About Us

Located in the picturesque seaside town of Criccieth, North Wales, Poachers Restaurant is a small, family owned and operated business. The restaurant comfortably seats 48 people and is fully licensed including a hand-picked bar and wine list. The varied menu features traditional British and international cuisine made with the freshest local Welsh ingredients available.

Local chef Martin Bischoff’s culinary background stems from a German father who was a Master Chef. Having served his apprenticeship under his father in their family-run restaurant, Martin then worked in Germany for a short time before moving to Canada. He joined the luxury hotel chain Canadian Pacific Hotels & Resorts (now known as Fairmont Hotels & Resorts) where he first worked at the prestigious Royal York Hotel in Toronto. Having spent two years there, he then moved on to Edmonton’s beautiful Hotel Macdonald where he met his wife, Jill. Together, they moved to Banff where they worked at CP’s world-famous Banff Springs Hotel in the Canadian Rockies. They moved to Wales in 1994, and have been running Poachers Restaurant since March, 1995.

In 2004 they purchased the adjacent property which at the time was a Greengrocer’s Shop and renovated it to expand the restaurant, increasing in size from 36 covers to 48. In 2011 the “old side” was renovated with bench seating, new bar and a partition wall at the entrance.