Buds, Radyr cafe and patisserie review

Opening a good restaurant, bar or cafe in an underserved suburb of Cardiff appears to be a recipe for independent hospitality success.

With the number of restaurants now competing in areas like Pontcanton, Roath and Cathays, it’s on the fringes of the city where there are still gaps in the market.

Mesen has built up a great reputation in Rhiwbina. Dusty’s looks to have settled in well at their new home in Llanishen. And State of Love and Trust in Lakeside has quickly established itself as one of the city’s best wine and craft beer bars.

Radyr is the most recent Cardiff suburb to have an exciting new independent hospitality business open on its doorstep in the form of Buds. 

Billed as serving “brunch, small plates and patisserie”, Buds is co-owned by Andrew Minto, an acclaimed patisserie chef who won Bake Off: The Professionals in 2021, and Kate Parsons, the chef behind the excellent Nomad Kitchen.

The first thing that strikes you about Buds is the ridiculous number of delicious looking cakes and pastries on offer. Their macarons, cookies and cream layer cake, cinnamon buns, lemon meringue tarts, Biscoff cheesecake and s’mores pie would keep me occupied for a very long time. 

But, we were here for lunch, so it would have been rude not to eat something savoury first. 

On Bud’s menu there’s a selection of brunch dishes such as a fried breakfast (£13), steak benedict (£13) and French toast with bacon (£10) as well as a few really good sounding lunch dishes, including a bacon cheeseburger (£13) and fried chicken sandwich (£13). There aren’t currently any small plates on offer so I wonder if these will arrive with a possible evening opening in future?

Having been advised by a good friend that Bud’s breakfast bun (£10) was the best they’d ever eaten, I couldn’t really order anything else. It was really bloody good. A golden, light, soft and slightly sweet house baked milk bun was a first-class vehicle for a bevy of fried treats – good quality sausage, crisp streaky bacon, a fried egg, and a golden slick of melted American cheese. Saucing came in the form of a schmear of thick and sweet chilli jam. It was a very good condiment but it perhaps lacked the crucial acidity that ketchup or brown sauce provide.

On the side was a crisp cube of excellent hash brown. I’d gladly eat a whole stack of them.

Miso mushrooms on toast (£8) was a much more straightforward affair but every component hit the mark. Soft crumbed, buttered granary toast was piled high with golden mushrooms twanged with the savoury hit of miso.

We decided to share a market salad bowl (£9) so that we had a bit of greenery to go with our meal. I agreed on the proviso that we could order it with fried chicken (£4) on top. I’m glad we did, because it was top notch – the meat was impressively juicy due to its buttermilk marinade, and it was coated in a rugged grease free crumb.

The rest of the salad was very good – a sweet and earthy beetroot pickle was the standout whilst I also really enjoyed a crisp celeriac remoulade and mixed leaves topped with a fruity vinaigrette. A disproportionately large pile of mange tout was the only component that I wasn't fully sold on. 

Whilst the savoury dishes were delicious, I couldn’t wait for dessert.

It’s no underestimation to say that a chocolate and salted caramel tart (£4) was the best example of its type that I’ve ever eaten. Gloriously rich, it combined a thin and hyper crisp chocolate pastry case filled with thick salted caramel, a layer of silky-smooth chocolate ganache and nod towards lightness in the form of a piped cloud of chocolate mousse. If you’re into chocolate and caramel, then this an essential Cardiff dessert.

A funfetti cookie (£3.50) was a proper chonky boi. Crisp on the outside with a soft centre, it was flecked with lightly caramelised white chocolate chips and multicoloured sprinkles. It’s the kind of cookie which people queuing down the street for if it was peddled by a vibey Soho establishment.

We had a cracking lunch at Buds and it’s great to see it so busy after just five weeks of opening. If I lived closer, then I’m sure I’d be down there regularly to guzzle their sweet treats.

I’ve no doubt Buds will be another Cardiff suburban success story. I wonder what the next one will be… are Thornhill and Pontprennau set to become home to exciting independent hospitality businesses?

The Details:
Address - Buds, 7-9 Park Road, Radyr, Cardiff CF15 8DF
Web - http://budscafe.co.uk/

Ostuni, Lakeside, Cardiff Italian cafe review

 

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

Pettigrew Bakeries, Cardiff review

Despite the unrelenting invasion of Geordie chain bakery Greggs and their disturbingly addictive sausage cylinders, things are looking up for baked goods in Cardiff.

In the last few years purveyors of banging bread and kick ass pastries One Mile Bakery, Nata & Co, Cocorico, Brod, Cup & Cake Bakery and The Early Bird Bakery have all opened their doors. Furthermore, Alex Gooch’s multi-award winning bread is readily available from retailers including Bean Freaks and Penylan Pantry.

Now, the team from the lovely Pettigrew Tea Rooms have tastefully transformed an old hardware shop near Victoria Park into Pettigrew Bakeries.

When I visited first thing on a Sunday morning, a multitude of baked goods were still being unloaded from the ovens. I stocked up on the below (the bill came to around £10.50), dashed home and snaffled the lot immediately. The concept of delayed gratification has always been alien to me. 

A salted caramel tart was a thing of wonder and joy. A molten slick of well balanced sweet and salty caramel was cradled by a perfectly short pastry case.

A sourdough loaf was full of complexity with a cracking crumb and golden crust. 

Surprisingly, Pettigrew’s sausage rolls aren’t made in house but are supplied by Coopers of Shrewsbury. A pork, Shropshire blue and caramelised onion roll was still rather lush - the bulging bronzed pastry cocooning a generous amount of flavour-packed sausage meat. 

I wasn’t entirely sold on a piece of bread pudding - whilst it was well flavoured with cinnamon and raisins, it was slightly dense and claggy. 

But, a chocolate brownie was a stunning example of its type - all goo and crunch of nut.

Pettigrew Bakeries is a lovely addition to the Victoria Park area of Cardiff. Viva la pastry revolución.

The Details:

Address - Pettigrew Bakeries, 595 Cowbridge Rd E, Cardiff, South Glamorgan CF5 1BE

Web - http://www.pettigrew-bakeries.co.uk/

Telephone - 02921 321270

Cardiff Bakestones Welsh Cakes, Cardiff Central Market

Welsh cakes aren’t all that... right?

Before I moved to Wales I’d never even heard of them.

And, the ones my colleague in work made yesterday were as solid as Jamie Roberts’ biceps and as dry as the Millennium Stadium’s bars after a six nations match.

However, when it comes to warm Welsh cakes fresh off the bakestone, it’s a completely different story.

The toasty, soft raisin-studded cakes with a light dusting of sugar are an absolute joy to behold - a simple yet devastatingly moreish combination.

I’ve previously waxed lyrical about Fabulous Welshcakes in Cardiff Bay but I only recently discovered Cardiff Bakestones in the heart of Cardiff Central Market… it’s taken just five years’ of me living in the city to find out about them.

You can watch the cakes being made before your very eyes before taking your pick from a range of flavours which includes original, chocolate chip, lemon curd and jam-filled.

I normally ask what’s still warm off the bakestone. 

And if you’re lucky it’ll be the chocolate chip variety with gooey pearls of melted chocolate nestled within. 

And the other bonus? They’re an absolute bargain - 30p each or £2.90 for 10.

Do you have any other tips for tip-top Welsh Cakes in Cardiff? If so, let me know and have a lovely St David's Day weekend.

The Details:

Address - Cardiff Bakestones, Cardiff Central Market, Saint Mary Street, Cardiff CF10 1AU

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