So this was a first, invited to a “soft opening” for a new venue in Cardiff called “Locke and Remedy“. What on earth I’ve done to deserve it apart from a few scratchy blog entries I have no idea but it was gratefully accepted none the less.
This is a new restaurant based in the old library building which is bang in the centre of Cardiff and is a pretty stunning venue both inside and out but for some reason had been a graveyard for the hopes of various business ventures over the past few years. Cardiff’s very own version of the Bermuda Triangle.
We arrived fashionably late by about ten minutes in teeming rain and were warmly greeted at the door with a cocktail called a Welsh Princess – a delicious prosecco and aperol (no – me neither) based beverage which hit the spot nicely thank you very much.
At the behest of very persuasive mixologists (ok – they didn’t have to try toooo hard) we tried various other cocktails during the course of the evening including an Old Wives Tale (an exquisite citrus flavored gin and limoncello based potion) and a
Sailors Hydranger (a toffee and spiced rum libation which started promisingly but was cloying by the end of the glass)
The mainstays of the menu at “Locke and Remedy” are pizzas and burgers which may sound a bit basic but that’s definitely not the case here. The pizzas have some atypical but very well chosen flavor combinations and the burgers are hand-crafted with relishes such as American mustard and ketchup hand made in the restaurant.
In order for the guests to try a little of everything, pizzas prepared in-house and cooked in wood-fired oven were sliced and offered around the tables as pseudo-starters.
I loved the pizza’s perfectly crisp thin crusts and they had some interesting flavor combinations. The salty mackerel on the mackerel and prawn went down surprisingly well for me but the missus is a traditionalist when it comes to pizza so she wasn’t overly keen. The spicy chicken and pepperoni had a delicious chili kick and the goats cheese and black olive pizza was a definite favorite. The mozzarella pizza had a lovely oregano flavor but my particular favorite was the palma ham and chorizo.
For mains we were offered a choice of burgers combined with a mix of fries (plain, cheese and sweet-potato)
Now I must admit I’m not normally a huge burger fan – too often the texture is poor and they’re an excuse for poor quality mince. So I’m happy the report that the glazed short rib burger I tried was pretty stunning, quite possibly the best I’ve ever had. It had more of a pressed steak texture the a mince and the american mustard relish gave it a pleasing dry spice kick. It was really (really) good.
The chicken burger was also good , moist tender breast in a batter with more than a hint of an upmarket “colonels secret recipe” spice going on.
For dessert, the chocolate cookies with vanilla ice cream were moist, gooey, malty and fab.
In the name of over-indulgence we tried a few more of the cocktails and eventually hit on our joint favorite which was the Margarita Rosa
So can “Locke and Remedy” escape the clutches of Cardiff’s Bermuda triangle?
On this showing I would give it a definite yes. Good food and drinks with imaginative flavor combinations, prepared and served with care and attention in wonderfully ambient surroundings
Highly recommended
Eat see hear Cardiff 