Gareth Ward, the chef owner of Michelin-starred Ynyshir Restaurant Eglwys Fach, Machynlleth, credits Beltex lamb as one of the most memorable dishes on his menu, and as one of the reasons people return to savour meals from the multi-course menu.
Gareth’s restaurant was ranked in the UK’s top five restaurants by the Good Food Guide in 2019 and Gareth was also named as Chef of the Year in the publication the same year, currently Ynyshir sits at number four in the guide.
Gareth says: “Customers expect the very best and the Beltex lamb we use, sourced from Rob Rattray butchers in Aberystwyth, delivers a great eating experience every time.”
The lamb has to be full of flavour and has to have high meat to bone ratio with just the right amount of fat cover. One thing that Gareth has noticed with the Beltex lamb is the texture of the meat is second to none, which he attributes to the maturing of the lamb in the growing stage. He considers the fact that the animal matures naturally is vital in producing any animal destined for the food chain.
As the restaurant is situated in Wales, lamb is a very important dish on the menu and the venue attracts some very discerning customers. The way the menu works at Ynyshir is that it is a series of different courses so they always have some lamb and the Beltex lamb is always a talking point.
Gareth commented that the restaurant serves a lot of lamb ribs and Beltex lamb fits the criteria for them perfectly. The Beltex lamb ribs have a very high meat to bone ratio and customers always comment on the excellent lamb ribs served at Ynyshir.
Hanging any meat is very important to Gareth as he says: “It gets rid of moisture and increases the flavour. It also gives the meat time to relax and become more tender, we age our meat in our salt chamber which just makes it taste even better.”
Regarding the future Gareth considers more people want to eat top quality lamb and he hopes that people will eat more lamb in the future as Beltex lamb is a superb product and ticks all the boxes for consumers.
