Whilst Asador 44 is still always close to the top of my list of Cardiff’s best restaurants, it’s been over five years since it last appeared on the blog.
So, whilst this isn’t an ‘AD | exclusive first look’ or a ‘sneak peak [sic]’ of a new restaurant to visit, it’s a reminder about one of the city’s best hospitality businesses.
Whenever I’ve ever visited a Grupo 44 restaurant over the last 13 years, I’ve always found that the food, service, booze, and atmosphere have all hit the mark. An impressive feat of consistency.
With Mrs G’s mother’s birthday falling on a Monday, a notoriously tricky day of the week for finding a good restaurant that’s open, Asador 44 was the obvious candidate for the festivities.
As the name suggests, Asador 44 is inspired by Spanish asadors, where steak, fish, vegetables and various cuts of meat are lovingly grilled over charcoal. Standout sharing dishes on Asador 44's menu include the likes of Spanish ex-dairy sirloins, slow-cooked Welsh lamb shoulder, and whole turbot.
As the name suggests, Asador 44 is inspired by Spanish asadors, where steak, fish, vegetables and various cuts of meat are lovingly grilled over charcoal. Standout sharing dishes on Asador 44's menu include the likes of Spanish ex-dairy sirloins, slow-cooked Welsh lamb shoulder, and whole turbot.
But, their Monday to Friday £35 three course set lunch menu, which we all plumped for, takes some beating when it comes to bang for your buck.
Wines by the glass all hit the mark, from Deutz Champagne (£14) and Vilarnau Cava (£6.50) to a house UVA 44 Albarino and Godello white blend (£6.50) and Barahonda Monastrell red (£6.30).
To keep the wolf from the door we snaffled fat slabs of smoky chargrilled sourdough (£4.50) that were served with porky, paprika-twanged sobrasada butter and top notch gordal olives (£4.90) that were elevated with a scattering of lemon and parsley.
To start, crisp-skinned, lightly charred oily mackerel was accompanied by a creamy ajo blanco, cleansing grapes and salty sea herbs. It was a first-rate bit of fish cookery. Mrs G’s mum also very much enjoyed a vegetarian dish of wild mushroom and aubergine with root vegetable pisto.
The first main was an absolute belter of a meaty hake fillet served with broccoli and capers scattered with a chorizo crumb. It says a lot that Mrs G didn’t allow me more than a single mouthful.
My main was as good any rice dish that I’ve eaten lately, and we’ve just got back from Alicante. A belter of a crusty edged Welsh short rib nudged off the bone with ease and was sat on a bed of seriously savoury and meaty arroz dressed with vibrantly herby salsa verde. The cast iron pan in which the rice was cooked and served enabled the formation of an addictively crusty soccarat at its base.
Crisp and salty olive oil fries were one of the two included side options. They were of course my pick and alongside the rice formed an unnecessarily indulgent Spanish take on half and half. I wonder if they call it mitad y mitad over there… or perhaps it’s just a Welsh thing?
A heritage tomato salad was made with sweet ripe toms with bags of flavour that were drizzled with quality olive oil, moscatel vinegar and savoury dried black olives. It was certainly the more sensible option out of the two side dishes.
For dessert, a dollop of dark chocolate mousse had a thick almost ganache like texture. Sprinkled with salt and accompanied by a fudge-like brown butter ganache, and a dinky shortbread round, it was a rich yet very tasty dessert. I think perhaps it would have been even better if the main component had a lighter texture as it was all a little heavy.
A crème Catalan choux bun (£9) was a very clever riff on a classic Spanish pud. A light and crisp pastry bun was filled with citrus twanged egg rich custard and topped with cleansing segments of blood orange and candied pistachios.
As you can already probably guess, we had a cracker of a lunch at Asador 44 and once again everything hit the mark. Whether it’s a weekday set lunch, a Sunday roast or dinnertime blowout, it’s undoubtedly one of Cardiff’s best restaurant options.
The Details:
Web - https://asador44.co.uk/
Telephone - 029 2002 0039
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