I normally think of chefs and restauranteurs moving from the city to the countryside, rather than the other way around.
In comparison to the grey hustle and bustle of urban life, I can certainly see the appeal of opening somewhere rural with an abundance of local produce, beautiful scenery and a slower pace of life.
Inn at the Sticks, Osip, Coombeshead Farm and Holm are all examples of places that are owned by chefs and restaurateurs who made their name in the city before moving to the sticks (quite literally in the case of Inn at the Sticks).
So, it’s interesting to see that the owners of two Pembrokeshire pubs, The Golden Lion in Newport and The Boars Head in Templeton, have expanded in the opposite direction by opening a restaurant in Cardiff.
Roos, which is located in the warden’s bungalow on the edge of Bute Park, feels about as close to the countryside as you can get whilst still being in the heart of the city.
The team have done a lovely job with the former home of Kindle, which always faced an uphill battle due to its lack of inside dining space. The main building, where the bar and a dining room are located, has an upmarket pub feel and exposed ceilings that give it a distinctly un-bungalowy vibe. They’ve also added a clever construction at the back where there’s a second dining room with verdant views over of the park.
However, it’s arguably the courtyard area at the front of the building that holds the most appeal on a sunny day – I can imagine it’s going to be very popular with match day crowds and Pontcantonites stopping off for a drink on their way home from work.
Considering the owners’ backgrounds, it’s understandable that Roos menu feels like the kind of thing you might find in a country pub. Starters and small plates are where the most excitement lies with dishes like charred leeks and smoked Teifi Caerphilly croquettes. Mains are less exciting, with grilled meat and fish and pasta providing the bulk of the available options.
On the drinks front, beers lean towards to the macro brewing end of the scale. Mrs G enjoyed a fruity pint of Tiny Rebel’s Clwb Tropica (£6.80), the only local offering available, whilst I knocked back an easy drinking pint of Salt’s Alpacalypse pale ale (£5.90).
I followed it up with a small glass of crisp and fruity Royal Tokaji Furmint (£7.50) whilst Mrs G sipped on a glass of sticky Pedro Ximinez sherry (£ no price on menu) in lieu of dessert.
Whilst we waited for our starters, we ordered a couple of breads for the table. However, as it turned out, they arrived at the same time as our first course. Both options were pretty good – warm and soft focaccia (£6) and crisped olive bread (£6) both served with vivid green basil oil and balsamic.
To start, I kicked off with a lovely ’nduja scotch egg (£11) that comprised of a jammy yolked egg surrounded by juicy sausage meat seasoned with the fiery hit of Calabrian sausage. On the side, a pile of creamy mustard seasoned celeriac remoulade would definitely have benefited from more crunch to provide some texture contrast.
Mrs G enjoyed her portion of beef rib croquetas (£9), which were nicely filled with tender slow-cooked beef and creamy bechamel. But they didn’t deliver the same intense bovine hit of the city’s best.
There was also a thumbs up for a portion of grilled celeriac and oyster mushroom skewers (£9) that a were ordered by a friend across the table.
Onto the mains, and three of us ordered the epically portioned mussels (£19). A huge bowlful of plump bivalves were bathed in a thick creamy sauce with heaps of crisp bacon pieces, sweet soft leeks and a cream sauce with a fruity hit of cider and savouriness of mussel liquor. On the side were four crisp slices of toasted bread for mopping. Arguably, a glug more cider would have made the sauce a touch less rich. But, it’s a dish that I’d very gladly order again.
In fact, I already have because I forgot to take a photo the first time around. It was still very good on my second visit but a few of the mussels were overcooked and starting to lose their plumpness.
The other two mains were decent but didn’t fully hit the mark.
A pea risotto (£17) was laden with colourful vegetables, and the loose textured rice was well cooked. It lacked a bit of seasoning, however, or perhaps even a handful of parmesan cheese. Fortunately, there was a salt mill on the table that my friend put to good use.
A crab ravioli dish (£20) had pleasingly thin pasta and was drenched with butter and topped with diced tomatoes, green herbs and onions. The one flavour that was lacking was the headline hit of crustacean – neither sweet white flesh nor earthy brown meat really came to the fore.
Both the desserts we ordered were quite tasty but not exactly as expected from their menu descriptions.
A crumble de cassis (£8) wasn’t a comfortingly hot fruit crumble but in fact a cold dish that combined a crunchy crumbly base topped with blackcurrant mousse, a fruity and sharp dark fruit compote, and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.
Similarly, my chocolate cremeux (£9) but wasn’t the glossy and “luxuriously smooth” dessert that I’d envisaged. Instead, a bar of solid chocolate ganache was sat on a crisp biscuit base and joined by sherberty cherry sorbet and more of that dark fruit compote.
Overall, we had an enjoyable evening at Roos with a couple of standout dishes alongside others that were middling. They’ve certainly succeeded in bringing a countryside vibe to Cardiff and I’d gladly go back again for another bowl of mussels and drink or two in their sunny courtyard.
The Details:
Address - ROOS, The Bungalow, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, CF11 9SZ
Telephone - 07961073512
