I’ve always been a big fan of Tom Simmons’ refined cooking that combines precision technique with familiar and comforting flavours.
But, Thomas by Tom Simmons, his eponymous restaurant in Pontcanna, always felt like a special occasion kind of place rather than somewhere you’d pop into on a regular basis. That is unless you’re an international rugby player or a member of the cast of Casualty.
What with the ongoing cost of living crisis putting a strain on people’s wallets and nearby competitors offering more accessible pricing in relaxed settings, I wonder if it’s been the catalyst for the relaunch of the restaurant as Thomas the Brasserie.
Alongside a lick of paint, crucially there’s been a reworking of the menu. Whilst many of Tom’s signature dishes thankfully remain, there’s now more of a focus on crowd pleasing dishes like roast chicken and chips, charcoal grilled steaks and pork chops, and short rib suet pudding.
Most interestingly, there’s a rotating selection of well-priced daily specials with dishes including Welsh beef wellington (£20) on Wednesdays and steak frites (£20) on Mondays. So, it's a much more tantalising prospect for regular repeat visits.
On the Saturday night we visited as a group of 8, both the upstairs and downstairs dining rooms were already buzzing when we arrived at 6.30pm, and it didn’t let up until we left at 9.30pm after a well-paced leisurely meal.
On the booze front, we kicked off with a round of cracking cocktails – a clarified rum punch (£12) with a big hit of passion fruit and pineapple and a lovely creaminess was just the ticket on the sunniest day of the year so far. Mrs G was equally impressed with a hermosa (£13) that had major margarita vibes. We followed it up with a pleasingly crisp Villa Cosmiana Trebbiano (£47) and a Stone Castle Kosovan red (£40), which whilst very gluggable didn’t really have much complexity.
To start, Mrs G ordered the tuna carpaccio (£15) from the raw section of the menu. Super fresh and meaty slices of tuna and ripe avocado were bathed in an absolute whopper of a marinade that combined citrusy ponzu, truffle, sesame and basil oil. Whilst it sounds like there was the potential for some flavour clashes, the sauce was very well-balanced and had us reaching for a spoon to scrape up every last drop.
Having heard rave reviews about Tom’s mushroom parfait (£14) for a few years, I thought it was time to finally give it a go.
A dome of super silky and creamy umami-rich mushroom pate was accompanied by dinky zingy pickled shimeji mushrooms and golden buttered toast. It’s no exaggeration to say this was every bit as good as the best chicken liver parfait I’ve eaten.
Thankfully Tom’s fried chicken (£8) is still a mainstay of the snack section of the menu so we ordered a portion for the table. Ridiculously crisp crumbed and juicy chicken pieces were topped with the zip of lime mayo and leaves of fresh coriander.
Onto mains and Mrs G ordered the fillet of beef (£35) served rare as I’d poo-poohed her suggestion of the very well-priced chateaubriand special for two (£35pp including sides). Deep in flavour with a bang-on tenderness and dark crust, it was accompanied by a pot vivid green sauce with a good hit of herb (tarragon, I think).
Another of Tom’s signature dishes that I’d still somehow never tried was his fish and chips (£26). A hunk of meaty and flaky pan-fried cod was accompanied by a bevy of tasty things – crisp batter scraps with a warming hint of curry, crushed sweet peas and a warm tartare sauce that was a essentially a beurre blanc flecked with salty pearls of fish roe and the balancing acidity of pickles and capers.
On the side, a portion of Tom’s chips, were addictive little bricks of crisp and tender golden confit potato.
A friend ordered the Brasserie Burger (£18), which was topped with melted Monterey jack cheese and Lyonnaise onions. He declared it to be a triumph that reminded him very much of a posh Big Mac.
We ordered a couple of sides to share, and creamed spinach (£7) was as decadent as I'd hoped with a lovely richness of dairy and a hint of garlic and nutmeg.
A cauldron of creamy and well-caramelised Dauphinoise potatoes (£7) was a gargantuan portion. I thought it could have done with a twist of salt but Mrs G disagreed.
Onto dessert, and a beauty of cheese selection (£14) was a cut above the usual predictable varieties. A lot of thought had gone into the accompaniments too – truffle honey, fig chutney, membrillo and an interesting array of crackers.
I was laser focused on the salted caramel custard tart (£10) and it was absolute belter. A super fine and crisp pastry crust was laden with warm, thick and wobbly set custard that was heady with notes of toasty salted caramel.
We had an excellent meal at Thomas the Brasserie. With its more accessible pricing and menu of crowd-pleasing dishes, its relaunch can be chalked up as an unmitigated success.
Tom’s comfort food is the type that you can enjoy without having to think too much about. But, if you do, then you can really appreciate the amount of thought and effort that goes into each dish.
The Details:
Address - Thomas the Brasserie, 3 & 5 Pontcanna Street, Cardiff CF11 9HQ
Web - https://www.thomas-pontcanna.co.uk/
Telephone - 02921 167 800
