The Everest Bar and Eatery, Nepalese restaurant, Cardiff city centre review

From initial impressions, you might not guess that the Everest Bar and Eatery serves some of the best Nepalese food in Cardiff.

This no-frills establishment, which is located next door to Live Lounge in Cardiff city centre, offers a big range of 24 draft beers for all tastes, including Madri, Guinness, Tiny Rebel and Staropramen; a menu of pub classics like steak and chips and fry-ups; and three shots for £10.

There’s karaoke, spotlessly clean functional furniture, crystal chandeliers, and a 90s leaning soundtrack featuring Whitney Houston, Goo Goo Dolls and Tracy Chapman.

But there are a few giveaways about Everest’s Nepalese inclination.

The first, of course, lies in the name. The second tell is the understated wall murals showing the mountain’s snowcapped peak and climbers trooping up its side. Finally, there’s a photo on the wall of co-owner Dip Prasad Pun receiving a medal from Queen Elizabeth for his bravery whilst serving with the Gurkhas in the British army.

Everest is owned by siblings Dip Prasad Pun and Jhalak Pun, who originally hail from Nepal, and are both former Gurkhas. Jhalak, who we met behind the bar during our visit, casually informed me that he’d climbed Everest a while ago, as though it was the kind of thing you might do with a spare hour on a Saturday morning. Warm and friendly, and built like a real-life Jack Reacher, I think he could probably have bench-pressed me with one arm.

To drink, we ordered halves of their eponymous Everest lager (£2.50). Crisp and malty it was a lovely accompaniment for our spicy-packed lunch.

Everest’s compact menu of Nepalese cooking offers dishes like momo, Chatpate (a crunchy Nepalese salad of puffed rice, dry noodles and vegetables), set thalis, Nepali soup, and chow mein.

My sights were laser focused on the momo. Available in chicken, pork and vegetable varieties and served with either chutney or jhol, I opted for the latter option. 

It’s fair to say that they’re some of the best dumplings I’ve eaten in Cardiff. Ten beautifully steamed dumplings were delicately encased and filled with impeccably juicy minced chicken. Fragrant in their seasoning, I think they were most likely spiked with lemongrass and ginger. 

The decuplet of dumplings were sat in a whopping bowl of thick, creamy, nutty and slightly fiery sesame and tomato soup, also known as jhol. It was a proper winter warmer of a dish and a very good feed for £13. 

Mrs G very much enjoyed her mutton bhutuwa (£13.50). An offaly good mix of liver and kidneys were coated in an intense and earthy dry spice mix. A good squeeze of lemon provided zing whilst puffed rice offered contrasting crunch. A few of the bits of offal leaned towards the dry side so a couple of spoonfuls of jhol provided impromptu saucing.

Chicken fried rice (£9) was cooked with a delicate hand. The light and distinct grained rice had a beautiful wok smokiness, delicate spicing and was nicely flecked with tender chicken pieces and mixed vegetables.

We had a delicious lunch at Everest and their jhol momo is a Cardiff city centre cheap eat that’s definitely worth setting out on an expedition for.

The Details:

Address - The Everest Bar and Eatery, 8 The Friary, Cardiff CF10 3FA

Web - https://www.theeverestbareatery.com/

Telephone - 029 2297 0309

Barry Sidings Cafe, Pontypridd cafe review

It’s easy to see why some cafes in popular parks just phone it in. 

After all, with a captive audience out for a stroll, swing or pedalo, there’s always a plentiful supply of people to whom you can flog a sad panini or a dried-out scone. 

This is certainly not what Barry Sidings Cafe have decided to do.

Located between Pontypridd and Porth in Barry Sidings Countryside Park, their menu of burgers, loaded fries, and baked goods makes a big deal of the Welsh produce they use, name checking local butchers, bakers, candlestick makers, brewers, and coffee and tea suppliers, amongst others.

There’s also a distinctly non-corporate feel to the place, with its country and western soundtrack, acoustic guitar adorned walls and pallet panelling. 

With their massive outdoor seating area, plentiful cycle parking, and bike repair shop next door, they’re also clearly catering to the multitude of mountain bikers enjoying the local area. 

Despite there being a sizeable queue when we arrived on a sunny Saturday lunchtime after a yomp up Mynydd Gelliwion, our order was served within 25 minutes. 

A black coffee, from local roastery Big Dog, was impressively smooth.

A pair of burgers were both very tasty and showcased sturdy yet soft crumbed rolls from Ivey Patisserie in Church Village and double 4oz smashed patties from The Gourmet Butcher in Whitchurch.

Both patties had a good crusty caramelisation and a juicy pink interior. Considering the burgers each cost just over £11, they delivered plenty of bang for our buck. 

I had the bacon double cheeseburger (£11.25), topped with a good ooze of American cheese, crisp streaky bacon and the freshness of sliced lettuce and tomato. It had a high end Whopper vibe but perhaps would have been even better with some burger sauce to bring it all together. 

The clear winner was Mrs G’s Oklahoma burger (£11.50), with the double patties smashed into a pile of white onions and mustard to deliver a good hit of umami sweetness, mustardy warmth, and oozy cheesiness. It was altogether a naughtier and more intensely flavoured affair. 

From the selection of loaded fries on offer, we plumped for the Teriyaki chicken version (£9). The plentiful chicken had a good tenderness and the sticky sauce a tasty sweet savoury flavour. But both the fries and batter would have benefited from more crispness. And, I’m sure the advertised garlic chives and kohlrabi microgreens that were absent would have added an extra dimension. 

We had a very tasty lunch at Barry Sidings Café, with their burgers most definitely being the standout. If you’re out for a ride, walk or twitch in the local area, then it’s well worth a pit stop. 

The Details:

Address - Barry Sidings Cafe, Porth, Pontypridd CF37 2PE
Web - https://www.barrysidings.co.uk/