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
It's funny, all I've heard of this place is that the steak and mash are the best thing ever (I even saw someone say it was "the best thing I've ever put in my mouth").
ReplyDeleteI had it at the weekend for the first time and although it was nice. It didn't excite me much. Maybe I had a bad batch but the mash was a bit grainy and I didn't seem to have as much steak as you did. The chimichurri was good.
I finished it in about 2 minutes... so it was still nice!
My son had the tenders and chips from Dirty Bird (which I've had before) and had a massive portion for the same price.
I'm not sure I would be rushing back but that burger does look good.