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ARMLESS DRAGON
97 Wyeverne Rd, Cathays, Cardiff, CF24 4BG Tel: 029 2038 2357, web: www.armlessdragon.co.uk
• A stylish and ambitious contemporary Welsh menu has made this a benchmark diner in the city for some time, with a strong focus on locally sourced and organic ingredients whenever possible. Traditional Welsh food (cockles, laverbread) sits atop European-influenced leek fondue with white truffle oil, while Brecon rabbit might be slow-braised in port and served with ‘potch’ (swede and potato mash). Great wine choices, too.
NEW CONWAY
58 Conway Rd, Pontcanna, Cardiff, CF11 9NW Tel: 029 2022 4373, web: www.knifeandforkfood.co.uk
• Just outside the city centre this gastropub has become one of Cardiff’s top dining destinations (and the first local place to get into the Michelin Pub Guide). Straightforward menu combines imaginative combinations (chicken breast on cheddar mash with mushroom sauce) with state of the art versions of fish & chips and other pub classics. You can’t book, so be ready to try some of their excellent real ales while you wait.
NEW CROWN SOCIAL
Parc Hotel, Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3UD Tel: 029 2078 5593, web: www.thistle.com
• Steered by everybody’s favourite Latvian superchef Martin Blunos, this new business in Cardiff’s posh Parc Hotel has made an instant impact on the city, with the ‘small plate’ approach allowing you to pick’n’mix from a broad palette of tastes. With stylish and imaginative dishes like chicken oysters with crispy skin and watercress or Swiss pasta with streaky bacon and morel cream sauce, the ever-changing menu reflects seasonality, using the best, freshest Welsh produce.
EL PUERTO
The Old Custom House, Penarth Marina, Penarth, CF64 1TT Tel: 029 2070 5551, web: www.theoldcustomhousepenarth.co.uk
• The venerable Custom House actually hosts two great restaurants: upstairs La Marina offers an impressive fresh-caught fish selection and fine-dining menu with incomparable views of Cardiff Bay, while, on the ground floor, Spanish brasserie El Puerto’s lively atmosphere derives from its tapas-style menu. Head chef Trefor Jones (who trained with Michel Roux, among others) personally selects the best local ingredients for both eateries.
FOXHUNTER
Nantyderry, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, NP7 9DN Tel: 01873 881101, web: www.thefoxhunter.com
• Half an hour from Cardiff but well worth the trip to Nantyderry to enjoy Matt Tebbutt’s deliciously ambitious contemporary British cuisine. Making the most of local organic ingredients – including some foraged food – he’s won a clutch of awards as well as praise from no less than The Independent for bringing ‘the best of Welsh produce to the table’. It all takes place in a splendidly refurbished railway building.
MADEIRA RESTAURANTE
2 Guildford Crescent, Cardiff, CF10 2HJ Tel: 029 2066 7705, web: www.madeirarestaurante.co.uk
• Cardiff’s only Portuguese restaurant has been plying its wares in the heart of the shopping district since 1998, picking up the South Wales Echo Restaurant of the Year award on the way. Plenty of seafood choices, including crackling grilled sardines and saucy lulas (squid) a Portuguesa, tasty vegetarian choices including mushroom stroganoff, and meat treats like chicken piri piri. If there are two of you, go for cataplana, a traditional Portuguese brothy stew of mixed fish and meats cooked in wine and stock.
MINT & MUSTARD
134 Whitchurch Rd, Cardiff, CF14 3LZ Tel: 029 2062 0333, web: www.mintandmustard.com
• By no means your average curry house, and offering modern Indian cookery that adds an element of contemporary style to the traditional South Asian flavours. Picked in 2009 by Restaurant magazine as one of the UK’s top 100 restaurants and included in the following year’s Good Food Guide. The 2011 Guide entry says that ‘a trailblazing spirit gives Mint & Mustard a style all of its own’ and notes their ‘superb vegetarian selection’.
ORGANIC ZONE
11 Charles St, Cardiff, CF10 2GA Tel: 029 2038 3886
• Opens early (8.30am) for breakfast, and serves freshly made food entirely sourced from local organic producers. While sandwiches are a big part of the trade, their wholesome soups and salads encompass every dietary preference from vegan to carnivore, and the coffee’s damn fine, too. Mentioned in The Guardian as a top ‘healthy fast food’ purveyor, the O-Zone, as it’s generally known, was a Market Food Hero in 2009.
TRADE STREET CAFE
Trade St, Cardiff, CF10 5DT Tel: 029 2022 8666, web: www.tradestreetcafe.com
• A fresh, modern, healthy take on the proper ‘caff’, offering cracking breakfasts, generous brunches and pies, soups and pasta at lunchtime. Grab and go with sandwiches, panini, wraps and jacket potatoes, safe in the knowledge that it’s all made from free-range eggs, Fairtrade coffee and local Welsh produce.
VEGETARIAN FOOD STUDIO
109 Penarth Rd, Grangetown, Cardiff, CF11 6JT Tel: 029 2023 8222, web: http://www.vegetarianfoodstudio.co.uk/
• Uses fresh ingredients and spices to conjure up authentic Indian meatless dishes, with some suitable for vegans and all delicious enough to convince even the most stubborn meat-heads. The friendly canteen-style BYO ambience makes regular customers protective about spreading the word, but the sheer quality of their homemade chutneys, curries, breads and sweets is legendary. |
