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There ought to be more places like the Hive around - lots more. Located in the centre of Aberaeron, with inspiring views over the harbour, they serve what people like best, which is homely, mainly locally caught or grown food in a recognisable and tasty form. Their support comes not only from the tourists who flock to this beautiful area, but also from the locals who know a good thing when they see it.

Lunch could be Welsh ham or Welsh Black beef, spit-roast free range chicken, crab and lobster salads, Ploughman's lunch of those wonderful Welsh cheeses, soups and chowders. You might even get very lucky and arrive on a day when their fish stew is on the go - a compilation of cockles, mussels, white fish and scallops in a strong shellfish broth, served with crusty breads and aioli.

For pudding it is difficult to avoid recognising that this is the home of Holgate's honey ice cream, one of the finest products of its kind known to man. If it's the waistline that worries you settle for Honey Yoghurt ices, coconut, banana, passion fruit or pistachio.

The Harbourmaster Hotel on the quayside in Aberaeron will offer you comfort in the most idyllic of locations on the west coast of Wales; there really cannot be many prettier waterside locations anywhere in Britain. This listed landmark building reopened in May 2002 after total renovation and is graded a four star inn by the Wales Tourist Board. In 2004 they were awarded Les Routiers Cafe of the Year.

Glyn and Menna Heulyn, who believe that Aberaeron and the area is Wales's best kept secret, were both born and brought up locally and have returned to Aberaeron to fulfil their ambition of creating a hotel that will do justice to this lovely place, which it so clearly does.

They quality of the food matches the beauty of the surroundings, and they serve freshly prepared local and Welsh produce whenever possible. Feast yourselves on the locally caught lobsters and crab, as well as sea bass, mackerel and sewin when in season. The land surrounding the town produces beef and lamb of the highest quality and the area has an ever growing reputation for organic vegetables and herbs.

A meal could consist of: roasted parsnip soup; chicken, wild mushroom and walnut sausage, fruit chutney, hazelnut and balsamic dressing or Thai style mussels with ginger, chilli, garlic and coconut milk to begin with, followed by whole lemon sole with herbs, kumara chips, cashew and coriander pesto; duck confit, vanilla and lime mash, port jus or chargrilled Welsh Black beef fillet, sweet potato and celeriac dauphinoise, shallot sauce.