A taste of the unexpected
If you were designing a fantasy seaside town you might end up with somewhere like Beaumaris. As long as you were in a particularly inventive mood, that is. Because the list of ingredients is mind-bending.
Spectacular views across the Menai Strait to Snowdonia. One of the world’s most perfect medieval castles. A Victorian pier that’s just been refurbished to the tune of £2 million. A reputation as the gastronomic hotspot of Anglesey.
And shops. Proper shops, not out-of-town malls or samey chain stores. Quirky shops full of surprising things.
Places like Unique-Kids, which feels like a child’s bedroom and has a pirate ship for a counter. Its range of funky childrenswear is designed and made on Anglesey. Or the Janet Bell Gallery on Castle Street which features the artist’s own playful scenes of Beaumaris and other seascapes.
At the wonderfully named Moo Baa Oinc, husband and wife team Brian and Fiona Thomas have put their own home-reared lamb and Welsh Black beef firmly on the menu at a new butchery and café. And their shop is packed with “Locasan” (short for Local Artisan) produce...you can even buy organic sheepskin rugs from their very own sheep.
Perfect for the long dark nights. But not perhaps the first thing to spring to mind after a morning’s browsing in the height of summer. Which is where Red Boat comes in.
This ice cream parlour belonging to Tony and Lyn Green has become a Beaumaris institution since it opened in 2009 and Tony’s gin and tonic sorbet made with fresh lemons and Gordon’s gin is already the stuff of legend.
Because this is not just ice cream. This is “gelato”, the real deal made in the Italian style by a man who studied at the famous Carpigiani University.
“We use only the finest ingredients and all our ice creams have been freshly made by hand that day,” says Tony. “As well as the traditional flavours, we are forever trying to challenge people’s palates and introduce new concepts.”
A bit like Beaumaris itself, Red Boat isn’t a vanilla sort of place. It offers a taste of the unexpected. Which in Tony’s case might mean a scoop of sea buckthorn and orange. Or the one he’s finally perfected after two whole years – lavender-flavoured ice cream.