Bar 44

Strange days this week. My youngest turned eighteen. Yes all my kids are now adult and I am officially redundant as a person.
In ancient times I would expect the tribe to be looking for opportunities to bop me on the bonce with a large bone and to leave my body out in the snow for the bears. So with anxious glances for family members bearing mammoth-mandibles I decided to distract then by taking them for a celebratory meal at the new Bar 44 on Westgate Street in Cardiff.

We had already previously eaten at the Penarth Bar 44 where we had one of the best tapas experiences outside of Spain due in no small part to the excellent service we had at the hands of the head waiter. So on the eve of our visit to the new Bar 44 we were slightly freaked out to be served cocktails in Las Iguanas in Cardiff Bay by the same (now ex) head-waiter – a bad omen?

The new Bar 44 location is on the site of the execrably named and now defunct “Feather and Bone” (which never appealed to me – can’t think why with that moniker). It’s a prime spot that for some reason has failed to find it’s crowd – hopefully Bar 44 can remedy that.

The restaurant interior is very stylish with low vaulted-ceilings, white tiles and fancy bar fittings.

We opened our account with cocktails of the two-for-one variety – start as you mean to go on I say. Imaginatively concocted featuring figs, lavender and egg whites and all manner of unusual ingredients, they were subtle, stunningly colored and delicious.

The menu was helpfully divided into meat, fish and veggie dishes so we ordered a selection from each segment.
Garbanzo salad with parmesan shavings was excellent as were the Bacalao and Dorado dishes. The Grrrl particularly liked the merluza – served filleted and grilled.

I could have done with a sour dough loaf to mop up the stunning chorizo stew

I’m a meaty boy though so the chicken thighs and lamb were my favorite dishes – just gorgeous.

And little add-ons such as the olives and sour-dough with olive oil were just stunning.

We finished by splurging on vintage sherry which tasted of raisins and honey and had more legs than all of Rod Stewart’s ex-girlfriends, was almost as expensive but just as worth it.

It was a week of strange omens. I saw a business-man in tailored shirt and trousers wearing star wars deck shoes and another carrying a Tupperware box full of faggots and gravy. I saw the ghost of head-waiters past serving cocktails on the eve of my visit to the new restaurant so the week kept getting weirder and weirder.

And then I heard my daughter freshly returned from a holiday in Spain say that the tapas in Bar 44 were better than any she’d had in a whole week in Majorca.

What can it all mean? Better tapas in Cardiff than Majorca? Is it the end of days?

All I can say is if this is the rapture then bring it on.

Very highly recommended.

Sunflower and I

Another amazing find in Cardiff Bay thanks to GourmetGorro’s blog, “Sunflower and I” is an old bank branch office in Mount Stuart Square which has been lovingly converted into a combination flower shop and coffee shop which also hosts ad hoc opera/cabaret events.

The interior is an Aladdin’s Cave of bric-a-brac, chandeliers, beer pumps, paintings and sketches and all sorts of wonders.

When we arrived the owner was in the middle of prepping flowers for a wedding but he broke off to prepare our food and then chatted with us for ages about life, love and Kaiser Rolls – of which we had two (ham and cheese salad variety – lovingly made in a local Polish bakery).
We also shared Sponge Omelet – which sounds dodgy but was aaaaamazing. Folded light-as-air sponge filled with vanilla custard and cherry jam.

Sat in a cosy corner we absolutely loved our post-run coffee, brunch and chat with the owner.

Another fab indie cafe for the bay and an utter delight.
We’re looking forward to going back already.

Madeira

As a gift for a favor given we received a voucher for dinner at Madeira – a portuguese restaurant on Guilford Cresent (close to Gwdyhw).

It’s a well known Cardiff fixture which turns out to have been there for seventeen years so goodness knows how we’ve never been before. Suffice to say they must be doing something right to have survived and thrived for so long.

First impressions were varying levels of amazement.  From the exterior it seems quite modestly sized but inside the restaurant is enormous. And we had just been bemoaning how quiet Cardiff is when the students are on hols so stepping into Madeira to find it packed and buzzing was a surprise.

If you crave modern or “cutting edge” then this is not the restaurant you’re looking for paduan. The decor is pretty much the definition of homely and traditional, oak features heavily in the decor.
The service (one odd “hilarious” incident aside) was spot on. Lovely smiling staff, very helpful advice from the head waiter Dino both on the wine (we choose a white  Pacheca £20 – very nice if a bit floral by then end of the bottle), and on which meals to order. One day all restaurants will have this level of friendly service.

The food is a mix of trad Portuguese specialities and other traditional steak and fish dishes – all cooked in an open kitchen set at the back of the restaurant.

For starters we choose the mussels in cream sauce and grilled sardines – both were outstanding. The cream sauce was good enough to scarf with a soup spoon and the sardines had that perfect hot-coal grilled flavor

I was tempted to go for the t-bone or rib-eye steak both of which looked amazing but was persuaded to share an order a selection of “espetadas” with the girrrrl and we weren’t disappointed.

The table was shuffled back into position under metal hooks and soon two metal skewers with delicious hunks of meat (mixed – lamb, pork and chicken) and monkfish were hanging between us

The waiter helpfully advised against side-dishes and he was right. These bad boys came with sauteed potatoes, battered cauliflower and peas – no frills but simple, delicious and ample food.
The espetadas had garlic butter (optional) melted down them and we also added a delicious Portuguese suace on the side.
All in all pretty awesome.

We came close to choosing the portuguese custard tart (as it comes from Nata’s bakery and is fab – we’ve had it before 🙂 ) for dessert but instead opted for the in-house cooked strawberry cheesecake which was delicious although a little heavy on the gelatin for my taste. 

For some reason the staff at some point guessed incorrectly that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary so sang us a little song and delivered a couple of free Portuguese liqueurs – hilarious if a little mortifying. It was a nice touch though and we couldn’t find any way to set the record straight so just went with it – the drinks were delicious.

All in all the meal for two came to £70 for three courses including wine and coffee so pretty good value.

If you’re looking for a buzzing atmosphere, and excellent Portuguese food in a traditional, warm friendly service in a homely setting then you can’t go wrong with Madeira.

A very enjoyable evening out