Little Vietnam, Roath, Cardiff Vietnamese restaurant review

Some meals feel like an indulgence; the kind of hearty dishes which leave you needing a good lie-down like a Sunday roast, fish and chips or a chicken tikka masala and a side of keema naan.

Others are much healthier affairs, which make you feel cleansed through the act of eating; sushi, salad bowls, and grilled fish and vegetables.

Impressively, the cooking at Little Vietnam manages to pull off the achievement of seeming both indulgent and wholesome at the same time, thanks to its heavy use of fresh herbs and vegetables and comforting big flavoured sauces.

Located on the former site of Kuro on Roath’s Albany Road, their modern dining room has had a minimal makeover except for the addition of a few artificial plants and a colourful mural spanning its back wall.

With a menu featuring Vietnamese classics like pho, bun and summer rolls as well as slightly less familiar dishes like betel leaf rolls filled with minced beef, lotus root salad with chicken feet, and grilled quail with mango salad, there’s plenty on offer to warrant repeat visits.

On the restaurant’s opening weekend, the front of house and kitchen were a flurry of activity with multiple friendly members of staff shuttling back and forward to our table.

A complimentary bowl of prawn crackers were delivered as soon as we sat down.

Steering clear of the alcohol after a big session the night before, we both opted for Vietnamese coffees (£3.50), one hot and one iced. Seriously strong and spiked with sweet and creamy condensed milk, they more than served their purpose as a pick me up.

Plump summer rolls (£7.50) were packed with sweet king prawns, fresh coriander, crisp veggies and vermicelli noodles. They were lovely dredged through a sweet and savoury hoisin based dipping sauce.

A vibrant Vietnamese salad (£7.50) deftly balanced sweet, sour and savoury with its mix of crisp green papaya, beansprouts and cabbage, a gentle spiced citrusy dressing, the crunch of peanuts and slices of soft puffed tofu. I’m sure there’s plenty of scope for more chilli ferocity; we were asked how hot we wanted our dishes and opted for medium.

Our two mains didn’t skimp on the portion sizes.

A classic Vietnamese curry (£12.50) was made with a rich, creamy and fragrant coconut-based sauce that was littered with crisp fresh vegetables including peppers, broccoli, courgette, celery and onion. Slices of puffed tofu and a dome of sticky rice were excellent mops were all that flavour-packed sauce.

 

Even better were thin slices of tender stir-fried beef (£12.50) and more perky vegetables in a spicy, savoury soy-based sauce that was heady with the aroma of lemongrass and garlic.

Stuffed yet also feeling as though we’d eaten our five a day, we had a delicious meal at Little Vietnam. It’s a great addition to Roath and the wider city and somewhere I can see myself dropping by regularly.

The details: 

Address - Little Vietnam, Unit 11 The Globe Centre, Albany Road, Cardiff CF24 3PE

Web - http://littlevietnamalbany.co.uk/

Telephone - 029 2142 4276 

A few great places to eat and drink in Granada 2022

The economics of eating out in Granada is bafflingly brilliant.

Of all the places I’ve visited in Spain, it’s the only place I’ve been where it’s common to be offered a complimentary tapa with every drink you purchase.

It means that with every €2 glass of beer, sherry or tinto de verano, there’s something to guzzle to go with it.

So, as long as you’re drinking, there’s no need to pay for any other food on the menu. With cheap drinks and free food, I don’t really know how any of these places make any money.

One of our most memorable lunches comprised of eight alcoholic drinks and four plates of tapas for a mere £12. 

Throw in the absolutely stunning Alhambra, one of the most impressive sights I’ve ever visited in my life. And the narrow streets of the Moorish quarter of the Albaicin, the historic street market of the Alcaiceria, and a bunch of impressive churches and monasteries, and it makes for a cracking mini-break destination. We got the coach up from Malaga and it was a swift one hour and thirty minute non-stop journey. 

Over the space of a few days, here’s our eating highlights. Thanks go to Edible Reading for some very useful recommendations.

Los Diamantes

Calle Navas, 28, 18009 Granada and Plaza de los Campos, 1, 18009 Granada

With a few branches dotted around Malaga, all of which specialise in fried seafood, Los Diamantes is an absolute corker of a place.

Filling up within minutes after opening and with regular queues outside, we gorged on excellent complimentary tapas of lightly battered sweet prawns and boquerones, tender mixed fried fish, potent garlic fried oyster mushrooms and the crowning glory, pork and prawn flecked arroz with a big wallop of stock.

On a separate visit, we supplemented our order with a larger plate of the excellent arroz as well as a fresh tomato salad with enough salt to keep us reaching for the tinto de verano.

Taberna La Tana

Placeta. del Agua, 3, 18009 Granada

The excellent selection of wines by the glass at this place was a real standout feature. Mrs G enjoyed a coravin glass of Vina Tondonia 2008 Rioja whilst I chugged glasses of manzanilla.

We also ordered excellent warming-spiced, sweet and savoury morcilla topped with toasted pine nuts and roasted peppers.

Los Manueles

Reyes Católicos, 61, 18010 Granada

Another traditional tapas joint which dates back to 1917, we enjoyed one of our favourite tapas dishes of the trip at Los Manueles. Slow cooked chicken thigh pieces in a salty, thyme-fragranced and meaty gravy were perfect booze food.

We also bolstered our dinner with a whopping bowlful of ensalada rusa, studded with sweet langoustines. 

Los Italianos

C. Gran Vía de Colón, 4, 18010 Granada

This old-fashioned gelato parlour was easily the best of a procession of ice cream places we tried during our Granada trip.

As well as the traditional metal-lidded serving pots, I also loved that you buy a token at the counter before placing your order with someone else. Whilst other people enjoyed big wedges of ice cream cake stuffed into a cone, we snaffled scoops of brilliantly smooth gianduja and citrus and nut-studded turron.

Capitan Amargo

C. Molinos, 28, 18009 Granada

This cracker of a craft beer bar, with over 35 taps, has a good representation of Spanish brewers including Basqueland, Garage and Peninsula. We were particularly impressed by a silky dark fruited sour by Catalonia’s Mager and a wine-barrel aged wild beer by La Quince and Guinea.

Complimentary tapas included comforting pork stew, fiery vegetarian arroz and marinated chickpeas, all of which were served with a lovely American mustard slaw.

Bodegas Castaneda

Calle Almireceros, 1, 3, 18010 Granada, Spain

Straddling two sides of a narrow lane, we enjoyed a few bigger plates at this traditional gaff. Salty and socky crystalline manchego was served with caramelised almonds and a vibrant tomato salad was dotted with olives and gherkins.

Broad beans with jamon was pure porky goodness. In fact, it tasted more meat than vegetable. 

Casa Ysala

Calle Acera del Darro, 62, 18005 Granada and other locations

A cake shop which dates back over 100 years, we enjoyed Casa Ysala’s house speciality, the pionono, a dinky cinnamon-spiced sugar syrup soaked pastry, which reminded me a little bit of a rum baba.

Los Bandios

Calle Sta. Escolástica, 16, 18009 Granada

After a night on the booze we enjoyed a lovely Cubano sandwich from Los Bandios with heaps of tender herb-marinated pork, ham, oozy cheeze, mustard and pickles packed into a toasted roll. P.S. Apologies for the terrible photo, it was the standing on a dark street corner eating a sandwich stage of the evening.

Restaurante Materia Prima, Mercado San Agustin

Plaza de San Agustín, 2, 18001 Granada

Mercado San Agustin is a little bit much with restaurant touts trying to encourage you into different establishments, many of which seem to be owned by the same company. But, finally we settled on the busiest place.

After complimentary tapas of fried boquerones and migas, we enjoyed a superb meaty swordfish steak and a plate of lovely fish stock rich arroz.

Puerta de Syria 2

Calle Elvira, 56, 18010 Granada


Whilst in Granada it would seem remiss not to have ordered a kebab and Puerte de Syria was our destination of choice. 

We enjoyed plates of tender shish taouk with well-spiced rice and excellent freshly fried falafel with smooth hummus served with kobez bread, olives and a potent chilli sauce. It was a tasty kebab but it’s not going to trouble KBS’ crown anytime soon.

La Tarta de la Madre de Cris

Plaza Pescadería, 7, 18001 Granada

Just south of the cathedral, La Tarte de la Madre de Cris specialises in cheesecakes and damn fine they are too. Light, creamy and delicately tangy with a good ooze, it's not quite at the same level as La Vina’s in San Sebastian but it's a great dessert no less.

Galletanas

Calle San Jerónimo, 2, 18001 Granada

Another purveyor of sweet treats located close to the cathedral, we enjoyed Galletanas whopping cookies in flavours like white chocolate and macadamia and pistachio and lemon. 

Wings of Glory, Mexican and Colombian restaurant review, Cardiff

It’s hard to think of a Cardiff restaurant name which undersells itself more than Wings of Glory.

Whilst this Riverside restaurant does sell chicken wings in 25 different flavours as diverse as jalapeno tamarind and mango habanero (in portion sizes up to 100 for £75), they also serve a range of Mexican, Colombian and Spanish dishes.

Run by a team who hail from Mexico and Colombia, it was these cuisines which brought us to their large yet understated dining room on a quiet weekday lunchtime. 

Mexican dishes on offer include molcajetes (a huge mortar filled with meat, cheese and vegetables) and sopes (topped corn patties), whilst Colombian dishes include Cazuela de Marisco (seafood soup) and Picada (a platter of pork, chorizo and chicken).

As I worked my way through a couple of halves of Mahou lager (£3), Mrs G tucked into a pint of cinnamon-topped horchata (£3.50), which tasted exactly like a rice pudding milkshake i.e. bloody lovely. 

To go alongside our drinks was a complimentary bowl of nachos and salsa. The star of this duo was the homemade salsa - a fresh combination of tomato, onion and coriander. It was a theme which continued throughout the meal with vibrant, flavour-packed sauces accompanying each dish.

Having heard about Wings of Glory’s portion sizes, I tried to show some restraint in our ordering. Of course, we still ended up ordering too much. 

Excellent tacos al pastor (£7) combined soft corn tortillas topped with crisp pieces of marinated pork, slices of cleansing pineapple, white onion and coriander. A little pot of lightly smokey tomato salsa delivered a good thump of chilli.

Carnitas tacos (£7) were just as memorable. Slow-cooked shreds of tender pork adorned a quartet of the tortillas and were served alongside a pot of excellent fresh and spicy tomatillo salsa with a good lick of mustard seed. 

A whopper of an arepa (£8) was a meal in itself. The crisp, lightly-charred and soft-textured maize flour pocket was stuffed with shreds of tender marinated beef and red and white grated cheeses which melted to form a delicious ooze. Tangy Thousand Island-esque mayo was a delicious accompaniment, so too were the leftover salsas from the tacos.

Freshly fried Colombian empanadas (£8) had a similar vibe to the arepa. Crisp and soft maize flour parcels were rammed with spiced soft potatoes and shredded beef. This time, additional layers of flavour came from a light and cleansing pico de gallo and thick guacamole. 

We had a really excellent and great value lunch at Wings of Glory. 

It's somewhere I'll most definitely be visiting regularly for tacos. And there’s so much more on their menu that I’m looking forward to exploring too. 

The Details:

Address - Wings of Glory, 44 Tudor St, Cardiff CF11 6AH
Web - https://wingsofglorycardif.wixsite.com/restaurant
Telephone - 07958 641053

Q Bao, Cathays, Cardiff restaurant review

Q Bao in Cardiff’s Cathays area certainly lives up to its name. When we visited at 2pm on a Saturday lunchtime it was pretty much a full house and we had to briefly queue up to get our bao hit. 

With a menu focused on Chinese cooking with a few Japanese, Hawaiian and Thai influences thrown into the mix, there’s a lot on the menu which caught my eye. 

Processing from the kitchen we saw chilli oil laced bowls of noodle soup, crisp plates of battered squid, chicken katsu curries and claypot stews with rice.

As the restaurant’s name incorporates bao, it would have been rude not to put some to the test.

A five spiced pork bao (£4.80) was generously stuffed with warming-spiced tender shreds of pork. It was made with a flatbread with a crisp-exterior, which was reminiscent of a toasted pitta bread. Whilst it was tasty, I have to admit that I'm a bigger fan of the more ubiquitous soft steamed Taiwanese bao.

Better were a portion of mini steamed pork bao (£9.80) which were anything but mini. The huge portion of soft steamed dumplings were stuffed with pork and spring onion patties, which were nicely balanced by a bowl of dipping vinegar.

The star of our lunch was a dish that had caught my eye on someone else’s table, which didn’t appear on the English menu but rather a separate Chinese menu. Wide slippery noodles were coated in a belting chilli oil with plenty of heat, a citrusy zing and a lip tingling hit of Sichuan peppercorn. Nuggets of slow-braised beef, coriander and spring onion completed the excellent bowl of noodles.

We had a really tasty lunch at Q Bao. With so many more dishes on the menu to work my way through, I’m sure I’ll be back soon. 

The Details:

Address - Q Bao, 90 Salisbury Rd, Cardiff CF24 4AE

Plaza Khao Gaeng, London Thai restaurant review

One of the major conundrums when solo dining is choosing which single starter, main and dessert to order.

With a whole menu on offer and no-one else to steal food from, it always pains me to try such a limited range of a restaurant’s wares.

It’s why I’m a huge fan of Plaza Kao Gaeng’s Deep South Menu, which offers a selection of dishes from their menu for £35 a head. Handily it’s available for just one person, meaning it’s surely one of London’s cheapest tasting menus.

Tucked away on the mezzanine of Centre Point’s Arcade Food Hall (just a rapid eight minute tube ride from Paddington on the Elizabeth Line), Plaza Khao Gaeng serves Southern Thai cooking which delivers an onslaught of chilli, herb and spice.

It’s headed up by Luke Farrell, a chef who set up his own nursery in Dorset to grow Thai herbs and vegetables for his restaurant, and it’s a partnership with JKS restaurants (a group with the Midas touch who are behind restaurants like Bao, Lyle’s and Hoppers).

Despite being located in a modern and swanky food hall, Plaza Khao Gaeng’s interior manages to recreate a Thai street cafe without descending into pastiche or cliche.

Miang Phuket was a ferocious statement of intent. Fresh betel leaves were the vehicle for a fiery, citrusy, nutty, crunchy, sweet, savoury and sour concoction of cashew, coconut, lime peel, coconut, and onion.

Much needed refreshment came in the form of fragrant iced green tea (£6) with the sweet and creamy comforting hit of condensed milk.

Beef shoulder massaman curry was everything I love in a bowl. Extremely beefy, fall apart tender slow-cooked pieces of meat and soft bits of spud were bathed in a mild yet warming spiced thick and creamy sauce.

An accompanying bucket of sticky Jasmine rice was an essential mop for every drop of sauce.

A tender squid, white fish and plump mussel orange curry was gloriously hot and sour. It reminded me more of a soup than a curry but that’s not a criticism.

Deliciously creamy yet spicy Southern curry was laden with sweet king prawns, which teased out of their shells with ease, and unique sator beans, which were reminiscent of slightly bitter unripe avocado.

Stir fried morning glory was an unexpected stand out. The toothsome greens were dressed with a seriously savoury and meaty fermented soy bean sauce.

A frilly laced fried egg lent richness to the other dishes. But I steered clear of a bowl of chilli oil which looked capable of causing serious harm.

Described by a waiter as a Thai take on chip and dips - cucumber, pineapple, lettuce and leaves of pungent herbs were accompanied by a potently savoury and spicy shrimp relish.

I had absolute belter of a lunch at Plaza Kao Gaeng. With its huge spicing, it's easily some of the most exciting Thai cooking I've eaten in the UK.

Whilst there's no dessert on offer I popped downstairs to the food hall and had one of Flor's famous brown butter cakes. Toasty, buttery and soft crumbed, it was a delicious couple of mouthfuls.

The Details:

Address - Arcade Food Hall, 103-105 New Oxford St, London WC1A 1DB

Web - https://plazakhaogaeng.com