Ty Hyll - Ugly House

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#1 of 2 Restaurants in Capel Curig££ - £££, Cafe, British, Vegetarian friendly

+44 1492 642322+ Add website

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Hours

Sun

10:30 - 16:30

Mon

10:30 - 16:30

Tue

10:30 - 16:30

Wed

10:30 - 16:30

Thu

10:30 - 16:30

Fri

10:30 - 16:30

Sat

10:30 - 16:30

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What is Travellers’ Choice?

Tripadvisor gives a Travellers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travellers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.

Ratings and reviews

4.5

668 reviews

#1 of 2 Restaurants in Capel Curig

Travellers' Choice 2024

RATINGS

Food

Service

Value

Atmosphere

Food and ambience

Local cuisine, Cafe, British, Soups, Welsh, Vegetarian friendly

“... a delicious accompaniment of potato salad, onion relish, coleslaw and salad.”

“The BEST scones in North Wales!”

“... finish the meal it was huge fresh salad coleslaw homemade potato salad an...”

“The food was fantastic, cakes delicious, and the Welsh cakes and scones were...”

Location and contact

The A5, Betws y Coed Road, Capel Curig, Snowdonia-Eryri National Park LL24 0DS Wales

+44 1492 642322

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Is this restaurant good for breakfast?

Yes

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Details

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About

Family run tearoom using all homemade food and cakes. Indoor and outdoor seating, all waiter served. We’ll behaved dogs on lead are welcome.

CUISINES

Cafe, British, Soups, Welsh

Special Diets

Vegetarian friendly, Vegan options, Gluten free options

Meals

Breakfast, Lunch, Brunch

FEATURES

Outdoor Seating, Seating, Parking Available, Highchairs Available, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service

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4.5

668 reviews

Excellent

470

Very good

122

Average

Poor

Terrible

Joanna F

Rhos-on-Sea1 contribution

Coffee stopover after walking up from Betws-y-Coed

Oct 2020 • none

Having passed this little cafe regularly , we decided to make our way up to it today with the intentions of just having a coffee. We were greeted very pleasantly by the 2 ladies that were working there today , covid protocol followed completely , we sat inside by the cosy fire. We then decided to have a ham sandwich to share , a coffee and a tea. We both received half the sandwich and side salad on individual plates , lovely touch , the ham was just right , the bread lovely and soft and the side salad consisted of potato salad , coleslaw and the usual lettuce , cucumber , tomato and onion. Coffee and tea lovely and hot followed by a slice of Victoria sponge cake again brought to us divided on our individual plates. The sponge was melt in the mouth texture , best sponge I’ve tasted in a long time! General chit chat was exchanged between us and the ladies talking about the history of the ugly house and the effect covid has had on their business. Highly recommend this unusual little cafe . Couldn’t fault the service , quality of the food and location. We will definitely be going here again to help support this local business !!

Written 4 October 2020

This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ali W

Shildon59 contributions

Only stopped in for tea and

Mar 2020 • none

Only stopped in for tea and cake. Generous pot of tea with water top up, served in china cups, makes tea taste much better. Husband had welsh cakes which he said were lovely, I had gluten free chocolate orange cake, great flavour not too sickly. Little bit more expensive than some tea rooms but worth it. Great little place and good service

Written 5 March 2020

steph86hall

Kinmel Bay97 contributions

I Just Adore This Little Place!

Apr 2019 • couples

I can assure you there is nothing ugly about it I promise! Beautiful little house with extensive back garden and woodland area to roam, steep in history and information about bee keeping and the lives of bees. The fire was roaring on the day we came and we had cream tea, tea is served lose with a strainer. Delightful!! You can buy local honey and various bee friendly seeds here. Advisory notice that their toilet is at the back of the garden and is an eco waste toilet therefore it can smell a little funky.

Written 13 January 2020

Rare Reviewer

49 contributions

Beautiful gardens & a nice cup of tea!

Jul 2021 • family

We had read previous excellent reviews so decided to stop off here after our long drive to Betws Y Coed. The house is full of history & the gardens are a little haven & a nice place to stretch our legs. I really enjoyed the cup of tea which was served in lovely cups & saucers & the garden views were beautiful. We opted for scones to go with our tea but they didn't feel that fresh & we do prefer clotted cream to fresh cream but the jam was very good. They are fruit scones which it would be useful to say on menu or tell people when ordering as although I like these my partner & the kids didn't but I guess a Welsh scone/tea is different to an English one & I enjoyed mine. The kids milkshakes were expensive & they are more like flavoured milk so our fussy kids didn't drink them & they were £3.95 each which seems a bit on the steep side for what they were. I think overall its worth a visit & maybe we made bad menu choices but overall we found much nicer cafes in Betws y Coed. Staff were friendly & the place felt very covid safe & parking on site.

Written 31 July 2021

danny b

Wrexham17 contributions

What a rip off !

Sept 2020 • couples

Ok so yes they have a really bad sewage smell outside that's totally awful to have to put up with but apart from that who the hell do these guys think they are ...? Me and my partner stopped for lunch and yes we did see the prices before we ordered but if the food is really good you wouldn't mind at all however, if you charge £8.90 for a sausage sandwich it better be the best ever local produced sausages, great bread and a dam good sandwich, what you get are average sausages that tastes just like they are bought from a supermarket, normal bread and a sandwich that contains 3 sausages, salad garnish that comprises of 3 thin slices of onion with some manky carrot shavings. Very poor for the money. Are these people trying to ruin their business or what ? Theres nothing worse than feeling ripped off my advise to owners, buy some better quality ingredients or reduce your prices by 50% iv had the same quality from a roadside trucker cafe for £4.99, for everyone else go into town for lunch, better quality food, far better price and wont smell of sewage while you eat your lunch.

Written 19 September 2020

Carla S

3 contributions

No vegan options despite asking in advance

Aug 2020 • friends

We called in advance to book & ask whether they had any vegan options for an afternoon tea. The person who took the call confirmed that they would have at least some vegan options for an afternoon tea, but when we arrived there were none other than plain toast. The waitresses were lovely (not their fault) and the non vegan scones looked good but a shame we were misinformed on the phone.

Written 18 August 2020

Miles

Old Colwyn55 contributions

Very disappointing - management need to get a grip

Aug 2021 • none

We love the Rustic House (which I think is it's proper translation) and have visited many times. But...things are going downhill fast. Yes its a difficult time for everybody and most especially hospitality. But these are avoidable issues we are raising. No excuses - other places are managing and they do not have the unique location or publicity. We normally walk 3.5 miles from Betws via Ty'n Lwyn for tea and toast. But this year, sometimes it is closed, sometimes you can sit inside, sometimes only outside (having previously let people inside), sometimes you can phone and book, and other times you cannot because they have a phone problem, and more recently, "sorry, we close in half an hour, we are not serving anybody more"...which made for a thirsty walk back. The final straw was this weekend - having been to Tu Hwnt I'r Bont (also run by the same management) to find it closed inside because of staffing issues, on August Bank Holiday Sunday no less. You could sit outside with a fine view of the wheelie bins and listen to the sound of cars fighting each other to cross the bridge. Being only 10 feet from the road, the diesel fumes and noise are both pretty overpowering. Why not sit with all the people eating ice cream by the riverside? Too far to walk from the kitchen? On Monday we walked to have tea and toast at Ugly House. We stood waiting for a table and observed in 20 minutes the empty table for us remained uncleared and uncleaned. Then when we eventually sat at the table...we waited, and waited, and then gave up and walked back to Betws. In that 40 minutes we saw one table get served and one more cleaned. Management need to get a grip or both these beloved tea rooms will be going bust this winter.

Written 31 August 2021

SaartjieNaartjie

30 contributions

We wouldn’t come back, sorry.

Aug 2021 • couples

We had been driving back to Betwys-y-Coed from a long drive and googled a place for some tea and cake and Ty Hyll had good reviews on Google although we’re not sure how as we were very disappointed. We ended up having scones and they didn’t seem fresh and seemed over-baked. We also ordered Milkshakes which were quite pricey and they were horrible, not a milkshake at all but flavoured milk and had a real synthetic taste. The men’s toilets are also not very pleasant which is always a worry during covid times as you’d like to know sanitation is a top priority. Pros are that the staff are super friendly and it’s a lovely location.

Written 20 August 2021

David C

Peterborough192 contributions

Could Be Better

Sept 2021 • none

Whilst the location and setting is beautiful, the gardens are super, the service not too bad, the food local and tasty but quite costly. My issue was cleanliness, particularly at this [COVID] time. The cutlery had the previous meal stuck on, the plates and cups had similar issues. We won't be back sorry.

Written 21 September 2021

julian h

3 contributions

Nothing ugly here

Jul 2021 • family

We stopped in for lunch and were greeted by very friendly staff who were a joy, Good humoured despite be masked and COVID compliance. The garden was an oasis of calm and it was like sitting In a fairy tale with the woodland animals wandering around (a rather friendly blackbird) Food was locally sourced/produced and extremely nice. The selection is one of a tea room so tea, sandwiches and home made cakes. If you're passing this place, I highly recommend stopping here. 5*

Written 25 July 2021

Janet B

22 contributions

Very disappointed 😞

Aug 2023 • family

We have been here numerous times which we've always enjoyed so took my husband for his birthday and to be honest extremely disappointed cups tea stained teapot badly stained water jug dirty splashed with food then an extra £3 added to the bill to toast the cheese sandwich does mention on bottom of menu but just saw cheese toasties and selected so hadn't read to the bottom of page .£25 for two cheese toasties and two cups of tea!! never again don't know if new owners or what !!!garden untidy and compost toilet gross badly smelly fly's and something unimaginable slopped all down one side of it !!!!!.

Written 6 August 2023

tim maddox

Hi Janet, I’m so sorry to hear that you were disappointed with your recent visit to our tearoom. I appreciate your annoyance at the additional cost of the toasted sandwiches. Unfortunately, due to the continued increases in energy prices we are obliged to reflect the additional cooking costs in the price of each sandwich, as stated on the menu. There is no excuse for stained crockery and I will ensure that our team are carrying out the necessary cleaning processes. Of course, had you pointed out these problems to a member of staff during your visit, they would have replaced the items immediately. The compost toilet is checked several times throughout the day and is cleaned thoroughly at the end of each shift. Again, if a problem is identified by a customer in between our regular checks, we will endeavour to deal with it immediately. I do hope your recent experience won’t discourage you from returning to The Ugly House. Our aim is to provide ever visitor with a thoroughly enjoyable experience. Our staff are always on hand to ensure that this is the case and that any potential issues can be dealt with and resolved quickly and in the best way possible.

Written 8 August 2023

This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

WilliamG1864

Stoke-on-Trent89 contributions

Couple ofdays away

Aug 2022 • couples

We stopped at the Ty Hyll, Ugly House, whilst out walking to swallow falls, it was a welcome sight and much needed refreshment break. Staff were really friendly, the sandwich with salad we had was lovely, and the food that was being brought out to other customers looked gorgeous. There is limited seating but deffinitely worth a stop.

Written 11 August 2022

Barbara M

9 contributions

Excellent little tea room

Oct 2021 • none

I had always wanted to go into the Ugly House and had never had the opportunity until a recent visit to Betws-y-Coed. My husband and I stopped off to have a coffee and a cake one afternoon during our stay and we weren't disappointed. It is only small inside but they do have seating outside as well. We had a coffee and a St. Clementine cake, which was lovely. The cakes are all homemade and they have a large variety. They also do small lunches, sandwiches, welsh rarebit etc. The staff were lovely and couldn't have been more helpful. A lovely little place to go if you're in the area, I would definitely recommend it.

Written 26 October 2021

Mat J

Sheffield12 contributions

Friendly staff, nice food: couldn't ask for more

Jul 2021 • none

Dropped in with the family for lunch whilst staying locally (having passed it numerous times over the years). Staff were very friendly. Food was straight-forward but very good and generous quantities of tea were provided. The Welsh cakes (a particular favourite) were excellent and I think genuinely home made. I took some away with me and some Bara Brith (also very good). We had a walk around the gardens afterwards which was also very nice although the composting toilets (very right-on and all that) were a bit stinky. Overall well worth stopping for if you're passing along the A5.

Written 1 August 2021

Jen50000

Warwick12 contributions

Delicious cake

Sept 2020 • family

To those who have slated this place due to pricing, nobody forces you to eat there. The prices are clearly displayed as you enter. Yes it is expensive (£8+) for scrambled eggs! Yet homemade cakes only 3.50. It is a choice and I don't feel fair to review badly if you make thst choice. We had a scone, lemon cake, and gluten free chocolate orange cake. All were delicious and good portions. The tea was loose leaf and one pot enough for 2. To those critising the toilet situation. Yes it is a compostable toilet, yes it smells, but it is far away from the cafe. The whole place is 'eco type' and I think many are missing the point of the venue. The walks around the woodland our daughter loved along with a dip in the river opposite. The service although friendly was very slow initially but that was the only minor fault.

Written 1 September 2020