Stop the clocks. Ring the church bells. Launch the confetti canons. Mint the limited-edition coins. Publish the commemorative blogpost.
Cardiff has its first ever Michelin-starred restaurant.
Repeat, Cardiff has its first ever Michelin-starred restaurant.
For many of you this won’t be news. After all, Pontcanna’s Gorse was awarded the accolade back in February 2025.
However, I’ve only just got around to visiting since they’ve been awarded the star. And after years of questioning if and when Cardiff would ever be recognised by the tyre people, the time has finally come.
Whilst the Michelin Guide and its brand of fayne dayning has become increasingly irrelevant to many. For certain hospitality professionals, journalists and ‘foodies’, it’s still the benchmark accolade for recognising the highest standards of hospitality.
Having followed Gorse since its initial pop-up days in 2022, I’m very glad to see it become Cardiff’s first ever Michelin-starred restaurant.
Tom Waters’ cooking feels modern, distinctly Welsh, and refined yet approachable.
If this is Cardiff’s destination restaurant then I’m sure it will leave a very good impression for visitors to the city.
So, what’s changed since our visit to Gorse in June last year?
Well, it’s a case of evolution rather than revolution with marginal gains in the standard of cooking. Desserts felt particularly strong this time around when perhaps they’ve been less memorable than the savoury dishes.
It looks like there might be another member of staff or two to share the load. It's a lot harder to bag a reservation. And there’s been an almost inevitable increase in the price of the tasting menus. The seven-course menu now costs £95 instead of £75 whilst the ten courser costs £125 instead of £100. Still, Gorse’s tasting menus compare very favourably pricewise with others in Wales.
If this is Cardiff’s destination restaurant then I’m sure it will leave a very good impression for visitors to the city.
So, what’s changed since our visit to Gorse in June last year?
Well, it’s a case of evolution rather than revolution with marginal gains in the standard of cooking. Desserts felt particularly strong this time around when perhaps they’ve been less memorable than the savoury dishes.
It looks like there might be another member of staff or two to share the load. It's a lot harder to bag a reservation. And there’s been an almost inevitable increase in the price of the tasting menus. The seven-course menu now costs £95 instead of £75 whilst the ten courser costs £125 instead of £100. Still, Gorse’s tasting menus compare very favourably pricewise with others in Wales.
This time around we went for the seven-course tasting menu with paired wines (£75).
It’s hard to say exactly how good value the smaller tasting pours of wine represent compared to drinking by the glass or bottle, but it was an excellent selection that matched well with each dish. The standouts were a trio of whites, a herby Thymioloulos Malagouzia and Assyrtiko blend, a crisp Loimer Gruner Veltiner, and a lemony and slightly buttery Restless River Chardonnay. The only disappointment was a White Castle 1581 port style wine that lacked the richness and punch of fruit of the style it emulated.
But first, a bowl of cold spring vegetable tonic - a palate livening cold broth full of fragrant fresh veggies with bright acidity.
Then, a trio of snacks, the standout for me a crisp cornet filled with thick and earthy preserved mushroom puree with pickled juniper.
Both a rye cracker topped with roasted yeast cream and a dollop of smoky pike perch roe...
and a buckwheat tart filled with raw trout and salty pearls of trout roe very much hit the mark too.
The evolution of a familiar dish saw meaty raw bass accompanied by a creamy, sinus tickling horseradish cream, discs of cleansing apple and herby lovage oil.
It was great to see celeriac on Gorse’s menu. One of my favourite vegetables, it only ever seems to crop up as a remoulade or the occasional soup. Here, a spoonably soft wheel of the celery-fragranced root vegetable was bathed in a creamy and lightly tangy buttermilk sauce pocked with chervil oil.
A delicately cooked, meaty piece of turbot was treated with the love it deserves. Bathed in an oregano scented buttery sauce and accompanied asparagus, it was a corker of a fish dish.
Gorse’s signature Bum Bread™ inevitably showed up at some point. With a loaf of the warm, glossy, light-crumbed and slightly sweet bread served per person, it ensured there was no fighting. This time it was accompanied by a plain cultured butter. I think it was an improvement on their seaweed butter, allowing the excellent bread to take centre stage.
Welsh mountain mutton, a protein which features far too infrequently on restaurant menus, had a superb depth of flavour, tenderness and layer of melting fat. A glossy sauce dotted with pickled mustard seeds, a clever morel mushroom stuffed with mutton sausage meat, silky wild garlic puree and asparagus completed the excellent plate.
Dessert felt like it came around too quickly. And I perhaps had a pang of regret that we hadn’t opted for ten courses.
First up was a riff on strawberries and cream. Creamy chamomile custard hid a layer of thick strawberry puree and was topped with a quenelle of strawberry sorbet. The scent of preserved rose came in somewhere but I’m doubting the details after all the booze.
The star of the sweet courses was a glossy, toasty and wobbly set oat custard with a lightly smoked raspberry jam and apple caramel. Crème caramel is one of my favourite desserts in the world, so this was right up my street.
Finally familiar treats came in the form of a squidgy brown butter cake topped with blueberry puree...
and a cube of clever carrot jelly with lemon verbena sugar.
This was another excellent meal at Gorse and it’s great to see Tom and the team win the accolade they fully deserve. In a way, the star is also a recognition of Cardiff’s hospitality scene as a whole, which has improved immeasurably over the last fourteen years that I’ve been writing this blog.
If you’re looking for a special meal in Cardiff, then you won’t go wrong with a visit to Gorse.
The Details:
Web - https://www.gorserestaurant.co.uk/
Telephone - 02920 372055
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