Sun, sea, sand and seaweed snacks at Cafe Môr
Pembroke is famous for its beaches and whilst driving along a particular sandy stretch of coast you may spot a little boat-shaped mobile food van by the side of the road, probably with a huge queue too. Well, that is Cafe Môr!
In 2011 they won 'Best of the Best' at The British Street Food Awards, in 2012 they won and award for 'best sandwich / wrap' in the UK and then they won a BBC Food & Farming award for 'Best Street food/Take Away in the UK' in 2014 so this is no ordinary food shack! They are the first dedicated seaweed takeaway in the world and also only one of two mobile food outlets to be powered by solar and wind energy in the whole UK!
It was a glorious sunny day when we visited so we picked up some lunch from Cafe Môr before heading down to the beach. On the way back to the car park we made sure to stand in line again, this time for an unusual summery and sea-themed sorbet!
Menu
For such a small place they certainly have a large choice of wraps, rolls, burgers and sweet treats. Gluten-Fee options too. And they take cards.
They also sell a selection of dried seaweed and seaweed biscuits. You may have seen these Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company products in delis around the country? Well the seaweed in question is from this coast! They're also supply the seaweed that went into a stout I had at Pembroke Castle!
We made sure to buy some Welshman's Caviar (dried toasted laver seaweed), Mermaid Confetti (Welshman's caviar mixed with sea salt) and Captain Cat's Môr seasoning (someone is a fan of Under Milk Wood!) for taking back home. See the products page on their website below for all the seaweed goodies they sell!
Once you've ordered food the beach is the ideal place to munch it!
So we headed down for a picnic with our savoury rolls, homemade lemonade (£2) and Beach Brownie (£2.20) which is a gooey brownie made with laver (of course!).
The Fresh West Breaky Roll (£ 5.50)
A bit like a Pembrokeshire Scooby Snack, comprising bacon, free-range egg, Welsh cheddar and a Laverbread patty served in a toasted roll with Welsh Sea black butter. Tasty and very filling!
Green Green Grass Burger (£5.50)
A thick black bean, caramelised red onion and garlic patty topped with homemade pickles, cheddar and kelpchup (hah!) and served in a soft floury roll. It may just be a roll but it was a really filling roll with a good bit of weight to it, and it's vegan-friendly too!
On the way back we stopped off to try Barti's Booty Sorbet (£4.50), a fresh and fiery ginger, lime and rum sorbet made using the delicious seaweed Barti Ddu seaweed spiced rum above which thankfully didn't taste of salty seawater! They sell bottles in nearby Wavecrest Cafe (also recommended).
Verdict
There's fresh air, fresh moreish food and more at Cafe Mor! They're doing a great job at making seaweed sexy! We love the concept and would love to see something like this in Scotland. Maybe Fife would be the ideal location but if you're driving past this stretch of coast then you'd be a fool not to stop for a bite to eat here and if you're in Pembrokeshire and looking for a beach then this is an ideal one to head to as it's pretty big with a good amount of (free) parking and tasty food and drink right on site! There's a toilet block at the car park too (we didn't check it).
We visited Cafe Môr during our stay at The Coastal Cottages of Pembroke, Ty Olive a 20-min drive away.
TL;DR
+ Laverly food (do you see what we did there?)
+ Niche business
+ Good selection of sweet and savoury
+ Great location
+ Lots of free parking
- Very popular so expect to queue
Where
Cafe Môr - The Pembrokeshire Beachfood Company
Freshwater West Beach Car Park, Nr Castlemartin, Pembrokeshire, Pembroke SA71 5AH
Opening Hours
Throughout school summer holidays 9am - 7pm. (main summer holiday only)
Throughout September 10am - 4pm.
1st April - Summer holidays 10am - 4pm.
Contact
Phone (to confirm they are open!) 07422535345
Website: www.beachfood.co.uk/cafemor.php
Disclaimer: we received free scran and although Fred turns his nose up at seaweed he knows that this is good food for hoomins and that we always write impartial reviews.
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