It’s a hidden restaurant in almost every sense of the word. So far off the beaten track is Paternoster Farm that even Google Maps struggles to find it.

There is no real sign to warn you you’ve arrived, and it’s all too easy to miss the tiny gap in a hedgerow where the narrow farm track that takes you to the restaurant begins.

But once you do manage to find it, you’ll find one of the most unique restaurants in Britain, which is today named one of the best in the UK.

Paternoster Farm, not far from the Pembrokeshire village of Angle in farthest west Wales, was named among the 100 best local restaurants by the Good Food Guide. The awards are put together by an “astonishing” number of nominations from people across the country, all keen to champion their favourite places to eat.

And it’s at this place to eat, at the end of that farm track, where for the last few years former lawyer Michelle Evans has built a reputation for turning out some of the best food in Wales from an old cowshed. Even with increasing publicity and a growing reputation, Paternoster Farm is probably still relatively unknown among the wider population, even those who love their food.

But it is very much worth the journey (even if you do miss the turning a few times). It serves dishes like slow roast Welsh mountain mutton shoulder with cavolo nero, shallots and dill oil in the winter, or new season asparagus from a nearby garden with crab, chilli, lemon, dill, pickled fennel and marigold in spring.

Michelle is entirely self-taught after quitting the rat race as a divorce lawyer, reports WalesOnline. She took the plunge and bought a smallholding before initially starting out with a beach hut and focusing on street food. And while it’s the food at Paternoster Farm that’s got everyone talking, the setting itself is what really sets the dining experience apart: as off-the-beaten-track as you can get and as findable via its What Three Words location (“spirit nourished sticky”) as it is by sat-nav.

At the restaurant, an old chalkboard scribbled “Way in” points to a battered old doorway bathed in soft orange light from bulbs strung up on the guttering. To push open the door is to enter a restaurant like no other – the former use of the building as a cowshed is never far away. The old original cow stalls have been retained and transformed into private dining tables while the old milking parlour pipes have been imaginatively remodelled into a lighting feature.

When Laura Clements of WalesOnline visited, she wrote: “A battered old bright yellow Aga stands in one corner while old kitchen and farm utensils adorn the rustic stone walls. The cavernous roof with the original wooden rafters helps lend some light to the softly-lit space that’s dim but not dark. In winter, a wood burning stove keeps it all warm and toasty. We’re seated at an old kitchen table, smoothed by years of scrubbing, and a set of mismatched chairs. There are cushions for more sensitive bottoms. Nothing matches and yet it’s stylish and cosy.”

“The menu is changed every day, depending on what they’ve grown and have in season. You’ll find everything from locally caught oysters to home-reared beef and pork belly. The night we visited, a selection of sharing plates were on offer and we were advised to order between four and six plates for two people. Dishes here come out as and when they’re ready.”

Although Laura visited in 2022 and the menu changes daily (and there is no online menu to speak of though the restaurant’s Instagram page will give occasional updates on the dishes being made), on her visit Laura ate crispy wild mushroom and truffle arancini, served up with a slick of mayonnaise with a hefty garlic kick; a platter of heritage tomatoes with soft creamy buffalo mozzarella; and poached locally smoked salmon and potato salad.

She also had skate served with asparagus picked from Angle less than five miles away and lamb from the surrounding fields. She said it was “meltingly soft and cooked to a sweetness that contrasted wonderfully with the zing from the pickled radish and courgette – it was a sublime pairing, especially with the tahini yogurt on the side”.