The Cardiff Menu

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

The Gaff, Abergavenny.

Posted on January 28, 2023 by thecardiffmenu

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t aware of The Gaff’s existence until I stumbled upon it on a recent visit to Abergavenny, it looked my kind of place, and a peruse at the menu and a quick Google search affirmed this. I know Abergavenny is a growing culinary destination, partly down to it’s annual food festival, so was suprised I hadn’t heard of it before.

Opened in 2019, it nestles at the back of The Courtyard in 3 converted sheds, owned and run by former staff of the Michelin-starred Walnut Tree, it should be somewhere that demands high standards. Being recognised in The Michelin guide gives provenance to this fact.

On entering you are immediately drawn to how nice the interior is, laminate flooring, neutral and grey colour scheme, indoor plants, it’s airy and calming. A stern faced prolonged stare from one of the chefs in the open kitchen threatened to derail this, but we were soon welcomed in and shown to our table. They even have a lockable umbrella stand.

The tables are well laid out with minimal fuss, a novel cutlery holder holds all your cutlery, chairs are modern and comfortable. Artwork from a Herefordshire based artist Pete Bryden adorn the walls, and music fits with the vibe of the restaurant, think Average White Band – Pick Up the Pieces.

The menu at The Gaff is small plates, you’re advised to order 5-8 dishes between two and they come out when they are ready, the chefs will look to pair dishes as they come out so you’re not left with too much of a bizarre combination. On the current menu prices ranged from £5 to £17 a dish. You are offered water for the table and can choose between tap, still or sparkling, complimentary sourdough bread with olive oil, sea salt and rosemary (I believe) is also brought to your table, this was delicious.

We chose 6 dishes:

Cured Sea Bream, ponzu dressing, pickled cucumber £9
Korean Fried Chicken, sweet potato, gochujang £12
Bang Bang Cauliflower £9
Swede & Cheddar fritter, piccalilli £7
Hispi cabbage, squash, chorizo £7
Moroccan spiced carrots, chickpea, apricot, dukkah £7

The Cured Sea Bream and Swede & Cheddar fritter came out first. The fritters having a lovely crispy coating with an indulgent soft center, the swede being soft enough to blend nicely with the cheese. The piccalilli was tangy as you would expect, full of flavour and keeping the chunkiness of the ingredients it’s made with, balanced with the fritters perfectly.

The sea bream was clean, fresh and balanced wonderfully with the radish, spring onion and sesame.

Next came the Bang Bang Cauliflower and Korean Fried Chicken. Forget Cauliflower in the traditional sense, this one has bags of flavour, granted it’s all from the Hoisin sauce that envelops the dish but it’s all the better for it. The cauliflower itself is cooked well and is dressed with parsley and spring onion, I’m not too sure what the crispy garnish on top was (answers on a postcard) but it provided a crunchy texture that the dish needed. The Korean Fried Chicken had a lovely crisp coating and the sweetness on there from the Gochujang really elevated from what you are used to, chicken cooked perfectly. The sweet potato again, balancing the dish well.

Finally the Hispi Cabbage and Moroccan Spiced Carrots. The sweet hispi cabbage was beautifully cooked with a nice char to it that balanced the sweetness, with the addition of the soft squash and the chorizo, it was a lovely blend of the sweet and salty. The Moroccan Spiced Carrots were delicious, expertly spiced, soft, and that Apricot puree bringing a punch of sweetness that cut through the spice, the hazelnuts from the dukkah bringing texture and crunch to the dish.

Desserts were Sticky Ginger Cake, caramelised white chocolate, poached rhubarb with caramac and a rhubarb sorbet £9. The sorbet was a real palette cleanser, had a real zing to it that awakened your senses after so much food, caramac was beautiful, the cake could have perhaps had a bit more ginger but that is a minor quibble.

Crunchy Nut Cornflake Panna cotta, the description fed back from this was “This is the nicest panna cotta I have ever had”, nothing more to say really.

All of this washed down with Tydy, Sauvignon Blanc Loire Valley, I don’t drink a lot of white wine but if they all tasted like this I would drink a lot more. Exceptionally easy to drink with a real fruity taste. £29 a bottle.

The service is very good here, there were 3 servers on that night and you are served by all of them, normally I prefer to have one server however, it kind of works here. It’s a very organic experience at The Gaff and each server is as attentive and personable as the last, it’s formal without being stuffy, in fact it’s very relaxed, but maintains professionalism. Water is topped up regularly without the need to ask, plates are cleared in good time and there is little wait between each dish being brough out. It’s a perfect venue for couples and small groups that want to eat good food, drink good wine and converse.

I can thoroughly recommend The Gaff, it’s absolutely worth the trip.

As a side note, kudos to whoever decorated the toilet, I am a stickler for a well presented bathroom and The Gaff didn’t disappoint 🙂

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

Mattancherry, Canton, Cardiff.

Posted on May 1, 2022 by thecardiffmenu

Like most people I love Indian food, and like most people I have my favorites that I tend to stay loyal to. The fear of it ‘not being as good’ often keeps us sticking to what we know, and as a self proclaimed foodie and blogger I definitely need to sample more offerings of the cuisine I love so much.

Mattancherry isn’t your run of the mill curry house however, it is a ‘fusion of culinary influences’ inspired by the waterside area of which the restaurant takes it’s name, a busy trading hub in it’s past, it’s still a unique area of Kochi today.

We navigated the particularly turbulent Cowbridge Rd East on Saturday evening and eagerly entered the restaurant, a warm welcome greeted us and we were sat down. There was only one other table of 2 in at the time (it was 7pm) and it did feel a little quiet, I really should start booking later table times. 8 more people arrived in the next hour and the extra chatter and hum provided a much more relaxed feel.

It’s a fairly simple restaurant interior and some of the tables seemed quite close together but it all fitted with the restaurant, nice wood top tables finished the rustic feel. Menus were handed out and we began to scan, the young lady serving us did return very quickly for our food order about 2 minutes later, we hadn’t ordered any drinks yet so just asked for a little more time and asked if we could order drinks. I went with a pint of Cobra which is fairly standard for me with Indian cuisine, I was pleased to say it was cold, crisp and tasted as it should.

To go with our drinks we ordered Poppadoms with chutneys, coming as shards rather than the traditional round shape, they were crispy and fresh and the chutneys tasty.

The menu itself I found very hard to read, the print size is extremely small and I found myself moving it back and forth to try and get focus, this may just be my eyes but I was definitely wearing my glasses and with a bit of squinting got there in the end.

They have a fantastic range of starters, which we should have taken advantage of (you can read more about these on The Plate Licked Clean blog) however we ordered the following;

Lamb Thali – Lamb with potato, dal, pappadom, pickle, raitha, rice and bread, all coming on a tray at a respectable £12.95. My partners lamb being a hit, tender and full of flavour, the rice cooked perfectly, potatoes crispy and hot and the dal being rich and fragrant.

They have some delicious sounding Kerala Specialty curries and these are in keeping with what the restaurant is about, so what did I do? I ordered the Chicken Tikka Masala and Pilau rice. Did I drop the ball here? Pretty much, but there’s 2 reasons I went with this, first, I just love it and second, It’s kind of my yard stick when trying a new Indian restaurant, if you get this right you have me as a customer for life.

I am pleased to say the Chicken Tikka Masala was delicious, lovely creamy rich sauce, tender pieces of chicken and a nice subtle heat. No bland, overly sweet sauce here. The rice was also perfectly cooked and it was all piping hot.

I couldn’t just order this of course, I was unfamiliar with a Dosa but a pancake topped with chopped onions, green chilli and coriander appealed to me, so ordered this as to accompany the curry. When I say accompany, I didn’t realise it would dominate the entire table, there were plenty of laughs as the plate sized pancake I was expecting turned up.

Once the curries had arrived as well there was very limited space and I had a good 2 inches of overhang of my plate, some careful arm movements were very much needed.

The Onion Dosa was really nice, almost sweet in flavour, it was lovely to tear some off and dip in the accompanying sauces, so much lighter than a Naan which I always find fr too filling.

We decided to go for desserts, not something I think I have ever done when eating Indian. They have 2 options and we went for 1 of each – Gulab Jamun: Dough balls with ice cream and a cardamom syrup. Gajjar Ka Halwa described on the muenu as “light fudge like texture with grated carrots, whole milk, dried fruits and nuts”.

The dough balls were warm, fluffy on the inside with a crisp coating, they went perfectly with the ice cream and cardamom syrup. My only complaint being at £5.25 I think they could have stretched to a 3rd dough ball, it was a small dessert but delicious.

The food here is the real star of the show, it’s all super tasty and looks vibrant, now I know they do an amazing Chicken Tikka Masala I have a good reason to go back and try their specialities. The Ambience was nice and as said before was much more relaxed when the restaurant filled up a bit. The manager/owner was a great host, he provided great service, humour, and made us feel relaxed where initially we’d felt a little rushed. Even apologised for making me jump when dropping ice into the ice bucket next to my head, nothing is too much trouble here and you can see they really value their customers.

No toilet visit on this occasion, I was so full it seemed a trip too far. I would definitely recommend Mattancherry, the food is superb and the service is personable and attentive, not wooden. Cowbridge Rd East and Canton in general is compiling a host of great eateries and Mattancherry is very much a part of this.

SERVICE: 8

FOOD: 10

AMBIENCE: 8

CLEANLINESS: 8

OVERALL: 8

Rocket & Rye, Cowbridge.

Posted on April 2, 2022 by thecardiffmenu

Rocket & Rye has long been one of the many restaurants I follow on social media channels, and I could see it was always being mentioned, tagged and liked by it’s peers. Embarrassingly I had always assumed Rocket & Rye was in Cardiff, simply by how often it was mentioned, however once I had corrected my geography and saw they had a new menu out this week, I knew I had to make the 30 minute drive to Cowbridge to see for myself.

Walking down Cowbridge High St I had forgotten what a wonderfully quaint place Cowbridge is, plenty of Blue plaques on the Olde worlde buildings and the air full of the smell of wood burning fires.

On arrival at the simple but beautifully presented restaurant, I was immediately welcomed and after giving my reservation details was seated. The restaurant opened at 6pm and my table was booked for 6:30pm, I was the only diner at this point but the restaurant quickly started to fill from this point. The decor is great, simple but stylish furnishings and a mix of open brick wall and elaborate wall paper, the table was set out beautifully as well, water, some flowers, and spotless cutlery, void of unnecessary clutter.

After being handed the food and drinks menus it was explained to me the food menu here is a collection of small plates, so I was recommended to go for 2 or 3, I went for 3 and a glass of South African white wine. The wine was lovely, quite earthy and married with my food perfectly, the wine glass was crystal clean. My food choices were Nachos with miso onion salsa, crema and chilli pickle, Ricotta dumplings with sage butter, and Aged beef slider, double cheese and pickles.

It was a struggle to just pick 3 with such appealing menu choices and this really lends itself to being a restaurant that would be great to come to in a group, with enough of you you could practically order the entire menu.

The food took a speedy 10 minutes to arrive, normally that would raise an eyebrow for me, not here, first of all I was the only one ordering at the time and I got the sense from the open kitchen that they were a well organised and well prepped brigade. Everything arrived looking pretty as a picture and I couldn’t wait to get stuck in. The Nachos had bags of flavour and perfect heat, provided by the Anise pickled chilli, and the Crema (almost like a mexican sour cream) combining the balance of coolness. The peppers adding a lovely sweetness and the miso onion salsa bringing another level of flavour. These Nachos had the punch I am always looking for when I order these and I would definitely recommend.

The Ricotta dumplings with sage butter (while being a completely different dish to the nachos) were equally as good. I’ll admit dumplings aren’t something I have had a lot of and certainly not for some time, so didn’t really have anything to compare it to, however I thoroughly enjoyed these. Rich, soft dumplings packed with ricotta cheese, the sage butter adding some moisture to the dish and the preserved tomatoes adding the sweetness it needed, all perfectly seasoned, fantastic. I shall be eating dumplings more often.

Finally, the Aged beef slider with cheese, this was a triumph, perfectly cooked beef smothered in double cheese perfectly encased in a beautifully glazed bun. All their produce at Rocket & Rye is locally sourced and the slider really showcased local flavours for me. Despite being a slider it had the look and feel of a normal size burger, I certainly didn’t feel like I had been short changed with this. It was pure indulgence.

I was hoping after 3 plates I would still have room for dessert and thankfully I did, they have 3 choices available: Chocolate Hazelnut torte, Panna Cotta and Tiramisu. Normally when looking at desserts I can rule out most of them and head to my favourite, all of these sounded amazing but settled on the Panna Cotta.

The Panna Cotta came with lemon and lime curd and burnt meringue (gf) and was exactly the palette cleanser I was hoping it would be. The panna cotta itself was smooth, sweet and creamy and the lemon and lime curd added the sharp citrus flavour to cut through, boy was it sharp and absolutlely delicious. The burnt meringue gave texture to the dish, having that perfect mix of crunch and a slight chew and completed the dish perfectly.

All the food I ate here just screamed freshness and quality, every mouthful a joy and I made sure I savored each mouthful ( I can sometimes eat very quickly, I’m working on this). Rocket & Rye has that perfect blend where it’s equally suitable for celebrating a special occasion or just dining out with friends socially, the décor being formal enough to feel special but not overly formal that you can’t relax, you definitely feel relaxed and at ease here.

The ambience was great, suitable music at an appropriate level, nice calm lighting and everything clean and tidy, I’m not entirely sure what feng shui is but I’m sure this place has it.

The service was great, my server was friendly, attentive, did her check back, replaced used cutlery for new after the mains and answered any questions I had. When I asked for the Wi-Fi password she had to ask the manager, I then heard the manager say to his table that this was her first few shifts. Well I am officially signing off her trial period, give her the job, she gave better service than most places I go. It said Meg on the bill, I hope that’s her.

The manager was great as well, acknowledging everyone that came in, often knowing them by name which show’s they have regular clientele here, and answered any question the tables he was serving were answering. He was friendly, conscientious and you felt safe knowing he was at the helm.

Toilets were through the back past a nice outdoor seating area, they were super clean, had everything you needed and were nice and warm.

Rocket&Rye is somewhere I can thoroughly recommend, It’s not often I go somewhere and it ticks every box, but this place did, if you’re in Cardiff book a table and drive over there at the earliest opportunity, you won’t regret it.

Service 10

Ambience 10

Food 10

Cleanliness 10

OVERALL 10