Bosco, Cardiff city centre Italian restaurant review

FOMOOF is a very specific type of fear of missing out that I suffer from. It's food, of course.

Whenever someone posts about a delicious looking sandwich / burger / curry / anything edible (delete as appropriate) from somewhere in Cardiff that I haven't tried before, I invariably develop the urge to eat the same thing as soon as possible.

But, I suffer from FOMOOF the most when Mrs G goes out for a meal without me. So, when Mrs G planned an Italian meal at Villaggio with a friend, I decided to take myself out for dinner at Bosco to calm my FOMOOF.

Located on the High Street, Bosco opened in Cardiff city centre at the end of 2025 and is part of a small independent chain of five pizzerias and trattorias spread across the southwest of England and Wales.

The first thing that’s worth saying about Bosco is just how stunning their dining room is. In fact, I can’t think of many nicer spaces in Cardiff. With its dark wood panelling, sweeping bar, atmospheric lighting, and banquette seating, it oozes mid-century Italian style.

Their extensive menu comprises pizza and pasta as well as small and large plates. But between 12pm and 6pm on a weekday, they offer an excellent value three courses for £22. Available is a selection of three starters, mains and dessert, including arancini, ribollita and Swoon gelato.

On the drinks front, a goblet of smooth and chunky Sicilian Il Barroccio Rosso (£6.50) was a lovely house wine. I’d have gladly seen off a couple of glasses.

To start, a naughty take on courgette fritti saw thick batons of the tender squash coated in a light and grease free batter. Whilst they were a little low on seasoning themselves, plenty of flavour came from a drizzle of sticky hot honey and a flurry of savoury grano padano cheese.

Onto my main, and a very generously proportioned margherita pizza was well topped with fruity tomato sauce, fragrant basil and creamy mozzarella. 

Whilst this Neapolitan style pizza had the expected leopard spotted crust and very good aeration, it also had a nice crispness that I think resulted from a dusting of semolina flour.

Finally, a proper slab of tiramisu combined light mascarpone cream, soft sponge fingers that were well soaked with coffee and the boozy nuttiness of amaretto, and dusted with cocoa. It was an excellent example of one of my all-time favourite desserts.

I had a delicious and cracking value early dinner at Bosco and it makes me all the more keen to go back to try their main menu. Most importantly, it assuaged any FOMOOF that I had from Mrs G eating out without me.

The details:

Address - Bosco, 14 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1AX

Web - https://www.boscopizzeria.co.uk/pages/restaurants/cardiff

Telephone - 02921 111 345

Zylia, London Greek Cypriot restaurant review

Greek and Cypriot food seems to be having a bit of a moment. 

Well, that’s at least according to the trend reports I’ve read in work and judging by the number of Greek and Cypriot restaurants that we’ve been to in London lately. During two previous trips we had meals at Oma and Agora and on our most recent visit we tried out Zylia. 

Located on the edge of the newly opened Arcade Food Hall in Covent Garden, Zylia bills itself as a “Greek Cypriot taverna” and is one of the city’s hottest new openings in the last few months. 

It’s owned by Athenian-born chef Nick Molyviatis, the co-owner of Singburi and former head chef of Kiln, Agora and Oma, alongside Cypriot restaurateur Barry Karacostas. 

Zylia’s dining room is pure sunshine vibes with its knick-knack adorned picture rail, woven lampshades, wafts of smoke from the charcoal grill and myriad beers cooling on ice. 

Their menu comprises of a mix of mezze, salads and grilled meat and fish. At the bottom end of the grilled meat scale, chicken souvlaki weighs in at £13.50 whilst a sharing beef chop with Corfu sofrito sauce will set you back £68. 

A gargantuan bottle of ice cold Keo lager immediately put me in a holiday mood. At £7 for a 630ml bottle, it was belting value for central London too. Mrs G kept things classy with a glass of crisp Three Bowls Assyrtiko (£9.50). 

There was a little bit of a wait for starters as the till system had gone down. So, we were brought complimentary olives (£5) – an excellent mix of preserved lemon charged green olives and grown-up savoury black olives.

Next followed a couple of dips, the standout of which was creamy and salty taramosalata (£7) topped with the crunch of carob rusks. 

A chunky charred aubergine and pepper dip (£7.50) was a bit subtle on the smoke but it was packed with fresh green herbs.

They were accompanied with a generous basket of very good mixed breads (£6) - pita, flatbread and a sesame loaf, all with a compelling kiss of char.

A Greek salad (£14.50), which included sweet tomatoes and crunchy cucumber and a nuggets of salty and tangy feta cheese, let the quality of the produce do the talking,

Sheftalia (£14), caul fat wrapped pork sausages, were plump and juicy things. The coarsely minced squat sausages sang with green herbs and spices. 

Finally, (£15) beautifully tender sweetbread saganaki were sat in an emulsified citrus spiked sauce. Unfortunately, it was a race against time to eat them before the sauce made their crisp crumb soggy.

We were impressed by the summery cooking at Zylia and the rise in popularity of Greek and Cypriot food is a trend that I can most definitely get on board with. 

The Details:

Address - Zylia, 6 Bedford Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 9HZ
Web - https://zyliataverna.com/
Telephone - 020 3837 5719

Akara, Borough Market, London West African and Brazilian restaurant review

I've not eaten much West African or Brazilian cooking before, so I can’t exactly tell you the difference between a Nigerian akara osu and a Brazilian acaraje.

So, my assessment of the reimagined akara on offer at the eponymous restaurant in Borough Market is going to be about as nuanced as a seagull assessing the relative merits of French fries compared to triple cooked chips.

All I can say is that these deep-fried black bean fritters are bloody tasty and so too is the rest of Akara’s West African and Brazilian cooking. Thankfully, their menu also includes a helpful glossary to provide a primer of dish components like kokoro yaji and noir yassa.

Owned by restaurateur Aji Akokomi, Akara holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand whilst its sibling restaurant Akoko holds a Michelin star. Located in a cavernous, converted railway arch with huge bifold doors, Akara is a cool and airy space to spend a summer’s evening.

We were catching up with a group of friends and so ordered a load of dishes to share. We focused on Akara’s snacks and small plates, but eye-catching larger plate include grilled pork feijoada (£24) and cod fillet moqueqa (£24). Whilst I was lost in conversation, Akara’s spice and texture packed cooking couldn’t help but draw my attention back with each mouthful.

On the booze front, we kicked off with a pair of excellent cocktails - a fruity and boozy Akojo (£13) made with Planteray coconut and pineapple rums and a citrus packed Caiprinha (£13). We followed it up with a bottle of super fruity Jumi-Juma Moldovan Chardonnay-Riesling (£45) and schooners of Lost and Grounded Keller Pils (£6).

Bowls of crisps were both great – green plantain lengths (£5) with an aubergine sauce and spiced cassava chips (£6) with kelewele spice topped cashew sauce.

My favourite of the picky bits, however, were a quartet of soft and airy sinasir rice pancakes (£5) which were accompanied by nutty black bean hummus with a deceptive chilli kick.

Akara, the restaurant’s headline dish, were most definitely worth naming the restaurant after. Golden, crisp and fluffy crumbed, the savoury black-eyed bean fritters were stuffed with a variety of fillings, including sweet barbecue prawn (£12) and shreds of slow cooked beef short rib (£12). They were excellent dipped in a savoury Senegalese hot sauce.

It’s saying something when the rice is the standout dish of a meal. But Akara’s efike rice (£8) was so good that it could also appropriately be named epic rice. Served in a striking cauldron with an equally impressive wooden spoon, the fluffy fried grains were turbocharged with the decadent umami-intensity of coconut, shellfish and chicken broth.

Smoky chicken alata skewers (£20 for two) with a sticky, sweet and fiery scotch bonnet glaze were superb. And so too was garnish of crisp seeds and crushed chicken skin.

Nuggets of yielding, slow-cooked lamb dibi (£14) were accompanied by a tangy mustard onion sauce.

Tender barbecued aubergine (£14), meanwhile, was crowned with crispy kale and paired with a slightly sweet carrot sauce and a vibrant Senegalese green herb and chilli rof paste.

Blushing pink and char-kissed flat iron steak (£14) was good but arguably the weakest link in the meal as I did find a few bits a little too chewy. Accompanied by kulikuli yaji, a spicy Nigerian peanut powder, it certainly wasn’t short of flavour.

For dessert, a squidgy warm plantain cake (£9) was accompanied by milk ice cream and smoked butter sauce. Combining toasty caramel and sweet fruit notes, it was an excellent sticky toffee pudding and banana bread hybrid.

With its reasonably priced spiced-laden cooking, cool setting and friendly service, Akara is exactly my kind of restaurant. It’s another big win for Borough Market’s excellent restaurant scene and it’s certainly given me the taste to try more West African and Brazilian cooking.

The Details:

Address - Akara, Arch 208, 18 Stoney Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9AD

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

Telephone - 0203 8615190

Monty's Burger Bar, Bicester ribs review - Guest post by PizzaFaves

In a break from my usual proceedings, this latest post is another guest review from Correspondent at Large, PizzaFaves, who is the son of an old university friend. This budding young food writer (and driver) may still be in primary school, but he has a bright future in food criticism ahead of him:

On Wednesday 19 August 2026 I went for my third driving lesson of the year, and then after that I got very, very, very hungry and thought “what food do I want?”

My mind popped and said “RIBS!”

I started thinking about when Homer Simpson gurgles “ahhhh!” and then someone said “Yes, we’ve found ribs close by!”

I did my driving lesson hastily and we went to get ribs at Monty’s Burger Bar in Bicester. It’s right by the Phoenix car park, so if you are driving it’s easy to get to.

When we got there, I immediately ordered ribs. The people who worked there were very nice and knew how much I wanted ribs. The service was good, and the food came extremely quickly. My family got chicken burgers (£15.45), which were good, but oozed juice a bit too much.

First, the BBQ pork ribs (£19.95). What I noticed first taste-wise was that the glaze was amazing because it was balanced, had loads of flavour, and it had texture. The meat was very soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and very tasty. I devoured a whole adult portion of ribs very quickly. The portion was very generous even for my small size.

Second, underneath the ribs were chips. The chips were thick regular chips and were pretty big. The one thing I felt meh about was there wasn’t much salt on them. But when I tried the truffle chips, they were very savoury, had lots of seasoning, their taste was herby and they were really good compared to the regular chips. I would recommend the truffle chips over the regular chips.

The staff were kind and gave us a takeaway box. My only criticism about the restaurant was the bathroom - it could have been cleaner.

But overall, the entire restaurant was good, the food was great, the service was excellent and we had a good time. If you’re looking for something flavourful and meaty, with big portions, I recommend Monty’s Burger Bar at Bicester.

The Details:

Address - Monty’s Burger Bar, Unit C1 Bure Place, Bicester OX26 6FA
Web - https://www.montysburgerbar.co.uk/
Telephone - 01869 574939

Roos, Cardiff city centre restaurant review

I normally think of chefs and restauranteurs moving from the city to the countryside, rather than the other way around.

In comparison to the grey hustle and bustle of urban life, I can certainly see the appeal of opening somewhere rural with an abundance of local produce, beautiful scenery and a slower pace of life.

Inn at the Sticks, Osip, Coombeshead Farm and Holm are all examples of places that are owned by chefs and restaurateurs who made their name in the city before moving to the sticks (quite literally in the case of Inn at the Sticks).

So, it’s interesting to see that the owners of two Pembrokeshire pubs, The Golden Lion in Newport and The Boars Head in Templeton, have expanded in the opposite direction by opening a restaurant in Cardiff.

Roos, which is located in the warden’s bungalow on the edge of Bute Park, feels about as close to the countryside as you can get whilst still being in the heart of the city.

The team have done a lovely job with the former home of Kindle, which always faced an uphill battle due to its lack of inside dining space. The main building, where the bar and a dining room are located, has an upmarket pub feel and exposed ceilings that give it a distinctly un-bungalowy vibe. They’ve also added a clever construction at the back where there’s a second dining room with verdant views over of the park.

However, it’s arguably the courtyard area at the front of the building that holds the most appeal on a sunny day – I can imagine it’s going to be very popular with match day crowds and Pontcantonites stopping off for a drink on their way home from work.

Considering the owners’ backgrounds, it’s understandable that Roos menu feels like the kind of thing you might find in a country pub. Starters and small plates are where the most excitement lies with dishes like charred leeks and smoked Teifi Caerphilly croquettes. Mains are less exciting, with grilled meat and fish and pasta providing the bulk of the available options.

On the drinks front, beers lean towards to the macro brewing end of the scale. Mrs G enjoyed a fruity pint of Tiny Rebel’s Clwb Tropica (£6.80), the only local offering available, whilst I knocked back an easy drinking pint of Salt’s Alpacalypse pale ale (£5.90).

I followed it up with a small glass of crisp and fruity Royal Tokaji Furmint (£7.50) whilst Mrs G sipped on a glass of sticky Pedro Ximinez sherry (£ no price on menu) in lieu of dessert.

Whilst we waited for our starters, we ordered a couple of breads for the table. However, as it turned out, they arrived at the same time as our first course. Both options were pretty good – warm and soft focaccia (£6) and crisped olive bread (£6) both served with vivid green basil oil and balsamic.

To start, I kicked off with a lovely ’nduja scotch egg (£11) that comprised of a jammy yolked egg surrounded by juicy sausage meat seasoned with the fiery hit of Calabrian sausage. On the side, a pile of creamy mustard seasoned celeriac remoulade would definitely have benefited from more crunch to provide some texture contrast.

Mrs G enjoyed her portion of beef rib croquetas (£9), which were nicely filled with tender slow-cooked beef and creamy bechamel. But they didn’t deliver the same intense bovine hit of the city’s best.

There was also a thumbs up for a portion of grilled celeriac and oyster mushroom skewers (£9) that a were ordered by a friend across the table.

Onto the mains, and three of us ordered the epically portioned mussels (£19). A huge bowlful of plump bivalves were bathed in a thick creamy sauce with heaps of crisp bacon pieces, sweet soft leeks and a cream sauce with a fruity hit of cider and savouriness of mussel liquor. On the side were four crisp slices of toasted bread for mopping. Arguably, a glug more cider would have made the sauce a touch less rich. But, it’s a dish that I’d very gladly order again. 

In fact, I already have because I forgot to take a photo the first time around. It was still very good on my second visit but a few of the mussels were overcooked and starting to lose their plumpness. 

The other two mains were decent but didn’t fully hit the mark.

A pea risotto (£17) was laden with colourful vegetables, and the loose textured rice was well cooked. It lacked a bit of seasoning, however, or perhaps even a handful of parmesan cheese. Fortunately, there was a salt mill on the table that my friend put to good use.

A crab ravioli dish (£20) had pleasingly thin pasta and was drenched with butter and topped with diced tomatoes, green herbs and onions. The one flavour that was lacking was the headline hit of crustacean – neither sweet white flesh nor earthy brown meat really came to the fore.

Both the desserts we ordered were quite tasty but not exactly as expected from their menu descriptions.

A crumble de cassis (£8) wasn’t a comfortingly hot fruit crumble but in fact a cold dish that combined a crunchy crumbly base topped with blackcurrant mousse, a fruity and sharp dark fruit compote, and a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

Similarly, my chocolate cremeux (£9) wasn’t the glossy and “luxuriously smooth” dessert that I’d envisaged. Instead, a bar of solid chocolate ganache was sat on a crisp biscuit base and joined by sherberty cherry sorbet and more of that dark fruit compote.

Overall, we had an enjoyable evening at Roos with a couple of standout dishes alongside others that were middling. They’ve certainly succeeded in bringing a countryside vibe to Cardiff and I’d gladly go back again for another bowl of mussels and drink or two in their sunny courtyard.

The Details:

Address - ROOS, The Bungalow, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff, CF11 9SZ

Web - https://rooscardiff.co.uk/

Telephone - 07961073512