Jianghu, Cathays, Cardiff Chinese restaurant review

Cathays keeps on going from strength to strength when it comes Chinese cooking.

Over the last few years, the excellent So Good, In Café, Fang’s Oriental Bakery and Q Bao have joined the ranks of my old favourite Zi’s Café.

Jianghu is the latest addition to the area, opening recently on the former site of Irie Shack.

Billed as specialising in Chinese barbecue skewers, there’s a good range on offer including pork belly, lamb kidney, pork intestine, and sliced potatoes. Larger Sichuan style dishes include deep fried chicken with dried chilli, Chengdu fish with pickle, and dry pot frog legs with spicy sauce.

Inside, the restaurant is a cavernous space that could be described as functional rather than fashionable.

Ice cold malty Tsingtao beers (£3.60) did a great thirst-quenching job.

Gorgeously tender lamb skewers were seasoned with the tingling warmth of cumin and chilli. But if these were the large ones (£2.80) then the small ones (£1.80) must be seriously weeny. Crisp squid tentacles (£2) had the same excellent seasoning and were just the right side of chewy.

Kung pao chicken (£11.80) was an excellent example of its type. Tender chicken morsels, crunchy peanuts, spring onions and a judicious amount of dried chilli were coated in a glossy savoury, sweet and spicy sauce.

 

Sea spiced pork (£12.80) was equally delicious. Thin shreds of pork were tumbled together with cucumber batons in another big-flavoured sauce with a decent hit of chilli. I’ve never had cucumber in a hot dish before but I’m definitely a fan of the unmistakeable fragrance it brings.

A quartet of scallops (£6) were the most underwhelming element of the meal. Small, even by queen scallop standards, they were sweet and tender with a good wallop of garlic. But they required a surgical procedure to detach them from their shells, with a good proportion of the flesh remaining welded on.

A generous mound of grease free egg fried rice (£4.80) provided extra ballast. 

We really liked Jianghu's bold flavoured and good value Chinese cooking and I’d be very keen to guzzle a lot more of their skewers with some ice-cold beers. It’s another strong addition to Cathays’ wealth of very good Chinese eateries.

Note – Jianghu is currently cash only

The Details:

Address - Jianghu Restaurant, 106-110 Woodville Rd, Cardiff CF24 4EE

Telephone - 029 2063 9281

Rambutan, London, Sri Lankan restaurant review

I try to avoid becoming too chummy with chefs and restaurateurs whenever I review restaurants. 

It makes it a bit awkward if you criticise their food when you’ve already found out the name of their pet tortoise and they’ve regaled you with their culinary origin story, including that time they did a one-week stage at the world’s 137th best restaurant. 

I like to get in, get out, and write about my dinner.

So, it could have potentially been a bit awkward writing about London’s Rambutan, which is owned by Cynthia Shanmugalingam, an old university friend and former flatmate. 

Fortunately, having a fantastic meal was as much of a nailed-on certainty as me never passing the financial threshold for a Coutts bank account.

Rambutan is already one of London’s hottest openings this year, with multiple glowing reviews from national critics. And Cynthia’s accompanying book of Sri Lankan diaspora cooking is Fortnum and Mason’s debut recipe book of the year and features on numerous best of 2022 lists. 

So, there was never any risk of our friendship being in jeopardy. 

Located on the edge of Borough Market, Rambutan is a modern high-ceilinged space with earthy toned décor and a big counter seating area that looks onto an open kitchen where chefs cook over charcoal. 

The menu comprises of small plates, but they’re well-proportioned meaning you get a good feed for your buck. 

Ceylon and lime iced tea (£4) was a refreshing balance of fragrance, sweetness and drying tannins. 

From the snack section, little gundu dosa balls (£5.30), with a light, cakey texture, were delicious dredged through a ferociously spicy and vivid coloured coriander and green chilli sambol. It was a sign of things to come as Rambutan doesn't hold back when it comes to packing its Sri Lankan food with chilli and spice. 

Beguilingly smoky pieces of meaty aubergine moju (£8.70) were dressed with a thick sauce dotted with lightly pickled onions.

Boulders of meltingly tender black curried pork (£15.50) were coated in a meaty, toasty and earthy sauce. It must have been the result of hours of slow-cooking for all those flavours and textures to meld together. 

A light charring had lent pieces of red pineapple (£11.60) a compelling complexity and they sat in a sauce rammed with curry leaf and mustard seed. 

Sticky pongal rice (£14.90) was a cross between a biryani, rice pudding and a risotto - the short grained rice coated in a thick comfortingly spiced coconut sauce, flecked with tender chicken pieces and topped with crispy onions. It was so good that I’d have been happy with just a bowl of the stuff and spoon. 

Crisp and flaky roti (£4) were a lovely mop for all the punchy sauces but I don’t think I could have eaten three like one particular restaurant critic.

An ever-changing line-up of soft serve ice cream is the sole dessert on offer. On our visit, a cardamom twanged wattalapam soft serve (£7.50) was drizzled with sweet and smoky kithul palm syrup.

We had a killer lunch at Rambutan and there’s no doubt it’s my favourite new place I’ve visited in the capital this year. 

The Details,

Address - Rambutan, 10 Stoney St, London SE1 9AD
Web - https://rambutanlondon.com/

Speedboat Bar, London, Thai restaurant review

One of my most memorable meals last year was a solo tasting menu of riotously spicy Thai cooking at Plaza Khao Gaeng in London’s Centre Point building. I loved their set menu, which offered a solo diner like myself the opportunity to sample a broad range of their menu for a very reasonable £35.

With Speedboat Bar, Plaza Khao Gaeng’s sibling in Soho, recently ranking at 57 in the National Restaurant Awards, it was my first port of call for lunch after hopping off the train from Cardiff. And with their own set menu offering a selection of their Thai dishes for £35, I didn’t even need to browse the menu in advance. Or did I?

Much like Plaza Khao Gaeng, Speedboat Bar's décor does a superb job at creating a transportive  experience, in this case to Bangkok's Chinatown. There are polished steel table tops, vinyl upholstered seating, retro floral print curtains and an upstairs late-night bar with a pool table.

However, my excitement at ordering set menu A, which includes dishes such as minced beef with holy basil, egg noodles with red roast pork and wontons, and winter melon and egg plant curry, was short-lived as I was informed that it wasn’t available for tables of one. 

The lack of a disclaimer on the menu indicating a “minimum two people” and the inconsistency between the two sibling restaurants seems a bit weird. But, unperturbed, I quickly recalibrated my ordering to a smaller selection of the dishes on offer.

A salad of uber-crisp chicken matchsticks (£10.50), aka bone in demi-chicken wings, was finger licking good. Bathed in a fiery sweet, citrusy and sour dressing and tumbled together with a fine julienne of green mango, red onion and fresh herbs, it was an exemplary salad.

A beef tongue and tendon curry (£14) was recommended as one of the best dishes on the menu. A deep copper coloured, earthy, meaty and coconutty sauce with a building chilli heat was home to soft buttery slices of tongue and gelatinous pieces of tendon, which reminded me of flavourless wine gums. Whilst I was a big fan of the tongue, the tendon didn't really float my speedboat.

Sticky rice was a lovely mop for all that sauce whilst a cucumber condiment provided balance to the dish’s richness.

One of the stars of the meal was a jelly biah (£8.50), an icy cold mix of potent ginger, tart citrus, fragrant honey and lager. Super refreshing, and reminiscent of Hawksmoor’s Shaky Pete’s Special Brew, this turbo shandy was just the ticket to gulp back on a swelteringly hot day.

Having decided I was still game for more food, I circled back to the snack section of the menu and ordered a portion of sweetcorn fritters (£8), which the table next to me were raving about. A decent example of their type, they were super crisp, if a touch greasy, and accompanied by a sweet, zingy and mildly spiced dip.

Speedboat Bar's only dessert, a Seven Eleven pineapple pie (£9.50), was a deep-fried delight. The light and crisp battered pocket was filled with sweet pineapple in a golden caramel sauce and topped with a scoop of vivid purple taro ice cream whose flavour very much reminded me of Nice biscuits. Nice. Unlike McDonald’s pies, its filling was thankfully significantly cooler than the surface of the sun.

I really liked the Thai cooking at Speedboat Bar. It’s hugely spiced and steers away from the familiar. I’ll certainly look forward to exploring more of their food another time… I’ll just make sure I bring a friend with me so I can order the set menu.

The Details:

Address - Speedboat Bar, 30 Rupert St. London W1D 6DL

Web - https://speedboatbar.co.uk/

Roma'Eat, Roath, Cardiff pizza restaurant review

What’s the best type of pizza?

Is it the leopard spotted Neapolitan style with its puffy rim and soupy centre?

Or the mammoth New York style, served by the slice, and best enjoyed whilst exclaiming “cowabunga”?

Maybe it's Roman style? Although then there’s two varieties to choose from – rectangular slices (pizza al taglio) with a thicker, airier and vaguely focaccia-esque base or whole thin and crisp round pizzas (pizza tonda).

In my opinion, there’s no right answer.

I love all of them and I don’t say this as cop out.

Whichever style of pizza you consider to be the best, Roath’s Roma’Eat undoubtedly serve some of the best in Cardiff.

Originally opened as a tiny takeaway-focused unit on Albany Road called RomEat in 2020, owner Matteo Pellico built up a loyal following for his Roman style pizza.

The next step in their evolution has seen them move to a larger space just around the corner on Wellfield Road, allowing them to offer a full restaurant experience, whilst still fulfilling the constant stream of takeaway orders. It’s a lovely spot with an open kitchen, exposed brickwork and industrial lighting.

Alongside the change of venue, there’s been a slight rebrand from RomEat to Roma’Eat and an expansion of the menu, which offers starters, freshly made pasta, fried calzone, whole pizzas (round and rectangular), and a small selection by the slice.

To drink, ice cold Ichnusa lager (£4) was knocked back in a few gulps, whilst a light and summery organic Primitivo Rose with heaps of strawberry is one of Mrs G’s favourite Cardiff restaurant wines; she was a big fan of the stuff when it was on offer at the now departed Kuro.

Five mini bolognese suppli (£5) (the Roman equivalent of arancini) were golden crumbed with a loose meaty risotto filling and an oozing core of mozzarella. Honking garlic aioli dip on the side was probably unnecessary but it turned out to be a great pizza crust dip.

A pair of generously proportioned rectangular pizzas slices were light, airy and crisp bottomed.

The San Pietro (£4.50) was topped with chunky slices of tender aubergine, creamy fior di latte mozzarella, pert blobs of ricotta, fresh basil and burstingly juicy baked cherry tomatoes; it was our pick of the meal. Pepperoni (£4.50) was excellent too, with a good ooze of cheese and crisp discs of meat.

Roma’Eats whole round pizzas are a thinner and crisper experience. I’ve got so much time for their Capella Sistina (£13), topped with a delicately sweet butternut squash puree that’s balanced by aggressively spiced blobs of ‘nduja and gossamer thin slices of salty pancetta.

For dessert, there’s cheesecake, tiramisu or panna cotta on offer. As long as you’re a fan of creamy things then there’s something for you.

A big pot of tiramisu (£5) had a good balance of airy sweetened cream, coffee-soaked sponge and a dusting of cocoa. It’s amazing how something so indulgent can taste so light.

There were also complimentary glasses of ice cold and fragrant limoncello. It's one of the only things served by the shot that I'm ever happy to see.

We had a lush meal at Roma’Eat and it’s great to see their expansion has been such a success. Whatever type of pizza you think is the best, it’s definitely worth a visit to try both their pizza al taglio and pizza tonda.

The Details:

Address - Roma'Eat, Unit 6 The Globe Centre, Wellfield Rd, Cardiff CF24 3PE

Web - https://www.romeatpizza.co.uk/

Telephone - 029 2048 8111

Touring Club, Penarth bar and restaurant review

Primrose Hill. Colwyn Bay. Adelboden. Penarth.

You certainly can’t accuse Bryn Williams of being predictable when it comes to the choice of location for his establishments.

One of Wales’s most acclaimed chefs and food TV presenters, Bryn trained under Marco Pierre White and Michel Roux, and shot to fame in 2006 when he cooked the fish course for the Queen in the first season of Great British Menu.

Penarth’s Touring Club is his latest opening and it’s named after a famous café and hotel in Patagonia’s Trelew. Whilst Patagonia’s Touring Club looks like a historic, spacious and ramshackle kind of place, Penarth’s iteration is the opposite.

It’s a compact space which oozes high-end from every bespoke fixture and fitting. There’s a beautiful petrol blue tiled bar looking onto an open kitchen, an upstairs seating area dominated by a snaking leather banquette, and stools which appear to take inspiration from bicycle seating. They’re just as uncomfortable as there’s nowhere to rest your feet.

As we’re always hungry and Touring Club is walk-ins only, Mrs G and I pretty much had the place to ourselves at 5pm on a drizzly Wednesday. By the time we left, the place was buzzing and it was good to see Bryn overseeing proceedings.

Taking inspiration from continental bars where you can enjoy a few drinks and some simple plates to go with them, don’t expect Touring Club to serve you a fully-fledged three course meal. Their compact menu of 14 dishes is divided into snacks, shellfish, plates and pudding.

There’s a bigger selection when it comes to the wine, with 20 different varieties on offer by the glass. Mrs G started with a small glass of fruit-packed Carallan Albarino (£7.15) and enjoyed it so much she ordered a large glass (£11.05). I had a half of Estrella Damm (£2.50) before moving onto an alcohol free Asahi (£3.50).

Service was really friendly but as we were hidden away upstairs it took a good while for plates to be cleared and for the opportunity to order a second round of drinks.

Slices of crisp crusted and light crumbed sourdough (£3.50) were served in thin slices rather than the usual pair of thick chunks. That’s a good thing as it meant that I didn’t guzzle it all in 30 seconds and managed to save some for mopping up various delicious fats.

Crab on toast (£12) was super generous and super delicious. Toasted sourdough was topped with distinct layers of earthy brown meat and sweet white flesh. A pleasing peppery warmth lingered at the back of the palate.

Plump and juicy mini chorizo (£8) were served with a teeny blob of mayo which delivered a deceptively potent hit of mustard.

Welsh rarebit (£10) was singed around the edges, but it was still a very enjoyable example of its type; the rich cheesy and mustardy ooze was balanced by a delicate bitterness of ale. A little pot of Worcestershire sauce was served on the side rather than it being pre-drizzled.

Devil’s on horseback (£5) galloped up to the table unexpectedly but they were kindly left behind gratis. The retro snacks were one of the standouts of the night. Soft and sweet prunes coated in crispy bacon were elevated by a drizzle of sticky honey and a scattering of fragrant rosemary.

A hand-dived scallop had been treated with the respect it deserved, starting by not removing the roe. Tender and sweet of flesh, it was bathing in a deliciously savoury miso butter. However, I’m not sure if £14 is a bit punchy for a single bivalve or if it’s just the reality of how much things cost in the current climate.

Lamb cutlets (£17) were served with a scattering of salt and a squeeze of lemon. The gorgeously juicy meat lollipops with a crisp seam of fat demonstrated that the simple things are often best.

A bay leaf panna cotta (£6) was served in a bowl but I’m sure that if it was served on a plate, it would have had a perfect wobble. Lightly fragranced with bay leaf and vanilla, it was accompanied by macerated strawberries.

There’s no doubt that Touring Club is a chic place for a drink and a bite to eat, and it seems to have slotted in right in at home in Penarth. We’ll certainly pop in again for a few drinks and snack after a walk over the Cardiff Bay Barrage. It’s certainly a lot handier than a trip to Patagonia.

The details:

Address - Touring Club, 4 Stanwell Rd, Penarth CF64 2AA
Web - https://www.thetouring.club/