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

Bill’s Cardiff Bay

We’d not seen my parents for far too long and getting both the girls into the same room at the same time was becoming impossible unless food was involved so we bribed them all with the promise of edible goodies and trekked off to Cardiff Bay to give the new Bill’s a try.

Opened on the site of the old Pilotage Building, previously the home of Wood’s Brasserie, this is the second Bill’s in Cardiff, the first being in the Hays near the library.

The food is good, simple and hearty with appetizers such as Gordal olives , breaded haloumi,  hummus and tzatziki and a selection of grilled meats, fried fish, steaks, burgers and salads.

The lime and coriander chicken was a very popular choice for our group and I can testify that it was juicy and delicious.

My choice of ribs was huge, meaty and slathered in barbeque sauce – all just as it should be. The coleslaw portion was a little meagre and under seasoned but all in all a fine meal. Similarly for the fish-finger sandwich, a good dish but a little under-seasoned. But again nothing that a little salt couldn’t fix.
The desserts, Eton Mess and hot chocolate brownie were very good – the highlight of the meal.
Great service with a smile, a sideline in quirky grocery goods and a sublime setting all added up to a very very enjoyable afternoon

Greenwood and Brown

I was very sceptical when a family member told us he’d had the “best steak ever” at Greenwood and Brown (Quay St Cardiff) so based mainly out of a desire to disprove this (family politics eh?) we went along last night to try it out.
On entering we were warned that the service was running a little slowly due to a large party having arrived just before us – orders were taking “about 30 mins”. That’s the sort of delay I can handle so we decided to take the risk and luckily we were seated without having reserved in advance.

We both loved the appetizers – especially the roast broad beans – more-ish little devils though. But tonight was all about the steak.

We gave due consideration to the chateaubriand which the manager helpfully brought to the table and described for us but I like my steak with a bit more fat so opted for the rib-eye (rare) which comes with a bearnaise sauce, and french fries.

The Grrrrl, always the sophisticate, went for the filet (medium) – expensive taste as usual, and opted for the twice-cooked steak chips with a sauce

We decided to share sides of green beans in pesto and a tomato and rocket salad – both excellent.
And if a mayonnaise can be judged by its wobble then my little pot was a quivering paragon of freshly made sauciness.

So – did the steaks live up to the billing?
Not quite but only a gnats hair away.

Nothing has come close to the Argentinean steak we once had at a poolside barbie in Majorca but these bad boys were fighting against a setting of sun, sea and sangria and they put up a hell of good argument.

Seasoned and cooked to perfection, they cut like butter. The flavour was outstanding. Both steaks were too good to spoil with an unnecessary sauce so that went on the chips. (A special mention for the twice-cooked chips – heavenly).
I have only minor quibbles with the meal. For the price I was disappointed that we weren’t offered bread nor water to accompany the meal. And the bearnaise could have done with a touch more white wine vinegar – but both it and the pepper sauce were freshly made – top marks on that.
If I’m really nit-picking then a selection of half-bottles of wine would have been good too.

The service was excellent, just the right level of helpful and attentive.

All in all a really good experience, to the point where I was shocked to see on the receipt that this is a Brains owned restaurant. The level of food and service we got felt like a top notch indie so well done to Brains on getting it right.

Highly recommended (but a touch expensive – we won’t be going every week 🙂 )

Crispy Duck

Were invited by friends to try a meal at Crispy Duck on Whitchurch Road last night. No photos of food as that would have been rude in company but just wanted to write a little entry to say what a lovely meal and a lovely night we had of it.
The menu is a mix of Chinese, Japanese and Thai classics.
We had Satay and Momo Chicken starters – both were mini-skewers of griddled perfection. We followed those with Thai Green Curry and Chicken Rendang mains. The Thai curry was just the right mix of creamy and spicy with lovely big chunks of aubergine. The rendang was dark, rich and spicy. Both were obviously made with freshly prepared paste and served with pride.
The service was excellent and when the meal was over we sat talking for well over an hour, absorbed in our conversation, and not once were we made to feel uncomfortable.
The staff were excellent, hitting just the right balance of attention.
At a touch over £20 a head including service and drinks it was also very good value.

A fab evening – Crispy Duck: highly recommended

Chapter’s Art Car Boot Sale

Chapters “Art Car Boot Sale” is in full swing today. Everything but the kitchen sink is there, from giant robots to bucking bronco sheep, wandering mermaids, ever-so-still human-statutes, books, music, art stalls, crafty stalls, vintage clothes and food. They have pizza, paella, po-boys, pipes beer and barbeque. With live music on the stage and roving samba bands, there’s something for everyone. Get down there and enjoy the shenanigans.

Carluccio’s, Cardiff Bay

Just a quick post to say the new Carluccio’s in Cardiff Bay has opened and looks rather spiffing.

We did a 10km round the Bay today so decided we could indulge in a few bits from the deli’ section. We shared a ciabatta roll with mortadella and provolone, a focaccia roll with prosciutto and mozzarella and a roasted veg pastry, which we finished off with a three way split of a lemon tart. It was all delicious for barely more than you’d expect to pay due a few dodgy Tesco sarnies. Eaten on a bench looking out across the water, I suspect our bay runs will never be the same again.

Street Food Circus

So Cardiff is definitely having a moment. There seems to be so much good stuff going on, so many “happenings” that it’s hard to keep up. One of the latest is the Street Food Circus

Head down past the Radisson Blu Hotel, past the pugnacious Peerless Jim Driscoll, under the railway bridge and you’ll find it tucked away behind “No Fit State’s” home:

There’s pretty much something for all tastes, Meat and Greek’s souvlakis cooked over open coals, Hangfire’s award winning slow BBQ offerings, Anand George’s wonderful spicy wraps, the Hokkei Box Boys with their Asian fusion offerings. And so much much more. Pizza, fish, burgers, slow pork, churros…. Too much to take in in one visit:

Inside the big top they have plenty of tables and benches, cosy lighting, and two (count’ em, two) bars selling cocktails and real ales.

We shared a Souvlaki from Meat and Greek and a wrap from Anand George’s Street Kitchen. Both were delicious, generous servings and excellent value. Couples with Margeritas and lashings of ginger beer – top nosh.

There’s a rumor of circus acts too but we had to dash before that happened – maybe we’ll get to see that tonight when we go again.

Great stuff

Il Pastificio

Wow! What a meal. Sorry for the spoiler but there you have it. Another amazing Italian restaurant shock. Not sure what is going on with Cardiff at the moment but it seems to have an explosion of tremendous indie restaurants. Fresh on the heels of an excellent Italian meal at Anatoni’s we stumbled into another gem of a place, this time it was Il Pastificio on Wellfield Road in Roath.

The restaurant itself is a little corner unit – previously home to KL Canalog (which was another of our favorites), close enough to Chaiholics that the chefs could and did wave and gesture to each other through the large windows.

As well as pointing out and telling us how good the neighbouring competition was the head-chef also explained the menu and daily specials to us with typical theatrical Italian hand gestures and when I mentioned my seafood allergy told us not to worry, we could basically have any combination of the ingredients we preferred – now that’s what I cooking.

We ordered a bottle of red – Amanti Primitivo to get us started. Damsen and sour cherry indeed. Delicious.

Starters were a sharing platter – well it was a birthday meal and sharing platters are always a good barometer of what’s to come:

The forecast from this one was fine, buttery artichoke hearts with a hint of vinegar, green grassy olive oil with sweet balsamic and warm crusty bread for dipping, smooth ripe olives and slices of Italian sausages cut through with spices, big blobs of delicious lardy fat and nuggets of pepper and pistachios. The future looked good.

The mains were spectacular. Don’t you love it when the chef is so proud of what they’re cooking that they bring the uncooked produce out to show it off? The fish, fresh from Cardiff Market looked excellent so it was tuna for me and king prawn for the missus. We’d previously been told how good the fresh hand-made pasta was so D2 went for that.

My tuna steak was just-cooked, pink-in-the-middle perfection topped with courgette spirals, excellent black ink tagliatelle and a gorgeous chilli and garlic sauce.

The spinach and ricotta stuffed panzerotti came in a sage and butter sauce. I got a taste of this and it was my favourite dish of the evening.

The sweet pepper risotto with king prawn was irresistibly dramatic with a grilled colossal crustacean sat atop a mound of saffron yellow rice cooked to a barely soft-enough bite.

Now, as a family, less is usually more, so we invariably go for just mains or at most two courses. But this was so good we had to do dessert and coffee as well:

The missus went for a wonderful tremulous panna cotta topped with sweet sharp strawberries.

D2 had the mango cheesecake, as recommended by the waitress and it was velvety with just the right level of mouth-puckering sharpness.

My tiramisu was big enough for a small assault force and packed enough calories for a march to the south pole. It didn’t touch the sides – delectable.

A fantastic meal and another big recommendation.

The Chapel

Oh Chapel – it could have been the start of such a beautiful friendship but now I’m afraid we can never be together.

This Saturday was a big night for us and we wanted to go somewhere special. We had a double birthday celebration, visiting family and it was my daughters last night at home before going back to university so we pushed the boat out and went to The Chapel on Churchill Way.
The evening started out with what appeared to be a minor cock up.
We had originally booked for four people at six-thirty then rang back to ask if we could make it six. We had meant six people, they took it to mean six o’clock. So when we arrived it slowly dawned on us all that they had expected us half an hour earlier and had given our table away. Hilarious eh?

So we were offered a table in the bar but could choose from the restaurant menu and, as we were looking forward to it so much (and there was no offerto refund our deposit) we accepted. In hindsight this was a mistake.

The place is very ambitious, a night club in the cellar, a ground floor bar and fine dining amongst glittering chandeliers upstairs (I knew because I sneaked up to take a peak – we were never invited up at any point)

First, cards on the table, the food (my meal at least – the others weren’t quite as good) was outstanding. My starter of scallops was fabulous – melt in mouth good on a delicious cauliflower puree with puy lentils and bacon.

One of the mains we ordered was Dover Sole and that was expertly filleted at table. My main of sea-bass on a Jerusalem artichoke risotto was just outstanding. Perfectly cooked and seasoned, just the right amount of blue-cheese in the unctuous risotto. I dream of making one as good at home:

The side dish of cabbage and chorizo was also fine.
The other mains of chicken and lamb were OK but not at the same level, the bubble and squeak accompanying the chicken was a little bland and heavy on the potato and the lamb shank was some what under-seasoned. But on the whole the food was very good.
I struck lucky again with the desserts, the flourless blood-orange cake was most and delicious with a hint of caramelized crunch. The pannacotta with rhubarb was subtle and smooth.

So – what is my problem?
Well,  after being seated it became clear that the banquet diner-style booth was not ideal for serving a group of six diners, every dish having to be shuffled down from the outside edge. We were surrounded in every line of sight by television showing Sky Sport. The bar got fuller more and more raucous until we were the only diners sitting amongst a mass of youngsters getting their Saturday night drunk on.

And then the music started.
A full-on DJ set.
We were basically sat reading an expensive meal in a disco to the point where we had to shout to make any conversation. It was a disaster. The lie point was when a couple of strangers decided to join us in the both and sat at the end of our bench seats.
The fine dining experience we’d expected it was not.

To make it worse the waitresses had no idea of the situation and had no knowledge of the restaurant menu so every question had to be referred upstairs.
And, after we had made the compromise of sitting in the bar we never again saw the manager nor front of house staff. No check to see if we were OK, no concession on service charge, God forbid we should have been offered a bottle of wine.

I searched out the manager at the end of the meal to express our distress at the easy we felt we had been treated – I got no change from him at all – he refused stubbornly to see our point of view. He even had the hubris to say he hoped to give us a better experience the next time we came.

Like a Bisto kid with my nose pressed against the glass I couldn’t resist taking
a peep upstairs to see how the other half were doing – it looked very nice. And it was quiet. No TV Sport. And no strangers seating themselves at the diners tables. Bliss.

So the result was, food good, experience awful. We won’t rush back
Not recommended.