Hatsu Udon, Grangetown, Japanese noodle bar review

It’s probably an overstretch to dub the crossroads of Clare Road and Penarth Road in Grangetown as Cardiff’s noodle quarter.

But, areas of the city have been given their titles for less.

Cardiff’s Brewery Quarter, Laundry Quarter, Castle Quarter, Morgan Quarter, Capital Quarter, and Canal Quarter all add up to more than a whole city’s worth of dubiously named quarters.

So, the fact that two of Cardiff’s noodle specialists can be found within a couple of hundred metres of each other, means that a Noodle Quarter isn’t too ridiculous a notion.

Whilst Matsudai Ramen’s whopping flavoured bowls of tonkotsu ramen and chippy lane mazesoba have built up a dedicated following over the last few years, Hatsu Udon is the new kid on the block, having only opened a few weeks ago.

Much like London’s Koya Bar, Hatsu specialises in fat and slippery udon noodles.

It’s something they clearly take seriously as they’ve gone to the trouble of importing a rather snazzy noodle making machine so that they can make their udon in house from scratch.

If you’re going to go to the trouble of making fresh udon, then it’s perhaps unsurprising that it’s very much the focus of Hatsu’s compact menu.

On offer are hot udon soup and cold dressed udon with a variety of toppings as well as stir fried udon and a few different sides.

On the Sunday lunchtime we visited there was just one other set of guests dining in the bright and clean restaurant.

Hatsu don’t serve alcohol but they serve a good selection of interesting soft drinks.

A pineapple Hata Ramune (£4) and can of Oolong tea (£3.20) occupied opposite ends of the soft drink spectrum. The fizzy pineapple soft drink was super sweet and reminded me of sticky childhood boiled sweets. In contrast, the iced tea was a much more grown-up proposition with its savoury and tannic flavour. It was definitely my pick of the two, although the Hakata Ramune was served in one of the coolest glass bottles I’ve ever seen with a glass ball sat in its neck.

Chicken karaage (£7.50) was a corking example of the dish. A super crisp, grease free and rugged crumb cocooned nuggets of juicy thigh meat. Squeezed with lemon juice and dunked in mayo, I’d happily have guzzled a whole bird’s worth by myself.

Pork gyoza (£7) looked a picture with their frilly laced sheet joining them together. The crisp and soft dumpling skins contained a commendably juicy pork mince filling. But, I think they would probably have benefited from a dipping sauce to provide contrast and they’d lost quite a bit of heat by the time they arrived at the table.

Both udon dishes for main were very tasty.  

Kake udon (£14) with prawn tempura saw a generous quantity of slippery noodles with a good bite bobbing in a hot, savoury and sweet soup with plenty of depth of flavour from what I think was a combination of kombu and miso. It was topped with diced spring onions, slippery seaweed and a pair of beautifully light and crisp battered tempura king prawns. I inhaled the crustacean as quickly as possible before the batter had a chance to lose its crispness. The same couldn’t be said for a pile of tempura flakes which rapidly sogged into the soup.

Nikutama udon (£15.50) was a cold dish that was better suited to the swelteringly hot summer’s day that we visited. The tangle of cold udon had more bite than the hot dish (which I preferred). They were dressed with a light and savoury soy-twanged dipping sauce and accompanied by a pile of tender marinated stewed beef, spring onions, a runny onsen egg and tempura batter flakes, which more effectively retained their crunch. It was a lovely light and fresh dish but the lightly set wobbly egg white might not be to everyone’s tastes. It definitely wasn't an issue for Mrs G. 

We had a very tasty lunch at Hatsu Udon. With its warm and friendly welcome and light and fresh udon, it’s a fine addition to the city’s noodle quarter.. okay, I don't think that name is going to stick.

The Details:

Address - Hatsu Udon, 146 Penarth Rd, Cardiff CF11 6NJ
Web - https://www.instagram.com/hatsu_udon/

Lahore Kebabish, Grangetown, Cardiff Pakistani restaurant review

Pound for pound, what’s the best snack in Cardiff?

There are few strong contenders in my book, including Pooja’s legendary paneer roll, the excellent pizza by the slice from West and RomEat, the £1 panelle from Bacareto, the spinach and cheese borek from Four Seasons on City Road, Welsh cakes served warm off the bakestone from Cardiff Market, and the deep-filled steak pie from Rees the Butchers.

However, one acclaimed snack which hadn’t passed my lips until last week is the keema naan from Lahore Kebabish in Grangetown, and now I’m rueing all those missed munching opportunities.

It’s another recommendation from the same knowledgeable Cardiffian who brought City Road’s Hadramowt to my attention. When I last raised the subject of the best bites to eat in Cardiff, I was informed in no uncertain terms: “Don't want to cause an intra-city diplomatic incident, but the best snack in Cardiff is Lahore's keema naan.”

Located on the busy thoroughfare of Penarth Road, Lahore Kebabish’s bright and basic dining room has a fridge full of curries and fried snacks as its focal point. On offer are starters of pakoras and samosas, a selection of curries, and Lahori specialities such as haleem and paya (a breakfast dish made with trotters).

Having ordered at the counter, a pair of fragrant and tangy mango lassis (£3) were the first to appear.

I'll talk about the keema naan next as it really was the star of the show. For £3, it was a meal in itself; the crisp and pillowy bread filled with an equal quantity of spiced minced lamb which peered through its crust. A brush of glossy butter completed the first rate snack. 

Nihari (£10) delivered on the promise of its long cook. Exceptionally tender pieces of lamb were bathed in a well-spiced sauce that was enriched with meaty marrow and cooking juices. Batons of ginger and pieces of green chilli meanwhile brought fresh fragrance and spice to the dish.

Saag paneer (£6.50) saw soft pieces of cheese coated in spinach, onion and spice which had cooked down into one thick sauce.

Sizzling harayali chicken tikka (£5) had a vibrant green herb marinade and was pleasingly juicy and smoky of flesh. Soft and sweet charred onions accompanied each mouthful.

Accompanying side salad was a little lacklustre, the lettuce most certainly having seen better days and raw onion dominating the plate.

Tandoori pratha (£3) wasn’t anything like the flaky layered paratha I expected, but it was still excellent. The thin, crisp and soft bread was brushed with a liberal amount of fat and was a great mop for all those curry sauces. It's clear that breads are definitely one of Lahore Kebabish's strengths. 

We had a delicious lunch at Lahore Kebabish and I really enjoyed their curries and sizzling meat. But I’ll be making a special detour for that keema naan anytime I’m within a 1km radius.

The Details:

Address - Lahore Kebabish, 160 Penarth Rd, Cardiff CF11 6NJ

Web - https://lahorekebabishcardiff.com/

Telephone - 029 2022 1354

Matsudai Ramen, Grangetown, Cardiff restaurant review

It’s fair to say that James Chant’s Matsudai Ramen has had a meteoric rise since it first popped up in Cardiff in 2019.

Their big-flavoured bowls of Japanese noodle soup have garnered praise from national restaurant critics like Jay Rayner and Tom Parker Bowles and there have been ramen kit collabs with Youtube star Uncle Roger and MasterChef winner Tim Anderson.

Matsudai’s ramen kits provided me with more regular nourishment than any other home delivery during the pandemic but I was always hopeful that they'd eventually open a bricks and mortar restaurant.

Located in an old bank in the heart of Cardiff's Grangetown, Matsudai’s modern and vibey interior is centred around an open kitchen and ramen bar. I’m a big fan of counter top restaurants where a seat at the bar transforms a meal into a performance.

On our visit during a two month long “soft launch” period, Matsudai’s compact menu focused on three types of ramen - tantanmen, nikko shio (described on their menu as a clean and complex summer ramen) and shiru-nashi mazesoba - with vegetarian, vegan and dumplingified versions available too.

To go alongside the ramen, there’s a selection of small plates, desserts, cocktails, beers and rather lethal sounding boiler-makers.

Small plates arrived at the same time as our mains meaning it was all hands on deck to ensure everything was enjoyed at maximal freshness. Fortunately, I’ve never been one to dither when it comes to getting stuck into a meal.

The clear standout of the small dishes was a mountain of triple-fried oyster mushroom karaage (£8) with a hyper-crisp grease free crumb and impressively meaty texture. Accompanied by a bowl of dreamy Coronation-esque curry mayo, this vegetarian dish was an upgrade on the excellent chicken version which I ate at one of Matsudai’s pop-ups.

A beansprout salad (£5) provided welcome lightness compared to the rest of the dishes. Dressed simply with chilli oil, spring onion and sesame, it was very enjoyable but the crisp sprouts would arguably have benefited from an additional dimension of seasoning.

Salty and crisp nuggets of chicken skin (£2.50) scattered with seaweed salt certainly lived up to their bar snack billing. A bowl of these and an ice cold beer would make me a very happy man indeed.

Onto the main event and a soup-less shiru-nashi mazesoba (£12) combined thick wavy noodles with a lovely al dente bite; a deeply meaty chicken and lamb ragu with a good thrum of chilli; and a deliciously creamy and savoury sesame, soy sauce and soy milk base, which provided a lovely coating for the noodles.

Mrs G was advised to stir the bowl 30 times to ensure all the sauces and toppings (including egg yolk, sweet pickled cucumber, fresh red onion, fermented bamboo shoots and greens) had mixed together effectively.

My tantanmen (£13), a Japanese version of Sichuan’s fiery Dan Dan noodles, utilised many similar elements as the soup-less dish. A rich chicken broth (which didn’t seem quite as intense and chicken-y as their tori paitan) was bolstered by the addition of the spicy chicken and lamb ragu and a sesame-soy sauce tare. Combined with its various garnishes, including a fudgey-yolked egg and beansprouts, it was a deliciously spicy and decadent dish.

A pair of swirls of beautifully tender chashu pork belly (£2.50) provided excellent side-action. Frankly, if any menu has the option of additional pork belly then it’s something I’m not going to turn down.

Onto dessert and as we’d missed out on the last slice of banana chocolate cake, we shared a roasted green tea creme brûlée (£6). Despite its lack of a proper shatteringly crisp sugar top and its slightly unappetising greeny-brown colour, the thick and creamy roasted tea-twanged custard was lovely.

It’s always great to see a Cardiff success story and Matsudai Ramen is exactly that. There’s been a ramen shaped hole in Cardiff’s dining scene, and James Chant’s debut restaurant has more than filled it.

The Details:

Address - Matsudai Ramen, 183-185 Clare Rd, Cardiff CF11 6QS

Web - https://matsudai.co.uk/pages/restaurant-2

Telephone - 029 2022 6510

Vegetarian Food Studio and Calabrisella Gelateria, Cardiff reviews

It’s been a very long time since my only visit to the Vegetarian Food Studio in Grangetown. Back in 2013 I was a little underwhelmed by a thali which featured fried goods lacking in crispness.

In the intervening years I’ve only heard good things about this multi-award winning vegetarian restaurant. So, it was time for a revisit.

With an extensive menu focusing on Gujarati food they also serve a range of Southern Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes. Whilst you can order via the usual delivery platforms, it’s much cheaper to purchase direct.

A thin masala dosa (£5.95), which had lost most of its crispness on its journey, was stuffed with a comforting mustard seed flecked potato curry. Its accompaniments elevated it no end; creamy coconut chutney and warming lentil sambhar with a good chilli hit.

A pair of behemothic vegetable samosas (£3) were golden, crisp and full of flavour. Filled with a meaty vegetarian mince studded with peas and sweetcorn, they were accompanied by sweet, tangy and spicy tamarind chutney.

Ringan no-oro (£6.95) tasted of time well spent on the hob. Soft roasted aubergine and thoroughly well caramelised onions and garlic were bathed in a multilayered sauce - sweet, savoury and spicy in equal measure.

Chilli paneer (£6.50) had clearly had a much briefer dalliance with the saucepan - the golden, slightly chewy cubes of paneer were coated in a sweet, spicy and sour Indo-Chinese sauce mingled with crunchy onions and peppers.

I really enjoyed my Vegetarian Food Studio revisit. A few of the dishes were a bit greasy but I was impressed by their big flavoured vegetarian food. I won’t leave it so long until my next order.

The Details:

Vegetarian Food Studio

Address - 115-117 Penarth Rd, Cardiff CF11 6JU

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

Telephone - 029 2023 8222

Calabrisella Gelateria, Canton

To go alongside their excellent pair of pizzerias in Canton and Cathays, Calabrisella have recently opened a gelateria on Cowbridge Road East.

I've heard that people queued down the street to get hold of a scoop of their traditional Italian gelato on the first sunny Saturday of the year. We of course visited for a mid-morning snack so were able to beat the rush. 

I've been trying to track down a brioche con gelato since a trip to Bologna around ten years ago. Calabrisella's version was worth the wait. A soft, rich and sweet brioche bun (£5.50) was stuffed with their super smooth and milky gelato; we had excellent pistachio and Ferrero Rocher flavours. 

Alongside their gelato, Calabrisella's fridges and freezers are filled with lush looking ice cream cakes and desserts. I spotted some cannoli on the counter waiting to be filled. If they're anything as good as the ones they sell at Calabrisella Cathays, you'll be in for a treat. Uber crisp pastry shells are loaded with a creamy and tangy sweetened ricotta filling. 

The Details:

Calabrisella Gelateria

Address - 187 Cowbridge Rd East, Cardiff CF11 9AJ

Web - http://www.calabrisellacardiff.com/Cardifficecream/

Telephone - 029 2280 1081

Vegetarian Food Studio, Indian restaurant, Cardiff review

The Vegetarian Food Studio has cult status in the eyes of many Cardiffians.

Dishing out Indian vegetarian nosh on Penarth Road since 2004, they recently relocated to a bigger space and also added the wordy title of joint Best Asian Restaurant in South Wales (East) in the Asian Food Awards to their extensive list of accolades.

Visiting on Bonfire Night, VFS's bright and functional dining space provided welcome shelter from the cacophony of whizzes and bangs in the night sky.

We ordered a pair of excellent mango lassis to drink (£2.65) but the Food Studio is BYOB if you’re hankering for a lager to go with your curry. 

Despite VFS’s menu encompassing a huge range of Northern Indian, Southern Indian and Indo-Chinese dishes, it was a foregone conclusion that we’d each order their famed Gujarati Thali Special.

At £6.25 you get a heck of a lot of curry for your money…

Starters of the day, a light, cakey onion pakora and a potato pakora, were moreish but disappointingly lacking in crispness. So too, was a fiery masala coated poppadom.

Curry of the day, a buttery black lentil daal with plenty of bite, and a mild sweet red lentil and tomato soup were hearty but essentially simple tasting dishes. A quartet of soft puri and a bowl of fluffy rice were ideal mops for the sauce.

The last element on the platter was a pleasant pot of a thick, sweetened, fragrant creamy pudding. 

Having been drawn to the display of Indian desserts by the entrance to the restaurant, we ordered a trio to round off the meal (£2.50).

A soft and nutty fig roll was excellent. However, cubes of pineapple and pistachio barfi were too saccharine even for my sweet tooth. 

 
Even though the Vegetarian Food Studio’s special thali is cheap as chips, the flavours and textures on show didn’t blow me away. Perhaps there are richer pickings to be had from their main menu.

The Details:

Address - Vegetarian Food Studio,115 Penarth Road, Cardiff, CF11 6JU

Web - http://www.vegetarianfoodstudio.co.uk/ 

Telephone - (029) 2023 8222

Clark's Pie Shop, Cardiff Review, Food Blog

 As someone who’s not from Cardiff, I’m constantly relying on my friends to recommend places to try which may seem obvious to the local but not to the non-native. So when Morg asked me yesterday whether I’d been to the Clark’s pie shop before and the answer was no, he suggested we rectify the situation immediately by a next day breakfast visit. Not one to turn down a morning pastry eating session we set off with Rhys “the bucketman” in tow on a Grangetown pie roadtrip. 

Clark’s pies are to Cardiff what Manze’s are to parts of London and Gregg’s (pre-global expansion) are to Newcastle. They are woven into the tapestry of local life. There’s a lengthy family history (see the picture below for a historical essay), they’re the pie of choice at Cardiff city football matches and they’re available in chippies across the city. It’s here I must disclose that shortly after moving to Cardiff a few years ago I was marched to a chip shop on Caroline Street to sample one of the famous Clark’s pies by Mrs G and I was left distinctly underwhelmed. My only memory of this initial encounter was of a mince pie which consisted of far too much dry pastry. As a result I’ve never sampled another Clark’s pie until this day and I wish it hadn’t taken me so long. Apparently it’s the freshness of the pastry of the pies obtained from source which makes them incomparable to those distributed to chippies which are reheated and may be kept in a heat cabinet all day or longer…. 

There are 4 branches of Clark’s pies (2 in Cardiff & 2 in Bristol) all of which are run as independent businesses and bake their own pies utilising slightly different recipes. According to Morg, the Grangetown branch is the best and so this is where we were headed.  Located on the corner of a row of terraced houses on Bromsgrove & Paget streets, in the heart of Grangetown the pie shop is a throwback to decades gone by. The old signage & dated, shabby interior simply add to the charm & authenticity of the place. What’s more there’s nothing more reassuring than somewhere who’s menu essentially consists` of small pie or large pie served hot or cold. Much akin to my favourite burger joint In’n’Out which serves either hamburger, cheeseburger or double-double (i.e. double cheeseburger) it shows total confidence in keeping things simple and done properly.

We all ordered a large hot pie and I set to work the moment I was outside the shop. The golden coloured shortcrust pastry was a revelation compared to my previous encounter. A thick layer of golden pastry surrounds the whole pie. It's perfectly crisp on the outside, soft in the middle and well moistened on the interior by the oozing beef mince, onion & gravy filling (a generous hit of pepper cuts through the richness of the pastry perfectly). 

 

A final note must be made about the unique nature of the thick pastry on the base of the pie which means Clark's pies are served without a foil tray. However not having a tray to catch leaking mince means there are certain logistical issues which need to be negotiated; as a novice Clark’s pie eater, I managed to spill piping hot mince all over my shorts within a matter of minutes.  Before my next visit I’ll get some tips from the extensive Clark’s pie guide written by a dedicated Cardiff City & Clark’s pie fan. 

On the return from the pie shop we stopped off at the newsagent round the corner for a pistachio kulfi ‘palate cleanser’ at my request and then made a final pitstop at Bruton’s bakery for dessert by order of the bucketman. According to him the coffee & walnut tarts are pretty fine and I must say I agree. I can’t think of a more fitting dessert after a shortcrust meat pie than a shortcrust cream pie. Deliciously crisp shortcrust pastry encased a generous helping of fresh cream and was covered with a sweet coffee icing and a walnut on top. 

It’s a shame we don’t have a local Clark's pie shop in Penylan (apparently the original Clark’s pie branch was located on Donald street in Roath) but then to be honest a pie breakfast every Saturday wouldn’t really be the best idea. 

The Details: Clark's Pies, 23 Bromsgrove Street, Grangetown, Cardiff, CF11 7EZ 
Phone: 029 2022 7586, Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10Am-1:30PM

Brutons Bakers, 104 Clare Road, Grangetown Cardiff, CF11 6RT Tel: 029 2025 7035