Shiraz Grill, Whitchurch Road, Cardiff Persian restaurant review

When is a kebab shop not a kebab shop? When it’s a Persian grill house hiding in plain sight.

To the casual passerby, Shiraz Grill on Whitchurch Road gives off the same impression as any other kebab shop.

With its plastic signage, bright lighting, functional decor and a layout dominated by a takeaway counter with just a trio of tables for dining in, this seems like the kind of place to come for a mixed doner and chips.

But, Shiraz Grill is an entirely different beast.

This Persian grill house’s plasma screen menu features exciting sounding starters like mast moosir (shallots mixed with yoghurt) and panir sabzi (mint, tarragon, basil, radish, feta and walnuts). In the grill section, options include lamb liver, chenjeh (marinated lamb neck fillet), and sea bass.

The friendly chef saw us gawping at the menu for an age and talked us through the different cuts of meat on offer. We settled on one lamb and one chicken dish.

Whilst waiting for our starter, we were brought generous baskets of fresh herb salad. The potent mix of basil, coriander and mint was delicious dressed with a squeeze of orange juice (I’m not sure if that was the correct protocol or not). It certainly made a nice change to the usual kebab shop offering of lettuce, cabbage, cucumber, tomato and onion.

To start, a whopping bowl of kashk bademjan (£4) was one hell of a dip. A thick mix of aubergine pulp, garlic, whey and walnuts topped with crispy onions made for an addictively earthy, smoky and herby flavour combination.

We dolloped it liberally over a pair of pleasingly soft and stretchy complimentary warm naan.

Both our mains were presented on ornate platters, elevating our understated surroundings into a banquet fit for royalty.

Saffron chicken, aka joojeh (£10.50), saw a skewer of juicy, fragrant and char-licked meat accompanied by a gargantuan portion of impeccably fluffy rice as well as sweet and soft grilled tomatoes and lightly bitter green peppers. Perched on top of the rice was a couple of packets of butter, in case you wanted to lux things up even more.

Soltani (£15) combined two different types of lamb. Kubideh, which was made with super juicy and well-seasoned minced lamb, was definitely the standout of the pair. Barg, made with lamb loin fillet had very good flavour but a fair amount of chew.

Chilli sauce was bought in but it had a really good fiery heat and punch of acidity. I think I might try and pick up a bottle for my kitchen table. 

Whilst Shiraz Grill might look understated, this is a lovely Persian restaurant. From the warm welcome to the spotless interior and prettily presented food, it’s a welcome addition to Whitchurch Road’s diverse array of restaurants.

Whilst they don’t serve alcohol, it’s handily located just a few metres over the road from Pop n Hops. So, you can also have a few halves of excellent craft beer before or after dinner.

The Details:

Address - Shiraz Grill, 200a, Whitchurch Road, Cardiff, Wales, CF14 3NB

Web - https://shiraz-grill.co.uk/

Ffos Caerffili, Caerphilly street food market review

Chris “Flamebaster” Roberts’ new TV series Chris Cooks Cymru is one of the best Welsh cookery shows we’ve seen in years. It was so addictive that we binged it in two sittings on iPlayer.

Chris, a former care worker from Caernarfon, is a natural presenter who knocks up delicious looking fire food and clearly loves guzzling Welsh food and drink as much as I do.

Each episode focuses on the food scene in a different Welsh towns or city. Watching the series immediately made me want to pack my bags and set off on a gastronomic tour of Cymru.

Fortunately, Caerphilly, the focus of one the episodes, is just up the road. So, we got off our backsides and headed to Ffos Caerffili, a shipping container street food market and retail court.

Ffos Caerffili is home to a range of retail outlets including a butcher, fishmonger and off licence. But we were there to nosh our way around their compact selection of six street food vendors, which includes Bab Haus Mex, Acme Burgers, Estraneo Pizza, and Bao Selecta.

Whilst Ffos Caerfilli is primarily an outdoor set up, it's useful to know that there’s plenty of undercover seating. The upstairs seating area is the lightest and has the best views of the always impressive Caerphilly Castle.

Ffos Caerffili’s beer selection is better than any other street food market I’ve visited in Wales. With two beers on tap from Caerphilly-based Dark Element, arguably the most exciting new brewery in Wales, we knocked back half pints of their hoppy and easy drinking Earthbound and Nostalgia pale ales. There were also a couple of beers on tap from Cardiff’s ever reliable Crafty Devil.

 

Food ordering takes place via QR codes on tables and service was impressively speedy, even on a busy Saturday lunchtime.

Leyli Homayoonfar’s Bab Haus are bona fide street food royalty with outlets in Newport Market and Barry Goodsheds as well as a Smoke Shop HQ just up the road in Bedwas. Leyli’s whopping flavoured Mexican, Persian and American flame food always packs in so much flavour.

On the menu at Bab Haus Mex are loaded nachos, burritos, tacos and burrito bowls. But, there’s no getting past their signature smoked beef birria tacos (£12.90) which are as good as any street food dish I’ve eaten in the UK.

A pair of meat juice-soaked corn tortillas were packed to the edges with shreds of super tender, meaty and well-spiced smoked beef birria that were coated with a golden rim of crusty melted mozzarella. Additional pops of flavour come from zingy tajin spice powder, fresh coriander, pink pickled onions, and an excellent haus hot sauce. The kicker was a pot of beef consommé, which was more reminiscent of a thick and spicy beef gravy that happened to be studded with even more chunks of beef.

Acme Burger is a sister to Cardiff stalwarts Dusty’s Pizza and their menu divides its focus between smashed burgers, buttermilk chicken sandwiches, and loaded fries.

This was the second bacon double cheeseburger (£12.50) which I’d eaten from Acme in the space of two weeks, and it was even better than the first one. It was a meaty mess that required at least three napkins. 

A golden squidgy steamed challah bun was home to a pair of smashed patties that had a really good beefiness, two types of oozy cheese, crisp smoked streaky bacon, a sweet and savoury onion relish and whipped bacon cream cheese.

It’s been a long while since I’ve eaten a bao from Bao Selecta, who also have a permanent home in Cardiff Market, but their vegan crispy beef bao (£10) were still just as good as a remember them.

A pair of soft steamed buns were loaded with crisp pieces of battered seitan coated in a sweet, sticky and spicy chilli ginger glaze as well as richness balancing pickled cucumbers and onions. The meaty chew of the seitan meant this vegan dish did a very impressive job at imitating Chinese takeaway crispy chilli beef.

On the side, a pot of kimchi slaw (£3.75) was excellent. Crisp, cleansing, delicately spicy and funky it was a lovely bit of freshness in contrast to all the other rich dishes we ate for lunch.

On our walk back to the car we popped into Fablas ice cream parlour, who also have branches in Cowbridge, Penarth and Porthcawl. Their range of creative flavours, which includes lemon curd, Ruffles, crème caramel and jaffa cake, is a refreshing change from the bog standard.

Both flavours in our double scoop tub (£4.75) were enjoyably smooth, thick, creamy – excellent rum and raisin and Dubai chocolate, which combined pistachio ice cream topped with crisp shreds of kataifi pastry and shards of white and milk chocolate.

We had a corker of a lunch at Ffos Caerffili. With its small but well-curated line-up of street food vendors and excellent selection of craft beer, it’s a lovely spot for a bite to eat. Next time we visit I’m definitely going to get the train so we can make more of a dent in the Dark Element beers.

As it is, I had to make do with a few cans to take home from the Lockup Bottle Shop downstairs in the market.

The Details:

Ffos Caerffili

Address - Cardiff Rd, Caerphilly CF83 1FN

Web - https://ffoscaerffili.co.uk/

Fablas 

Address - Unit 31, Castle Court Shopping Centre, Caerphilly CF83 1NU

Web - https://fablasicecream.com/