the food was really very good in terms of choice quality and portions.

We walked passed this place several times during our holiday and it always seemed to have a good atmosphere. We dropped in for Sunday evening and were the only 2 in the restaurant, which is a shame as the food was great. The menu was basic but boy did they do it well. I had chicken burger and hubby had pulled beef nachos, both of which were huge and so tasty. We were recommended the squid to have as a side and it was some of the best squid I've ever had. I wish we'd popped in earlier in our holiday so we could have gone back another day.

Best Sunday lunch for miles..great staff.

Inviting interior, very welcoming maître d', who explained choices and advised sensibly on wine. Service was excellent. Menu was interesting with enough choice to suit 6 different tastes, including a vegetarian. Food was cooked well.

Found this place on our second night of our holiday in Porthmadog and didn't drink anywhere else for our evening drinks after that. The staff Ben, Russ, Idris and the others were all so lovely and friendly. Service was second to none. They made us feel so welcome as did the local people. Food was excellent too! Sam head Chef cooked the squid to perfection. We ate there a few times and prices were reasonable. Certainly recommend this lovely little pub.

Found this place on our second night of our holiday and didn't drink anywhere else for our evening drinks after that. The staff Ben, Russ, Idris and the others were all so lovely and friendly. They made us feel so welcome as did the local people. Food was excellent too! Sam head Chef cooked the squid to perfection. Certainly recommend this lovely little pub.

Nice pub good staff out side a bit of a sun trap

Great food, staff was brilliant

Nice place to visit. I didn't eat here this time.

Lovely food, lovely bar, great staff, sports tv, pool room. Wish this place could be replicated in each city it’s that good. Thanks everyone looking forward to visiting again.

Had a delicious meal and the staff were really accommodating, helpfull & really pleasant will definitely call again Thank you

First class service from the moment we walked in. Taken to our seats, order taken quickly and served with delicious hot food. Couldn’t fault the place at all. Thank you ☺️

Fantastic lunch...we were all impressed. Never seen a sandwich so big lol. Thank you Sam and team Great atmosphere and made very welcome.

Thanks guys, you made our day. Stopped off hoping to get a take away as we have 2 very nervous dogs we cannot take into a pub. You were most welcoming and nothing was too much trouble. To top it all the fish and chips was the best we have tasted. Once again many thanks.

Our kind of pub. Great food with a lovely relaxed atmosphere plus fab service where you feel valued. Definitely will be back 😋

Delicious food and amazing service from the staff. Great menu and well priced. Was such a gem to come across!

Another great meal. The chef does excellent curries and each time my husband is blown away by the flavours. Food is plentiful and delicious. Service is good and friendly. Drinks are very reasonably priced. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Good food, had to leave to catch train and were very helpful

Clean plates and full bellys all round! Fantastic friendly staff, great service, lovely location on the harbour, good choice of drinks. We will definitely be recommending this place and will return on our next visit to Porthmadog. Chefs special beef curry was perfect, please pass on the compliments!

We had a perfect family meal here last night. The staff were very friendly & 'Professional' in providing a fantastic service. The food was delicious and reasonably priced for the quality of the food served. Added bonus is they allow well behaved dogs. Highly recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So glad we found you! Lovely lunch right on our doorstep can’t believe we haven’t been before. Great chicken burger really generous portions chef is fantastic. Could do with a refurb but the food and service were spot on. Thank you

Wanted fish and chips on Good Friday and this place did not disappoint in any way. The staff were friendly and welcoming. The fish and chips were incredible: the fish was so fresh and in very crispy batter, along with good chips and mushy peas (hubbie had the fresh tartare sauce). This was one of the best fish and chip lunches we've ever had and we will be returning. Was hesitant to leave such a good review as this place is a well kept secret, but the staff and restaurant should know how awesome it was! We highly recommend it - thank you.