Whilst City Road gets a lot of bad press, it’s easily one of my favourite streets in Cardiff.
Where else in the city can you eat almost 20 different global cuisines within the space of a kilometre?
By my estimation you can eat Afghani, African, American, British, Bangladeshi, Chinese, Greek, Indian, Iranian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Lebanese, Pakistani, Syrian, Thai, Turkish or Yemeni cooking.
Out of the above, it’s Afghan cuisine which seems to be having a moment on City Road as not one, but two restaurants have opened in the last few months.
Yadgar is the latest addition to the street, having arrived just a few weeks ago.
They’ve done a nice job on the refurb of the former La Shish site with its bright and modern interior coupled with black and white pictures of Afghanistan.
Yadgar’s whopping two-sided menu is divided up into Afghan dishes, kebabs and Asian dishes such as paneer tikka, butter chicken and nihari. There’s a lot to get your head around, so we decided to focus on the Afghan dishes as they’re the house speciality.
On the drinks front, excellent mango lassis were ice cold with just the right hit of tropical fruit and creamy yoghurt.
A complimentary salad was the first dish to arrive, and it set the standard for the meal. An impeccably crisp and fresh mix of rocket, red cabbage, carrot and onion were zingily dressed and dusted with zesty sumac.
Next to arrive were complimentary bowls of thick and peppery chicken soup. Flecked with shreds of chicken and pieces of sweetcorn and carrot, it was reminiscent of the chicken and sweetcorn soup you get in Chinese restaurants but with a little extra spice. It was good but I’m never fully sold on the slightly gelatinous texture.
When we tried to order a starter of hummus, we were advised that it would also be complimentary and so we didn’t need to order it. What arrived was a combination of cucumber and mint flecked creamy yoghurt and thick tahini laced hummus.
Both the dips were delicious and served alongside freshly made naan with a pillowy soft crumb and crisped edges. Thankfully, the dips did end up appearing on the bill for £4 - otherwise I’d worry how Yadgar is going to make any money with all those freebies.
Onto the mains, and first up were the mantu (£13). Ten thick cased yet tender steamed dumplings were filled with a mix of minced lamb, onion and carrot. They were very tasty, if a little light on filling, and were elevated hugely by the addition of a spiced tomato and lentil sauce, tangy yoghurt and a mix of fragrant dried herbs.
Kabuli pilau (£13), Afghanistan’s national dish, was unquestionably the star of the meal. Hidden amongst a pile of fluffy, fragrant rice flecked with caramelised carrot were nudgingly tender pieces of slow-cooked bone-in lamb.
It’s certainly up there with the best lamb I’ve eaten in Cardiff. However, what really made the dish sing was the occasional pop of sweet and juicy sultanas.
A bowl of lubya, a spiced kidney bean and tomato stew that was served on the side, provided ideal saucing.
Our excellent value lunch at Yagar provided a delicious introduction to Afghani cooking. It’s one more national cuisine that helps make City Road such a special street to visit.
The Details:
Address - Yadgar, 17-19 City Road, Cardiff CF24 3BJ
Telephone - 07851 669762
