New Local Independent Businesses Open at Milford Waterfront

Milford Waterfront, the hidden gem within Pembrokeshire’s tourism crown, has even more to offer visitors now that retail, hospitality, and tourism has reopened, with lots of new businesses opening their doors for the first time and some existing businesses having expanded since the pandemic. From independent restaurants to barbers and environment friendly fashion shops, there’s plenty to eat, shop and enjoy at Milford Waterfront.

The Green Genie is a vegetarian and vegan bistro set overlooking Milford Marina. The only one of its kind at Milford Waterfront with its vegan offering, the bistro is family and dog friendly. The Green Genie offers visitors a nutritious and flavour-packed menu with dishes including Asian style vegan noodles, vegetarian tacos, traditional English dishes and gluten free options as well as a selection of vegan wines, beers and ciders.

Madison’s Bar and Restaurant is the Green Genie’s sister restaurant. A unique dining experience is on offer at Madison’s; the vintage themed restaurant and bar transports you back to the 1920s and 30s. The food encapsulates contemporary and classic options from the land and sea, including steaks and lamb as well as fresh seafood such as their tender scallops using locally sourced produce. The Green Genie’s menu is also available for vegetarian and vegan diners.

Talouies opened in the summer of 2020 and adds to the growing café culture at Milford Waterfront. Open 7 days a week and dog friendly, Talouies offers visitors afternoon tea as well as homemade light bites, cakes and desserts, along with a wide selection of loose-leaf teas and fresh, aromatic coffees.

Sister company to resident restaurant Foam, Sugar Loaf Deli & Bakery are on hand to provide sandwiches, toasties, paninis, pastries, salads, soup and extravagant doughnuts. Everything on offer at Sugar Loaf is baked at their Bake House, which is based at Milford Waterfront as well. Sugar Loaf offers Pembrokeshire produce, including jams, marmalades, chutneys, pates, cheeses and fudge from local suppliers. Sugar Loaf are also fully licensed supplying a wide range of wines, local ales, cider and spirits. The Sugar Loaf team are not only passionate about artisan bread and baked goods, they care about the environment too, sourcing supplies locally to minimise their carbon footprint, and providing biodegradable/compostable packing for their takeaway products with the business looking to work towards being plastic free.

Established in early 2020 by owners Lee and Nic, CUB3D is an independent clothing brand which started selling environmentally-friendly fashion online and due to a successful start, CUB3D opened their store here later that year, adding to the great range of independent shops at Milford Waterfront. CUB3D does their branding and design work in-house to provide a quality service. All of the products that they design and create are moving more towards recycled and carbon neutral garments. They are also hoping to expand their ‘Earth Positive and Salvage’ recycled clothing range in 80-90% of their product offering by summer 2021. They offer products including t-shirts (which are 100% recycled), hoodies, jumpers, bobble hats, knitted hats, caps, belts, wallets and iPad cases too.

Opening its doors in March 2021 by owner Owen Grey, OG Barbers is the only dedicated barbershop at Milford Waterfront. Confident in all aspects of barbering, they provide a wide range of professional services including standards cuts, fades, skin fades and beard trims too. OG Barbers also offers top-of-the-range products used to style your hair, including Dapper Dan, Black Label and Fudge.

The Scoop Ice Cream Parlour and Coffee Shop has been serving ice creams from its kiosk next to the Pier Head since 2016, but this year due to its popularity, the business has developed and brought ice cream making back to Milford Haven with the addition of their own new ‘Ice Creamery’, based just over the road at Neptune House. This means that the ice cream served at the The Scoop is made at Milford Waterfront, with milk from Steynton Farm.

COCO’s Restaurant was taken over by new owners James and Phil in August 2020, offering a great selection of food and drinks in an informal, relaxed city-style venue. COCO’s home, ‘The Sail Loft’ is a Grade II listed building, which was once used to service the Nantucket Whaling ships and is now home to this vibrant restaurant serving yummy meals, decadent cocktails and coffee and cake every day from 11am.

Steve Edwards, Commercial Director at the Port of Milford Haven commented:

“We are so delighted to have welcomed all these exciting new businesses to Milford Waterfront. It was reassuring to see non-essential businesses reopen earlier this month and now outdoor dining returning as well. Given the challenges that the pandemic has presented, as a destination we really are bucking the trend, with new businesses choosing to be based here at Milford Waterfront! Developing hospitality and tourism in the area is an important strategy for the Port, and with the addition of the new 100 bedroom Tŷ Hotel, which will be opening in spring next year, we really are achieving the ambition to make Milford Waterfront a must-visit destination in Pembrokeshire. We have so many fantastic businesses here that offer a variety of services to visitors, and we cannot wait to see everyone enjoying themselves as lockdown restrictions ease.”

You can keep up with developments at Milford Waterfront on the What’s Here and Blog pages.