Hatsu Udon, Grangetown, Japanese noodle bar review

It’s probably an overstretch to dub the crossroads of Clare Road and Penarth Road in Grangetown as Cardiff’s noodle quarter.

But, areas of the city have been given their titles for less.

Cardiff’s Brewery Quarter, Laundry Quarter, Castle Quarter, Morgan Quarter, Capital Quarter, and Canal Quarter all add up to more than a whole city’s worth of dubiously named quarters.

So, the fact that two of Cardiff’s noodle specialists can be found within a couple of hundred metres of each other, means that a Noodle Quarter isn’t too ridiculous a notion.

Whilst Matsudai Ramen’s whopping flavoured bowls of tonkotsu ramen and chippy lane mazesoba have built up a dedicated following over the last few years, Hatsu Udon is the new kid on the block, having only opened a few weeks ago.

Much like London’s Koya Bar, Hatsu specialises in fat and slippery udon noodles.

It’s something they clearly take seriously as they’ve gone to the trouble of importing a rather snazzy noodle making machine so that they can make their udon in house from scratch.

If you’re going to go to the trouble of making fresh udon, then it’s perhaps unsurprising that it’s very much the focus of Hatsu’s compact menu.

On offer are hot udon soup and cold dressed udon with a variety of toppings as well as stir fried udon and a few different sides.

On the Sunday lunchtime we visited there was just one other set of guests dining in the bright and clean restaurant.

Hatsu don’t serve alcohol but they serve a good selection of interesting soft drinks.

A pineapple Hata Ramune (£4) and can of Oolong tea (£3.20) occupied opposite ends of the soft drink spectrum. The fizzy pineapple soft drink was super sweet and reminded me of sticky childhood boiled sweets. In contrast, the iced tea was a much more grown-up proposition with its savoury and tannic flavour. It was definitely my pick of the two, although the Hakata Ramune was served in one of the coolest glass bottles I’ve ever seen with a glass ball sat in its neck.

Chicken karaage (£7.50) was a corking example of the dish. A super crisp, grease free and rugged crumb cocooned nuggets of juicy thigh meat. Squeezed with lemon juice and dunked in mayo, I’d happily have guzzled a whole bird’s worth by myself.

Pork gyoza (£7) looked a picture with their frilly laced sheet joining them together. The crisp and soft dumpling skins contained a commendably juicy pork mince filling. But, I think they would probably have benefited from a dipping sauce to provide contrast and they’d lost quite a bit of heat by the time they arrived at the table.

Both udon dishes for main were very tasty.  

Kake udon (£14) with prawn tempura saw a generous quantity of slippery noodles with a good bite bobbing in a hot, savoury and sweet soup with plenty of depth of flavour from what I think was a combination of kombu and miso. It was topped with diced spring onions, slippery seaweed and a pair of beautifully light and crisp battered tempura king prawns. I inhaled the crustacean as quickly as possible before the batter had a chance to lose its crispness. The same couldn’t be said for a pile of tempura flakes which rapidly sogged into the soup.

Nikutama udon (£15.50) was a cold dish that was better suited to the swelteringly hot summer’s day that we visited. The tangle of cold udon had more bite than the hot dish (which I preferred). They were dressed with a light and savoury soy-twanged dipping sauce and accompanied by a pile of tender marinated stewed beef, spring onions, a runny onsen egg and tempura batter flakes, which more effectively retained their crunch. It was a lovely light and fresh dish but the lightly set wobbly egg white might not be to everyone’s tastes. It definitely wasn't an issue for Mrs G. 

We had a very tasty lunch at Hatsu Udon. With its warm and friendly welcome and light and fresh udon, it’s a fine addition to the city’s noodle quarter.. okay, I don't think that name is going to stick.

The Details:

Address - Hatsu Udon, 146 Penarth Rd, Cardiff CF11 6NJ
Web - https://www.instagram.com/hatsu_udon/

Fire & Flank, Tiger Yard, Cardiff review

Steak doesn't seem like the best idea when it comes to street food.

Typically requiring ‘à la minute’ preparation, there's nowhere to hide with how precisely it’s cooked or how well rested it is. 

With orders to churn through at a rate of knots, the last thing you’d want to do is serve something overcooked and resembling a piece of shoe leather. Or something so badly rested that it exsanguinates all over the rest of the dish. 

So, it's a testament to the ingenuity of the team at Cardiff's Fire & Flank that they've adopted a technique which means that they can consistently knock out beautifully cooked steaks time and time again. 

Initially cooked sous vide in a 57˚C water bath, Fire & Flank’s flank steaks are then finished on a griddle (or with a blow torch depending on health and safety rules). The result is a steak with a beautifully pink interior and a golden, caramelised crust. 

Despite setting-up shop in 2021, I only tried Fire & Flank for the first time earlier this year. However, I've been craving their steak and mash ever since. 

Fire & Flank currently resides at Cardiff Bay’s Tiger Yard as well as Kong’s Bar in Cardiff City centre; although the latter seems so lightly publicised that I keep on forgetting it exists, much like the fact that Kong’s has one of the best craft beer selections in town. 

Both times I’ve tried Fire & Flank have been at Tiger Yard in Cardiff Bay, a rather nice street food venue with a mixed bag of vendors. Fire & Flank is undoubtedly the standout of their residents.

Winner of the best main course at the British Street Food Awards in 2021, Fire & Flank’s steak with cheesy garlic mashed potato (£12) is a corker of a dish. Thick slices of their blushing pink, deeply beefy and well-crusted steak are served on a giant mound of smooth, garlicky, butter slicked, and cheese twanged mashed potato. It’s everything you want mashed potato to be, but it so rarely is. The dish’s richness is somewhat offset by a vibrant chimichurri that’s packed with fresh herbs, a zip of acidity and hint of chilli. 

Their steak and chips (£12) are just as good. This time a plentiful portion of their steak and chimichurri is piled on top of crisp paprika dusted fries. What’s particularly compelling is the mingling of beef juices and chimichurri oil with the chips, lending them a spicy beefy note. Some how they manage to remain crisp at the same time. 

However, Fire & Flank don’t just know how to cook a steak. Their burgers are excellent as well. 

Their Flank Burger (£12) is a proper five napkin job. A pair of seriously juicy and gnarly edged smashed ex-dairy beef patties have a real rich beefiness and savoury umami hit. Topped with oozy American cheese, a smoky house burger sauce, and more slices of that excellent flank steak, it’s only held together by the grace of all the juices which soak into the glistening brioche bun. 

I don’t normally write reviews of individual street food traders, but it’s worth singling out Fire & Flank for what they’re doing. They serve one of the best steak and chips in Cardiff for £12 and one of the city’s finest burgers too. Whether it’s Tiger Yard, Kong’s or wherever they end up next, Fire & Flank are most certainly worth seeking out. 

The Details:

Address - Fire & Flank, Tiger Yard, Plot A Porth Teigr Way, Cardiff CF10 4GA
Web - https://www.fireandflank.com/
Email - hello@fire@flank.com

Parsons, Covent Garden, London fish restaurant review

With so many restaurants that I want to try in London, it tends to feel like a dereliction of duty to visit somewhere that hasn’t recently received a glowing review from a national restaurant critic or that doesn’t currently appear in the National Restaurant Awards top 100 restaurants.

But, with a specific brief for somewhere open for a late lunch following an inevitable train delay from Cardiff to London, we decided on Parsons in Covent Garden.

Having received critical acclaim when it opened in 2017, it's been on my never ending list of places to visit for a long time. In 2024, the hype train has very much moved on. 

Open all day from lunch till dinner, this cosy 30 cover fish restaurant was pretty much empty when we arrived at 2pm. But it gradually filled up with other diners who were clearly looking for an even later lunch than us.

Owned by the same team as the wine-focused 10 Cases restaurant and bar, which is situated over the road, Parsons serves reasonably priced, unfussy fish cookery alongside an interesting wine list that’s divided into coastal and classic wines.

Over the course of the meal, we tucked away excellent glasses of Canard-Duchêne Léonie champagne ((£14), a smashable Zahel Gruner Veltiner blend (£8.50) and a wonderfully complex Adam Hofberg Spätlese Riesling (£9.40).

We ordered a couple of snacks to share instead of starters as we were going all out on main course.

Crisp seaweed cracker shards (£6.50) were delightful dredged through smooth and creamy whipped cod’s roe turbocharged with smoke and salt.

Hot rice cakes (£8) were addictively crisp around edges like the crusty bottom of a paella. Topped with sweet white crab meat given an Asian twang thanks to the addition of coriander, citrus and chilli, it was a top-drawer snack.

I’ve been hankering after a whole turbot ever since the fabulous one we had at Asador 44 back in 2017. Parsons' version (£78) was just as good. The pert, sweet and meaty flesh teased off the bone easily, had delicately crisp skin on one side, and was seasoned nicely with a scattering of salty samphire.

What really took the dish to the next level was an accompanying saucepan of luxurious mussel beurre blanc with a big hit of savoury shellfish. Salty pearls of avruga caviar bobbed in its depths.

It was delightful poured over the fish and a belting accompaniment for a whopping bowl of textbook golden fries (£5.50).

A vibrant green bean, tomato and radish salad (£8.50) was dressed with a well-judged vinaigrette and the crunch of hazelnut.

Dessert also bossed it. A beautifully thin and crisp warm tart (£8.50) was filled with soft and sweet almond frangipane studded with fragrant cherries. Topped with a good blob of vanilla scented chantilly cream, it was right up my street.

We had a delicious lunch at Parsons. It goes to show there’s treasures to be found in London’s restaurant scene if you get off the hype train.

The Details:

Address - Parsons, 39 Endell Street, London WC2H 9BA

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

Telephone - 020 3422 0221

Bar 44 Penarth, Spanish restaurant set menu review

I fully intended to review somewhere new this week, I promise.

But then Mrs G reminded me that Bar 44’s set menu was now available in Penarth on Saturday lunchtimes.

And well frankly, it would have been ridiculous to go anywhere else for lunch when there’s a deal that good on offer.

Available in Bar 44 Penarth at lunchtimes from Thursday to Saturday and dinner time on Wednesday and Thursday (serving times are more limited in Cardiff), Bar 44’s set menu offers a choice of three tapas dishes and an alcoholic or soft drink for £20.

Pound for pound, I can’t think of a better value set menu that I’ve come across in south Wales. Or the rest of the UK for that matter.

At full price I normally think Bar 44 is good value for the calibre of the cooking they serve. So, to be able to get a hefty lunch for two including booze for £40 is an absolute steal.

On the booze front, I enjoyed a glass of super smooth and crisp Estrella Galicia. It’s unquestionably a cut above the UK-brewed Madri and Cruzcampo, which are both everywhere at the moment. A chalice of ice-cold and fruity Sangria was a lovely sunshine drink.

It took a bit of negotiation with Mrs G to decide which dishes we were going to order but finally we reached a resolution.

A cooling salad of lightly zingy and earthy sherry vinegar roasted beetroot was sat in a pool of creamy garlic-twanged ajo blanco that was scattered with the crunch of crushed almonds. It was a lovely summery dish and the tiniest nod towards health before we moved onto the fried stuff.

A quartet of jamon iberico croquetas had the perfect goo factor. Studded with nuggets of salty ham and fragranced with the warmth of nutmeg, they were as good as you’d find anywhere in Spain.

 A golden edged tortilla had a beautifully soft and oozy golden interior laden with soft potatoes and sweet caramelised onions.

Whopping pieces of impeccably crisp-battered white fish (hake, I assume) fell apart into massive tender flakes. A vibrant piquillo pepper salsa and silky alioli were bang on accompaniments.

I’ve said it time and time again, but Bar 44’s duck and morcilla burger is unquestionably one of the best burgers in Cardiff.

A delicately sweet toasted bun was home to a beautifully crisp, fatty, smoky and meaty melange of confit duck and smoked morcilla. It’s the toppings of an addictively sweet and delicately spicy piquillo pepper ketchup and creamy yet richness balancing apple and fennel slaw which take it to the next level.

Finally, Arabic spiced juicy Morunos chicken thighs sat in a pool of creamy yoghurt which tempered the chilli heat of a slick of Mallorcan sobrasada. Chicken skin crisps, which perched on top, provided a lovely bit of crunch.

For dessert, the only bit of money I spent over my £20, was £4.50 for a scoop of the thickest and smoothest salted Catalan almond and caramel ice cream. I’m always a sucker for the combination of salt and sugar.

We had a brilliant lunch at Bar 44 and I can’t sing the praises of their £20 menu highly enough. I’m genuinely considering giving up this blog and just eating at Bar 44 once a week instead.

The Details:

Address - Bar 44, 14 Windsor Rd, Penarth CF64 1JH

Web - https://grupo44.co.uk/bar44/

Telephone - 0333 344 4049