Picton and Co, Cardiff Bay restaurant review

Dinner and a show – it’s a great way to spend an evening.

After all, it’s basically a classier version of what we do every night anyway – guzzle some food and then slob out on the sofa for a few hours before bed.

When it comes to places to see live theatre and comedy, there aren’t many finer venues in the UK than Wales Millennium Centre. And with the new arena set to open in 2028, there’ll be no shortage of places to see a show in Cardiff Bay.

But, the area’s shortage of great independent restaurants makes the dinner part of the night a bit of a challenge. Whilst the Sultan, Yakitori #1, and Tiger Yard are all very good options, I think the Bay has been missing somewhere with a bit of style for pre-theatre dining.

Picton and Co, an all-day deli-café-restaurant, previously looked like it might have fit the bill. But, the last time we saw a show, back in 2024, they didn’t start serving dinner until 6pm. So, it would have been a bit of a rush to get our bums on seats in time for curtain up.

Thankfully, they’ve since got their act together, and now serve dinner from 5pm, meaning there’s plenty of time for a bite to eat. So, we decided to check it out before a Saturday night trip to see James Acaster.

Picton and Co is owned by veteran Cardiff hairdresser Ken Picton, and he clearly knows more about style than just wet perms and mullets. The bright and modern venue, with a big central bar as a focal point, has a great vibe.

Whilst Picton and Co’s daytime menu leans towards brunch dishes, focaccia sandwiches, and Japanese rice bowls, their evening menu offers eclectic small plates with influences drawn from across the globe. Duck leg bao, Moroccan lamb chops and smoked octopus pintxos were a few of the dishes that didn’t make it onto our final order.

Much like our last visit, we kicked off the meal with a couple of cocktails. This time around, they were made by multi award-winning mixologist Jamie Lock, who you may well recognise from Cardiff venues like Penny Royal, Heaneys and Dead Canary.

A Chutney Collins (£11) and Dirty Margarita (£13) were both seriously drinkable yet delivered layers of complexity and palate warming chilli heat. The former combined vodka, manzanilla, mango, pickled chilli and ginger whilst the latter saw a classic margarita zhushed up with olive brine and pickled chilli.

We followed them up with a boozy yet classy Manhattan (£14) and a Pear-shaped Sour (£12), with plenty of fragrant citrus and floral notes.

Picton and Co’s dishes are billed as plates rather than small plates and I can see why. We ordered five dishes between the two of us and were absolutely stuffed.

A mound of meaty AF oyster mushrooms (£14) were coated in the crispest of crumbs and drenched in a savoury and spicy gochujang sauce. Freshness came from a garnish of coriander, heat tempered pickled red chillies and spring onion.

Whilst Cardiff has its fair share of excellent carrot dishes, Picton and Co's carrot ceviche (£10) can hold its own among the best. Sweet and charred edged carrot slices had a nice bite and were lifted by the freshness of lime. The clincher was a pool of intensely umami and nutty hazelnut butter that added a wallop of flavour with every mouthful.

There was tons going on with smoked jeyuk pork belly dish (£20), but it worked. The slab of char crusted meat, which an excellent flesh to fat ratio, was accompanied by sweet and sharp apple puree, charred apple, and a background thrum of spice. Taleggio cheese sauce was perhaps one ingredient too many but I rather enjoyed the creamy and funky note it brought to the plate.

Smoked patatas bravas (£10) were an elite version of the Spanish classic. Colossal, ruggedly crisp and tender bronzed spuds had a beguiling smoky note and were served with pools of honking alioli and sweet pepper ketchup and a drizzle of sticky honey.

Finally, grilled buffalo chicken (£16) was a huge-flavoured hot mess. Despite looking like Jackson Pollock had thrown the ingredients at the plate, they were all natural bedfellows - charred yet tender chicken thighs, poky and sharp buffalo sauce, shards of crisp chicken, funky blue cheese nuggets and sweet yet cleansing charred apricot.

Despite being stuffed there was no way I was going to pass on the s’mores parfait (£9). It very much lived up to its billing. Not too sweet frozen chocolate parfait was coated in squidgy toasted meringue and topped with glossy hot chocolate sauce with a nice bitterness. Piles of buttery biscuit crumb completed the excellent riff on the American campfire classic.

We had an excellent meal at Picton and Co with its whopping flavoured flame-licked food, creative cocktails and friendly service. It’s a classy Cardiff Bay indie and a belter of a venue for a pre-show meal. In fact, we enjoyed it so much that we’d happily make a trip to the Bay just to eat there, even when we’re not seeing a show.

The Details:

Address - Picton and Co, Unit 9 Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay CF10 5BZ

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

Telephone - 029 2066 2080

Agora, Borough Market, London Greek restaurant review

Despite Agora and Oma both being Greek restaurants, and one being upstairs from the other on the edge of Borough Market, they're both quite different.

Whilst Oma is light and airy, Agora is dark, moody and intense.

Whilst Oma riffs on its high-end Greek cuisine, Agora more closely follows tradition with its rustic Greek cooking.

Whilst Oma is owned by David Carter (the restaurant supremo behind Manteca and SmokeStak), Agora is also owned by David Carter.

And whilst Oma is great value for a Michelin-starred restaurant in Central London, Agora is ridiculous value for a London restaurant with a Michelin Bib Gourmand.

Okay, I guess they’re not really that different, but you catch my drift.

Billed as souvlaki bar, Agora’s menu is divided into spreads, skewers + grill, salata, braises, wood-oven flatbreads, and wood-burning rotisserie.

On a dreary Tuesday lunchtime during the middle of a tube strike, Agora’s industrial dining space still filled up swiftly when they opened at midday. It’s a good indicator that it’s still one of London’s hottest tables even after being open for a couple of years. Most of Agora is given over to walk-ins, and we perched at one of their many counters that surround the bars, windows and kitchen.

As we'd been boozing a lot lately, we stuck to the soft drinks - a fresh and fragrant rhubarb lemonade (£3.50) and an even better sinus tickling ginger soda (£4).

Hummus and crisps (£5) is a picky bit classic and here a silky version of the dip was topped with crunched up paprika spiked crisps. It was a lovely idea and meant the whole thing could be gobbled up with a spoon rather than needing hands.

Oma's take on tirokafteri (£5) saw tangy feta mixed with sweet roasted peppers and the gentle fieriness of pickled chilli. It was another excellent dip.

Freshly baked breads were ideal dipping implements - an airy and slightly elastic Wildfarmed flatbread (£3.50) was the pick of the two.

A sesame seed dotted koulouri pita (£3.50) was in more familiar soft bread roll territory.

Onto the skewers, and a pair of pork souvlaki (£5 each) were beautifully crisped around the edges with blushing pink interiors and well dusted with oregano.

Even better were a pair of gorgeously juicy and crisp-skinned slow cooked chicken thighs (£6 each), scattered with herbs and squeezed with lemon.

The Greek summer holiday vibes kept coming with a salata (£10.50) made with nutty and crisp carob rusks and a big dollop of thick and creamy galomizthra cheese.

Finally soft and tender chickpeas (£9) bobbed in a light vegetable broth which was zhushed up with the addition of verdant green zhoug.

All in, our bill came to £75 with ample food for two, a drink each, and 12.5% service. I’d say this is good value anywhere, let alone the middle of London. We had a delicious lunch of summery Greek flame cooking at Agora. I already had a lot of love for Oma and its more casual sibling downstairs is another big winner of a restaurant.

The Details:

Address - Agora, 4 Bedale Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9AL

Web - https://www.agora.london/