The Cardiff Menu

Cardiff based food blogger, giving honest, in-depth, knowledgeable reviews of (but not limited to} the Cardiff food scene.

Heaneys, 6 – 10 Romilly Crescent, Cardiff.

Posted on June 12, 2023 by thecardiffmenu

It’s been a couple of months since my last review on the blog, had a little break from what seemed a series of mediocre dining experiences. I was craving a full ticking of boxes, the kind of meal where you leave with a smile on your face, and a feeling of satisfaction of having been looked after by people that know what they are doing.

Needless to say, I found this at Heaneys.

Heaneys opened in 2018, 5 years of hard work by Tommy Heaney, his partner Nikki, and their team have firmly established the restaurant as one of Cardiff’s premier culinary destinations. Nikki even sporting her new ‘Heaneys’ arm tattoo that day, an acknowledgement to herself (in her own words) of what a big part of their lives the last 5 years have been.

We attended on a Sunday, so were dining from their Sunday Lunch menu served 12pm – 3pm. From the second you walk in you feel relaxed, a welcome that felt more like seeing a friend than a slightly stressed server. Calm and in control.

The dining area is over different levels, open and airy at the front, bags of light coming in from the glass frontage, to more hidden corners towards the back, the seating style changing slightly depending on where you sit. Mostly a mix of blues, greys with some wall art and wood floors and tables, it’s a modern relaxing environment, music is eclectic and at the right volume.

Their use of lighting and the placement of large indoor plants show they have really thought about the restaurants ambience and feel, it really works. Tables are presented with minimal fuss and perfect placement, particularly loved the cutlery holders.

Once you have ordered, you are brought some complimentary warm Sourdough bread and Marmite butter, I was starving at this point so it was a surprise and welcome gift. I’m not a huge fan of Marmite but the beauty of this butter was that it is a scaled down version, less harsh and I couldn’t get enough of it, the bread itself was fresh, soft with a lovely crust.

I had ordered an Italian Pinot Grigio Riserva, Mezzacorona at £6.90 for 125ml, I really enjoyed this, it was light and refreshing and very easy to drink.

From the ‘snack’ section of the menu we chose the Buttermilk Chicken with fermented Chili, the chili leaving a lovely tingle on the lips and the chicken itself cooked perfectly with a wonderfully crips coating. I urge you to squeeze the lime wedge garnish over the chicken before you set about devouring it.

My starter was the Fishcake with Red Curry and Lime, beautifully presented, the cake itself comes as a sphere rather than the coaster style shape you may be used to from your local chippy. It’s a good size, breaking through the golden coating you are presented with lovely flaky fish which is well seasoned and not overly ‘fishy’ which works for me. The curry is mild and provides a nice balance and touch of moisture to the dish, lovely.

For the main event I went with the Dry Aged Beef, served pink on a bed of creamy mash with (I believe) Oxtail Croquettes and a Yorkshire pudding. The veg that followed were cabbage with glazed carrots, roast potatoes and cauliflower cheese, you are warned not to touch the latter as they have come straight from the oven.

Combined, this was a Sunday dinner that looked every bit as good as it tasted, the carrots cooked with star anise, cinnamon and honey were stunning, the roast potatoes how you always wish they are, crispy on the outside, sprinkled with sea salt and fluffy inside. The beef itself was tender and….

don’t say it…….

melted in the mouth! Well it did, and no one wants to be chewing on a tough piece of beef debating whether to spit it in to a napkin. You get plenty of gravy to add at your leisure, it’s rich, flavoursome and perfect consistency.

My partner had the lamb which received equal accolades. I’ll be honest, I was slightly worried a Sunday dinner from a restaurant like Heaneys would leave me hungry, not fulfilling that traditional full up slump that it is obligatory to feel afterwards. I needn’t have worried, the portions are good, contain everything you want to see on your plate, while retaining refinement, every element just screams quality produce and skillful cooking.

To finish I had Dark Chocolate Mousse, Vanilla, Blood Orange, Minus 8 vinegar. Rich, indulgent, smooth, creamy, insert all the buzz words here because it had them, the brittle was a delight and created that balance of texture. The ice cream giving a contrast in temperature and adding palate cleansing freshness. My partner choosing the Yoghurt Parfait, White Chocolate, Mango, Passionfruit, equally as stunning.

At £35 for 3 courses you will struggle to find food of this quality, cooked with this level of skill for less. I mean you’ll pay that at your office Christmas party in a chain pub somewhere.

Heaneys is a restaurant that understands the fundamental principle of hospitality, from the moment you walk in you know they are here to provide the customer with a great experience. The service is perfect, the time between courses is perfect, the ambience they have created is perfect. It’s fine dining that’s relaxed, effortless. Everyone is welcomed straight away, service is attentive but you’re left alone to enjoy it, professionalism runs throughout from top to bottom.

The servers know their job, subtle touches I observed which are seemingly becoming all too rare. Heaneys has propelled itself as one of my top 3 favourite restaurants, everything is done right, which is how it should be after all.

Casa Mia, Caerphilly

Posted on August 21, 2022 by thecardiffmenu

After spending most of Saturday morning in the rain trying to get small white balls in to holes in the ground, I needed something to cheer myself up. As the skies cleared and the sun revealed itself again with far less aggression than last week, I dropped down the other side of the mountain in to Caerphilly town centre. Casa Mia had been on my radar for years, I have previously eaten at the rated Italian Volare, and the Wetherspoons The Malcolm Uphill so took this opportunity to down my next target.

Casa Mia is described as a Mediterranean restaurant and cocktail bar, found on a first floor premises just across from the statue of the town’s son, Tommy Cooper. Arriving about 12:30pm we were the first in and had the pick of the tables, obviously we took full advantage of the window seats which offer good views of the castle and the locals going about their business below, great place to people watch. The restaurant actually filled up quite a lot in the next hour, and with a lunch menu at £13.55 for 2 courses and £16.55 for 3 courses it’s not difficult to see why. Mon to Fri it’s £1 less for each deal.

The restaurant area is bright, airy and open plan, floor to ceiling windows letting in bags of light and stunning views, on the ceiling seem to be the kind of things you see in a recording studio to absorb sound and improve acoustics, possibly there for that purpose. Brightly painted walls separate the bar area from the wood paneled restaurant.

The menu covers most Mediterranean favourites and with a choice of 9 starters and 8 mains (plus 3 Welsh mains) it’s not overly busy, but offers enough variation to meet most palettes. As mentioned they are also a cocktail bar, so have an extensive menu as well as the addition of a Gin menu which has every modern day concoction of flavours you need your gin to contain.

Starters – We ordered Deep Fried Calamari with Garlic Mayo, and Crispy Deep Fried Halloumi with Tomato Chutney, yep we both went for deep fried, I’d been in the rain all morning, I was allowed. The Halloumi had a nice Golden colouring to it and hadn’t been fried to the point of becoming hard and stodgy, holding it’s shape like a Greek cheese chip. The dip which although says Tomato I could swear was caramalised onion, I may be wrong but either way it balanced the natural saltiness of the cheese nicely. The salad garnish was fresh and brought colour and texture to the dish.

The Calamari was reported as also being super tasty, being cooked perfectly, not rubbery, with a crispy batter. A dousing of lemon juice along with the garlic mayo again balanced the dish well.

For mains, it was Pan Fried Sea Bass in a garlic, lemon and white wine sauce and Penne Meatballs, beef meatballs in a seasoned tomato sauce.

4 good sized, well seasoned meatballs nestled themselves in to perfectly cooked pasta, all of it bathed in the rich tomato sauce which although not described, had a lovely heat running through it, the perfect amount. I was pleasantly suprised by how much I enjoyed this, tasted great, and the ration of pasta, sauce and meatballs was all spot on. The meatballs were perhaps a little dry but I am being picky here. A sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a whack of cracked black pepper forcing a wide smile of contentment across my face.

A good slab of garlic bread ( a side order) enabled me to mop up every last bit of that incredible sauce. The garlic bread itself had just the right amount of garlic, the bread neither soggy or burnt to a crisp, perfect.

The Sea Bass was seasoned well, flaky and cooked well, the garlic, lemon and white wine sauce pairing perfectly with the fish and wasn’t too heavy on the olive oil, a sprinkling of chive adding more flavour. The rice with it was perfectly cooked infused with Mediterranean veg and providing a whack of sunshine to the plate. You can have chips as an alternative but that would be the wrong choice, right?

So of course we went with the 3 course option, at these prices you’d be a fool not to, desserts are brought over on a serving slate so you can see them in all their 4D state. I like this, you know exactly what you are ordering, and from a restaurant point of view who is going to say no to dessert when they’re plonked right in front of the customers face? I know I didn’t.

Your choices are Tiramisu, Strawberry Cheesecake, Lemon Meringue Cheesecake, Waffle and a Jaffa Cake Sponge. We went with Tiramisu and Strawberry Cheesecake.

The desserts are bought in here, you’ll find that most places you eat, however this is where I encountered the only faux pax. Where I was expecting the usual indulgent layered richness of coffee soaked ladyfingers, mascarpone, rum and cocoa, what I actually got was a frozen dessert so hard I could barely put my spoon through it. I highlighted this to staff who were completely apologetic and replaced it for a Lemon Meringue Cheesecake and took it off the bill! Turns out my dessert had been taken from the tray that had been taken out to defrost for the evening.

The Lemon Meringue cheesecake was great, a lemon syrup topping as well as drizzled on the plate, oozed off every forkful, soft flavourful cream cheese and some lemon sponge and whipped cream on top. Garnished with some lovely vanilla ice cream in it’s own dish as to not spill across the plate as it melts, and some delicious raspberries, strawberry and cherries, positioned with thought and care, it’s the details people.

The Strawberry Cheesecake being served in the same way with the obvious replacement of Strawberry as garnish and syrup topping, and equally delicious.

The service is very good at Casa Mia, attentive without being over the top, friendly, polite and professional, check backs are made, plates are cleared in a timely manner and the food comes out in good time. Crockery, cutlery and glassware all perfectly clean and well presented, music at a good ambient volume, playing easy listening.

Staff can’t do enough for you here and went above and beyond with the dessert mishap, taking it off the bill was a goodwill gesture that they didn’t need to do as it was replaced, but these small gestures will always keep the customer happy and returning again and again.

With the all to depressing reality of the cost of living, rising inflation and everything else, at £15.55 for a 3 course lunch Mon to Fri you have to ask yourself can you afford NOT to eat here? I think you would be hard pressed to find this sort of cooking at this price in Cardiff.

Take a trip up and over the mountain and take advantage of this absolute steal of a lunch menu.

Details: Venue – Casa Mia 1, 4 – 6 The Twyn, Caerphilly CF83 1JL

Lunch Menu – Mon to Fri 12pm – 2:15pm

Sat 12pm – 3:30pm

The Daffodil Inn, Penrhiwllan.

Posted on April 24, 2022 by thecardiffmenu

It was Easter weekend, and this meant a family visit to Llandysul to see my brother, luckily he lives 10 minutes from the Michelin Guide recommended Daffodil Inn in Penrhiwllan. Before I had a chance to nudge my brother to book this place, my telepathic thoughts had obviously connected and he’d booked it himself, I could now combine a family meal with a new review, great!

We were welcomed on arrival and shown to our table, I diverted to the Gents (needs must) to check them out, clean, beautifully decorated and good use of interior plants which is a theme that runs through the restaurant. Unfortunately the hand dryer wasn’t working so had to find alternative methods of drying my hands.

The Interior of The Daffodil wasn’t what I expected at all (in a good way), I assumed it would be your traditional country pub template, dark wood, dark carpets, hidden nooks and crannies, however it couldn’t have been further than this. What you get is a very open plan layout, bright vibrant colour schemes, wall art, funky lighting and lots of interior plants, not all real though I’m sure. The area around the bar does keep that traditional country pub feel with tiled floors and a woodburner, even supplying doggie blankets for your furry friends for those colder days.

The tables are a mix of styles from round tables with different patterned tub chairs, others with more modern looking officer style chairs, as well as your more traditional rectangle dining table and chairs to leather sofas, they pretty much cover it all.

The modern open plan dining area seamlessly meets with the new outside decking area with great views of the valley, the weather wasn’t playing ball this day so the bi-fold doors were shut, however on a sunny day this would be a fantastic place to eat and drink.

We were given the choice of Two menus, the restaurant menu and what seemed to be the lunchtime menu, the lunchtime menu including a selection of small plates and a slightly cheaper price on selected mains. The service here was really good, asking if we had any questions and explaining some of the dishes to us beforehand including the types of meat and their origin. For me this isn’t done enough when dining out, the extra knowledge and patter from your server makes you feel confident in what the restaurant is doing and doesn’t take for granted that everyone should know what every dish is. It also shows a pride in their offerings that they want to share with you, letting you know why they have the produce they do.

I opted for the Pork Sausages, Creamy Mash, Red Onion and Apple Gravy, my fellow diners going for Fish & Chips, Crispy Pork Ribeye, Daffodil Burger and the 8oz Denver Steak. The latter we were advised to have medium rare at the most, any more and it would be too tough, a cut from ” the working part of the beast “.

To my surprise their drinks menu has one of the most comprehensive Craft Beer sections I have come across, in bottles and on draught, it would be worth coming here just to try as many as you can if craft beer is your thing.

Most on our table ordered wine and it was nice to see the wine being poured for everyone rather than just the bottle placed on the table and you do it yourself. The drinks and the food all came in an appropriate time and you were never left looking around with that “where are the drinks/food” look on your face.

So, the food, for me and I hate to say it, was a bit disappointing, the pork sausages were luke warm and lacked that really meaty flavour I was expecting with locally sourced meat, they were nice enough just lacking that depth of flavour I was hoping for. The ‘creamy mash’ I didn’t find that creamy, if anything it was a little dry and the red onion and apple gravy although had good flavour I found a little sharp and I was reaching for my drink between mouthfuls. I enjoyed the meal and there was nothing fundamentally wrong with it, I guess I was just hoping for more flavour and to get that wow feeling, but I didn’t, it was just nice.

Pork sausages, creamy mash, red onion and apple gravy.

Everyone else at the table enjoyed their meals however, with the Beer Battered Fish & Chips getting positive reviews all round. The Denver Steak, Beef Burger and Pork RIbeye were also all a hit and everyone was happy with their meals. We didn’t order any starters or desserts unfortunately, I wasn’t paying the bill and didn’t want to take the proverbial and be banished from any further family meals.

Overall I would definitely recommend The Daffodil, the bar and restaurant are decorated beautifully, the ambience is perfect, mixing the feeling of eating somewhere special with comfort and familiarity. There is enough interesting decor, wall art, lighting and flora to keep you gazing around and perhaps taking ideas for your own interior design project. The food menu has enough varied choice to cover all palettes and the drinks menu is vast, the real standout for me though was the service, they definitely elevate it from what you come to expect as a standard.

If you find yourself out this way then get yourself a table, I will absolutely return but will just go for something different next time.

Service 10

Ambience 9

Food 7

Cleanliness 9

OVERALL 8