A stroll in the sunshine and a sandwich. Life’s simple pleasures are the best ones.
One of our favourite walks in Cardiff is along the entire
length of the green corridor from Waterloo Gardens to the recently reopened Llanishen
Reservoir. It’s a beautiful place where we’ve
seen little grebes, whopping carp, and rare birds like the northern diver.
But, enough about ecology, you’re more likely here for the sandwichology.
On our most recent visit to the reservoir, we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Ostuni. It’s located just a ten-minute walk from the edge of the reservoir, and you might well know it from one of its previous incarnations, the iconically named Bgetti Junction.
Ostuni is a café, bakery and event catering business, which
is named after the Puglian town in southern Italy where the owner’s family
originally hail from. Their original branch can be found in Newport Market
whilst their Cardiff site opened in August 2023.
Whilst Ostuni serves filled baguettes, panini, ice creams, milkshakes and coffee, their centrepiece is undoubtedly a fridge overflowing with custard slices, cookies, cheesecakes, éclairs and choux buns.
We arrived just after midday and grabbed one of their
outside shaded tables which take in a panoramic view of the busy roundabout.
Iced lattes (£3), one with dairy milk and the other with oat milk, were generously portioned and refreshing on a baking hot sunny day.
Both our baguettes were well-stuffed and tasted very fresh - the bread was crusty yet soft.
One sandwich (£5.95) was well filled with big hunks of chicken
breast, salty streaky bacon, lettuce, tomato and a good slather of mayonnaise.
It was my pick of the two.
The other (£5.95) was loaded with salami, thinly cut baked ham, mixed leaves and a good sprinkling of savoury grana padano cheese. I think it could have been improved further with a drizzle of olive oil and vinegar.
It was difficult to choose from Ostuni’s cake selection. I’ve previously heard good things about their slab like custard slice but it appears to be a meal in itself.
A pistachio éclair (£3.50) was a naughty old skool treat. The
whopping choux pasty bun was loaded with thick and wobbly custard and topped with sweet and sticky pistachio flavoured icing studded with
the crunch of a few nuts.
A cannoli (£3.50) was my pick of the bunch. Filled to order, the crisp and brittle pastry case was filled with sweetened cream cheese studded with chocolate chips. It was a great example of one of my favourite sweet treats (as an aside, I remember travelling all the way to the most famous cannoli place in Boston only to be underwhelmed).
We had a very tasty lunch at Ostuni and I’d recommend it for a pitstop if you’re ever out for a stroll near Llanishen Reservoir. With the number of people pulling up to grab a bite to eat whilst we were there, they’ve clearly already built up a loyal following during their first twelve months in Cardiff .
The Details:
Address - Ostuni, 312 Heathwood Road, Cardiff CF14 4HT
Web - https://ostuni.co.uk/
Telephone - 07853 383394
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