The Marram Grass, Anglesey, was taken over by brothers Liam (30) and Ellis (27) Barrie in 2011. After
years of childhood holidays spent on the caravan park owned by their parents on which the restaurant
sits, Liam and Ellis decided to transform what was an all-day-breakfast café shed into a quirky
restaurant with an emphasis on quality and provenance. Thanks to Liam’s charm front of house and
Ellis’ self-taught know how in the kitchen, today The Marram Grass is an award-winning restaurant
praised locally and throughout the country.
Since its opening, the Barrie brothers have developed the now 35-cover restaurant, its offering and the
surrounding site bit by bit. Ellis, who previously worked with Chris Marshall at Liverpool’s two-AArosette
Radisson Blu Filini and later at Panoramic 34, has gradually developed the menus from a simple
breakfast and tea into the eccentric yet sophisticated dining experience that it is today.
At the core of the restaurant’s concept are the exceptional local suppliers surrounding the Marram
Grass. Ellis takes advantage of everything that the island of Anglesey has to offer and, with his
instinctive know-how in the kitchen, creates outstanding authentic and delicious dishes.
Most famous of the local produce is the Menai Strait mussels found in the stretch of water at the foot of the
caravan park and supplied by Shaun Krijnen from Menai Oysters and Mussels. The mussels feature
regularly along with a host of other favoured local suppliers’ ingredients including exceptional sea salt
from Alison and David Lea-Wilson’s famous Halen Môn based down the road; asparagus, rhubarb and
strawberries from the Hooton’s family farm shop on the island; and the renowned Môn Las Anglesey
Blue cheese from Menai Jones’ Anglesey farm. Intent on establishing the restaurant at the heart of
the local community, the brothers have recently developed a ‘crop exchange scheme’ whereby local
suppliers deliver ingredients in exchange for Marram Grass dining vouchers.
Liam, who formerly trained as a surveyor, has developed an on-site butchery, where a local butcher
comes to once a week to make sausages and where the lamb and beef served in the restaurant is
butchered. Just 100 yards from the kitchen door, in an idyllic space across the road from the restaurant
is a small farm owned by the brothers, from which the restaurant sources pork, eggs, potatoes and
much more.
The two produce-driven menus, therefore, offer a true taste of Anglesey. Guests can choose from a
daily a la carte (from £36 pp for 3 courses) or the 8-course Cegin taster menu (£85pp with an option
for a £65 drinks flight per person). Sample dishes include Treacle cured trout with compressed
cucumber, pickled shallot, smoked Menai oyster emulsion and wild garlic; Mon crab risotto with roast
garlic and Anglesey apple; Pan roasted lamb rump with minted lamb ragu, pied bleu mushroom,
courgetti, Wirral watercress, yoghurt crunch and pickled mustard seeds and Black treacle tart with
Gardd Rhosyr rhubarb and burnt orange.
The restaurant’s wine offering is simple yet diverse, with a range of European and New World bottles.
The drinks menu features a range of beers, with the most recent addition of recently launched
Snowdon Craft lager. Guests can also choose from a selection of ciders, spirits and soft drinks.
The Marram Grass’ Awards and Accolades:
• Awarded 2 AA Rosettes (2018)
• Ellis becomes Great British Menu finalist (2017)
• Appearance on Michel Roux Jr’s Hidden Restaurants on Channel 4 (2017)
• Liam awarded Acorn at Caterer Awards (2017)
• Ellis awarded Acorn at Caterer Awards (2016)
• 4/10 in Waitrose Good Food Guide (2015)
• Best Bistro/Brasserie of the Year at the Anglesey Tourism Awards (2013)
