On Saturday my wife and I happened to be in Carmarthen early morning after dropping our daughters off to catch the train to Cardiff Comic-Con.
We had both skipped breakfast as we had set off early for the hour's drive to the railway station so we were rather peckish.
Many places weren't open yet but then as we were taking a short cut back to the car we came across a little place in a side street with a 'Wake up to Organic' sticker in the window. As a keen organic fan that caught my eye...
The Warren, Carmarthen
Tucked up a side street off the main Lammas Street in the centre of Carmarthen The Warren is a small independent cafe / restaurant specialising in local and organic produce.
They serve meat dishes but have a good selection of vegetarian and vegan options as well.
The restaurant had just opened when we arrived a bit after 10am so there were only a few customers.
We had plenty of choice of where to sit and were quickly offered the Breakfast Menu.
Although we are both vegetarian rather than vegan my wife chose the 'The Full Warren' vegan breakfast, and I went for the Sourdough Special.
They were cooked to order and came in 10 minutes or so.
The Full Warren vegan breakfast
Priced at £9.50 ($11.70) this consisted of Pan Fried Tofu, Veggie Fritter, Avocado, Pickled Cabbage, Beans, Mushrooms and Sourdough Toast.
It looked appealing, was presented well, and was extremely tasty...
Sourdough Special
This was a vegetarian breakfast option priced at £8.00 ($9.85). It comprised Poached Eggs, Sourdough Toast, Slow Roast Tomato, Local Greens , Pesto and Pumpkin Seeds.
It was delicious...
We were both very happy with our choices. Despite the servings being a fair size, and neither of us being big eaters, we both cleared our plates in good time.
Each of us had a pot of tea to accompany the meal. It was organic and it was good, and it was priced at £2.50 ($3.08) per pot.
The Warren was definitely a good find. I had seen mention of it locally before but not paid much attention.
It was great to discover a place that promoted local and organic produce, and wasn't too expensive.
There was also a good choice for vegans and vegetarians.
My only small issue was that although The Warren promotes, and clearly uses, a good amount of organic produce it is not totally clear when ordering what is and what isn't organic.
I suspect that is to allow them flexibility with supplies, but it would definitely add considerably to the 'organic value' of the restaurant if it was more explicit with what is and what isn't organic on each dish.
I did ask the staff after the meal if they had any plans to get registered with the Soil Association as an organic restaurant.
Although the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth is considering getting their cafe listed, so far the Soil Association has no organic eating places in Wales...
The Soil Association grades the restaurants in their listings according to the percentage of their monthly food spend that is certified organic.
Staff at The Warren were uncertain of their percentage but one of the owners thought it might be as high as 75 - 80%.
I am not so sure of that but I know a number of the listed local suppliers such as Blaencamel Farm, Calon Wen Dairy, and Watson and Pratt's are all organic.
In summary our view of The Warren... good food, attentive service, lovely ambience, reasonable value for money.
Would we recommend it and would we go again... yes and yes.
Our scores for The Warren...
| Category | Score out of 5 |
|---|---|
| Food - range | 4.0 |
| Food - quality | 4.5 |
| Service | 4.0 |
| Ambience | 4.0 |
| Value for money | 4.0 |
Key Facts...
| v | v |
|---|---|
| Address | 11 Mansel Street, Carmarthen SA31 1PX |
| Phone | 01267 236079 |
| enquiries@warrenmanselst.co.uk | |
| Website | https://warrenmanselst.co.uk/ |
| https://www.facebook.com/WarrenManselSt/ | |
| TripAdvisor | www.tripadvisor.co.uk |
| Food Hygiene Score | 5 out of 5 |
| Opening Times | Tue/Wed/Sun 10am-4pm & Thu/Fri/Sat 10am-11pm |
