Thomas the Brasserie, Pontcanna, Cardiff restaurant review 2026

I’ve always been a big fan of Tom Simmons’ refined cooking that combines precision technique with familiar and comforting flavours.

But, Thomas by Tom Simmons, his eponymous restaurant in Pontcanna, always felt like a special occasion kind of place rather than somewhere you’d pop into on a regular basis. That is unless you’re an international rugby player or a member of the cast of Casualty. 

What with the ongoing cost of living crisis putting a strain on people’s wallets and nearby competitors offering more accessible pricing in relaxed settings, I wonder if it’s been the catalyst for the relaunch of the restaurant as Thomas the Brasserie. 

Alongside a lick of paint, crucially there’s been a reworking of the menu. Whilst many of Tom’s signature dishes thankfully remain, there’s now more of a focus on crowd pleasing dishes like roast chicken and chips, charcoal grilled steaks and pork chops, and short rib suet pudding. 

Most interestingly, there’s a rotating selection of well-priced daily specials with dishes including Welsh beef wellington (£20) on Wednesdays and steak frites (£20) on Mondays. So, it's a much more tantalising prospect for regular repeat visits. 

On the Saturday night we visited as a group of 8, both the upstairs and downstairs dining rooms were already buzzing when we arrived at 6.30pm, and it didn’t let up until we left at 9.30pm after a well-paced leisurely meal. 

On the booze front, we kicked off with a round of cracking cocktails – a clarified rum punch (£12) with a big hit of passion fruit and pineapple and a lovely creaminess was just the ticket on the sunniest day of the year so far. Mrs G was equally impressed with a hermosa (£13) that had major margarita vibes. We followed it up with a pleasingly crisp Villa Cosmiana Trebbiano (£47) and a Stone Castle Kosovan red (£40), which whilst very gluggable didn’t really have much complexity. 

To start, Mrs G ordered the tuna carpaccio (£15) from the raw section of the menu. Super fresh and meaty slices of tuna and ripe avocado were bathed in an absolute whopper of a marinade that combined citrusy ponzu, truffle, sesame and basil oil. Whilst it sounds like there was the potential for some flavour clashes, the sauce was very well-balanced and had us reaching for a spoon to scrape up every last drop. 

Having heard rave reviews about Tom’s mushroom parfait (£14) for a few years, I thought it was time to finally give it a go. 

A dome of super silky and creamy umami-rich mushroom pate was accompanied by dinky zingy pickled shimeji mushrooms and golden buttered toast. It’s no exaggeration to say this was every bit as good as the best chicken liver parfait I’ve eaten.

Thankfully Tom’s fried chicken (£8) is still a mainstay of the snack section of the menu so we ordered a portion for the table. Ridiculously crisp crumbed and juicy chicken pieces were topped with the zip of lime mayo and leaves of fresh coriander. 

Onto mains and Mrs G ordered the fillet of beef (£35) served rare as I’d poo-poohed her suggestion of the very well-priced chateaubriand special for two (£35pp including sides). Deep in flavour with a bang-on tenderness and dark crust, it was accompanied by a pot vivid green sauce with a good hit of herb (tarragon, I think). 

Another of Tom’s signature dishes that I’d still somehow never tried was his fish and chips (£26). A hunk of meaty and flaky pan-fried cod was accompanied by a bevy of tasty things – crisp batter scraps with a warming hint of curry, crushed sweet peas and a warm tartare sauce that was a essentially a beurre blanc flecked with salty pearls of fish roe and the balancing acidity of pickles and capers. 

On the side, a portion of Tom’s chips, were addictive little bricks of crisp and tender golden confit potato. 

A friend ordered the Brasserie Burger (£18), which was topped with melted Monterey jack cheese and Lyonnaise onions. He declared it to be a triumph that reminded him very much of a posh Big Mac. 

We ordered a couple of sides to share, and creamed spinach (£7) was as decadent as I'd hoped with a lovely richness of dairy and a hint of garlic and nutmeg.

A cauldron of creamy and well-caramelised Dauphinoise potatoes (£7) was a gargantuan portion. I thought it could have done with a twist of salt but Mrs G disagreed. 

Onto dessert, and a beauty of cheese selection (£14) was a cut above the usual predictable varieties. A lot of thought had gone into the accompaniments too – truffle honey, fig chutney, membrillo and an interesting array of crackers. 

I was laser focused on the salted caramel custard tart (£10) and it was absolute belter. A super fine and crisp pastry crust was laden with warm, thick and wobbly set custard that was heady with notes of toasty salted caramel.

We had an excellent meal at Thomas the Brasserie. With its more accessible pricing and menu of crowd-pleasing dishes, its relaunch can be chalked up as an unmitigated success. 

Tom’s comfort food is the type that you can enjoy without having to think too much about. But, if you do, then you can really appreciate the amount of thought and effort that goes into each dish. 

The Details:

Address - Thomas the Brasserie, 3 & 5 Pontcanna Street, Cardiff CF11 9HQ
Web - https://www.thomas-pontcanna.co.uk/
Telephone - 02921 167 800

Flat Iron, Kings Cross, London restaurant review

Yes, I know Flat Iron is a chain with fifteen branches across London and three more across the UK that are either open or set to open soon.

And, I know that I don’t normally to review chains because they homogenise the identity of cities at the expense of interesting independents.

But, it would be disingenuous of me to say that I never visit chains.

Crispy Dosa, Honest Burger, Greggs and Din Tai Fung are all places that I’ve been to in the last few years.

Furthermore, Flat Iron isn’t just any chain, so I thought that it was worth writing about.

Firstly, it was founded by Charlie Carroll one of the co-owners of the Devonshire, the UK's most hyped pub. Whilst a table at the Devonshire is rather tricky to come by, it’s a lot more straightforward to visit a Flat Iron.

Secondly, unlike the encyclopaedic menus that many chains offer, Flat Iron have taken a single dish, the flat iron steak, and put it at the very core of their business model.

Their menu also eschews starters and desserts in favour of a compact selection of mains. It enables Flat Iron to turn tables very quickly and have a streamlined ingredient inventory, both of which must be important factors in the success of their model.

Knowing that we wanted something quick to eat before catching a Eurostar, I decided Flat Iron Kings Cross would fit the bill.

Arriving just before midday, there was already a gaggle of people waiting outside its doors to open. It’s a looker of a place with its exposed brickwork, wood-panelling and racing green paint; there’s apparent age and class belying its budget price point.

Despite the lack of starters on Flat Iron’s menu, as soon as we sat down a pot of warm, beef dripping scented popcorn arrived. It was still busy popping away in a machine behind us providing reassurance about just how fresh it was.

Whilst Flat Iron’s menu focuses on their headline dish (£15), there’s also a burger (£14), ribeye (£19) and wagyu steak of the day (£23). Furthermore, there’s a choice of seven different sides, all of which range from £3.50 to £4.50 and four different sauces for £1.50. I can’t think of many places where you can get a steak and sides for this kind of price, even in Cardiff.

From the concise wine selection, which is all available by the glass, we order a juicy Sangiovese (£9.50) and a smooth, red berry-packed malbec (£8.50).

Orders were taken within a few minutes of sitting down and our food arrived in approximately the amount of time it takes to cook and rest a flat iron to medium rare.

Presented on a cast iron and wooden slab with a miniature cleaver, it was a lovely looking bit of meat. With an excellent tenderness and good (if not the most deeply aged) flavour, it was a very tasty steak. It’s worth noting that Mrs G's steak was fattier and a bit smaller looking than mine.

On the sauce front, a silky bearnaise honked nicely of tarragon whilst peppercorn delivered a warming meaty hit.

Aubergine, mozzarella and tomato bake (£4.50) was a melanzane parmigiana by any other name and it was a hot mess of deliciousness with a good ooze of mozzarella and compelling crusty edges.

Creamed spinach (£4) did the job but was the least impressive of the sides.

Silky smooth mashed potato (£4.50) was brought together by a pool of garlic butter, a lick of bone marrow and crunchy batter puffs. It was decadent stuff.

Whilst there’s no dessert on Flat Iron’s menu, our bill was charmingly accompanied by cleaver tokens that we could exchange for a swirl of Tahitian vanilla soft serve. 

Served in a shatteringly crisp waffle cone and dusted with chocolate, the sweet and milky ice cream was a dead ringer for Joe's vanilla.

Stuffed yet relaxed, we were in and out of Flat Iron within just over thirty minutes, meaning there was no dash required to get to our train on time.

Flat Iron is certainly one of the best chains I’ve visited in a long while and an impressive business model to boot. With a branch set to arrive in Bristol later this year, I’d imagine there’ll be a Cardiff opening in the not too distant future. 

The Details:

Address - Flat Iron Kings Cross, 47-51 Caledonian Rd, London N1 9BU

Web - https://flatironsteak.co.uk/restaurant/kings-cross/

Fire & Flank, Tiger Yard, Cardiff review

Steak doesn't seem like the best idea when it comes to street food.

Typically requiring ‘à la minute’ preparation, there's nowhere to hide with how precisely it’s cooked or how well rested it is. 

With orders to churn through at a rate of knots, the last thing you’d want to do is serve something overcooked and resembling a piece of shoe leather. Or something so badly rested that it exsanguinates all over the rest of the dish. 

So, it's a testament to the ingenuity of the team at Cardiff's Fire & Flank that they've adopted a technique which means that they can consistently knock out beautifully cooked steaks time and time again. 

Initially cooked sous vide in a 57˚C water bath, Fire & Flank’s flank steaks are then finished on a griddle (or with a blow torch depending on health and safety rules). The result is a steak with a beautifully pink interior and a golden, caramelised crust. 

Despite setting-up shop in 2021, I only tried Fire & Flank for the first time earlier this year. However, I've been craving their steak and mash ever since. 

Fire & Flank currently resides at Cardiff Bay’s Tiger Yard as well as Kong’s Bar in Cardiff City centre; although the latter seems so lightly publicised that I keep on forgetting it exists, much like the fact that Kong’s has one of the best craft beer selections in town. 

Both times I’ve tried Fire & Flank have been at Tiger Yard in Cardiff Bay, a rather nice street food venue with a mixed bag of vendors. Fire & Flank is undoubtedly the standout of their residents.

Winner of the best main course at the British Street Food Awards in 2021, Fire & Flank’s steak with cheesy garlic mashed potato (£12) is a corker of a dish. Thick slices of their blushing pink, deeply beefy and well-crusted steak are served on a giant mound of smooth, garlicky, butter slicked, and cheese twanged mashed potato. It’s everything you want mashed potato to be, but it so rarely is. The dish’s richness is somewhat offset by a vibrant chimichurri that’s packed with fresh herbs, a zip of acidity and hint of chilli. 

Their steak and chips (£12) are just as good. This time a plentiful portion of their steak and chimichurri is piled on top of crisp paprika dusted fries. What’s particularly compelling is the mingling of beef juices and chimichurri oil with the chips, lending them a spicy beefy note. Some how they manage to remain crisp at the same time. 

However, Fire & Flank don’t just know how to cook a steak. Their burgers are excellent as well. 

Their Flank Burger (£12) is a proper five napkin job. A pair of seriously juicy and gnarly edged smashed ex-dairy beef patties have a real rich beefiness and savoury umami hit. Topped with oozy American cheese, a smoky house burger sauce, and more slices of that excellent flank steak, it’s only held together by the grace of all the juices which soak into the glistening brioche bun. 

I don’t normally write reviews of individual street food traders, but it’s worth singling out Fire & Flank for what they’re doing. They serve one of the best steak and chips in Cardiff for £12 and one of the city’s finest burgers too. Whether it’s Tiger Yard, Kong’s or wherever they end up next, Fire & Flank are most certainly worth seeking out. 

The Details:

Address - Fire & Flank, Tiger Yard, Plot A Porth Teigr Way, Cardiff CF10 4GA
Web - https://www.fireandflank.com/
Email - hello@fire@flank.com

Maison de Boeuf, Cardiff city centre restaurant review

There’s a few reasons why this blog includes a menagerie of restaurant reviews from places across the UK and beyond.

It’s not just in case you find yourself craving pork knuckle the next time you’re in Munich or roti canai when you’re waiting for a train at London Euston.

It also hopefully shows that I have a frame of reference when it comes to reviewing places in Cardiff.

There's no better example than when it comes to Maison de Boeuf, a new opening in Cardiff's Castle Arcade, which is unquestionably inspired by one of my favourite restaurants in Paris, Relais de L’entrecote. 

Having first opened in Paris's Porte Maillot in 1959 and gradually spread across the world, Relais de L’entrecote and its sibling restaurants offer a no choice menu of green salad followed by a main course of two portions of steak and chips. The steak is accompanied by a superb signature sauce which is made with a combination of green herbs like tarragon and thyme, chicken livers and butter; it's the kind of thing which would make even an old boot taste great. 

L'entrecote's success all comes down to their singular focus on doing one thing very well indeed. And then serving it to you twice. You could say it's a case of deja moo. 

So, how does Maison de Boeuf compare to the OG?

First up, a tick in Maison de Boeuf’s box is that you can actually reserve a table. In Paris we had to queue up before Relais de L’entrecote even opened to avoid a lengthy wait for a table. So, on a busy night in Cardiff where 60,000 people had descended on the city centre to see Beyonce, we were pleased to be able to waltz straight into the restaurant.

Secondly, the team behind the perennially popular Coffee Barker, Gin & Juice and Rum & Fizz have done a really good job at capturing a romantic Parisian ambiance. With its moody lighting, ornate chandeliers, crisp white tablecloths and red leather banquettes, it oozes French charm. There’s also the option to sit outside in the arcade and watch the world go by; an option which I took up in the name of decent food photography.

Maison de Boeuf’s selection of wine by the glass is the first thing which doesn’t quite hit the mark. Whilst there are a couple of French reds, whites and rosés on offer, their fizz by the glass is only prosecco and there's no champagne. And their dessert wine by the glass is a singular port with no sauternes or monbazillac. Sacré bleu.

We both kicked off with a couple of halves of easy drinking Bière Napoleon (£3.50). And I followed it up with a gluggable glass of Château Laulerie Bergerac merlot (£7.45).

Maison de Boeuf’s set menu offers a choice of one course for £20.95, two for £24.95 or three for £29.95. In the evening it seems reasonable value to me, especially with steak as part of the equation. But at lunchtime, when there's some cracking deals on offer at the city's top restaurants, it's less of a compelling proposition. 

There’s a selection of three starters available and unlike Relais de L’entrecote, none of them are green salad. 

Passing on the option of snails with garlic butter, I ordered a cauldron of French onion soup. With a good balance of savouriness and sweetness, it was chocka with soft caramelised onions and topped with a soup soaked crouton and a generous ooze of melted gruyere.

Mrs G enjoyed a twice baked cheese soufflé with a light texture that was bathed in a rich cheese and mustard sauce. Serviceable pieces of soft baguette acted as a good mop. 

Onto mains, and Maison de Boeuf does a good tribute act to Relais de L’entrectote.

Thin slices of extremely tender rump steak with a good level of beefiness were served an accurate medium pink; unusually there's no option for medium rare, only rare or medium. Hyper crisp golden fries were excellent – in fact these guys could easily open an offshoot called Chateau de Frites. And that secret sauce, whilst thicker and much less plentiful than in Paris, had a lovely herby, savoury, buttery intensity.

A bowl of lightly dressed frisée lettuce hit the mark as a side dish; it was nice to see the greenery still appear on the menu. 

Once we’d cleaned our plates, right on cue, we were offered the rest of our beef and more sauce and fries. Impressively there didn’t seem to be a limit to the amount of chips on offer as the waiter only stopped when Mrs G showed concern for my health.

A small quibble but it felt like the initial portion of steak and sauce was smaller compared to the second – it’s something which could be easily rectified by adjusting the balance between the two servings.

For dessert, there’s a good selection of classics on offer from tarte au citron to choux buns and cheese.

Both the puddings we ordered were underwhelming. However, hats off to the restaurant who were quick to take them off the bill when we shared our feedback.

Tarte tatin wasn’t tarte tatin – it lacked both crisp puff pastry and a layer of golden caramel. Instead, warm cakey pastry was topped with soft sweet apple and a dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream.

A Paris-Brest choux bun was soft and leaden instead of light and crisp and drizzled with an overly sweet chocolate sauce. But I did enjoy the bun’s hazelnut custard filling and fresh raspberries.

Overall, I enjoyed my meal at Maison du Boeuf, despite the issues with the dessert and wine list, and I think it does a good job at emulating the restaurants which it's inspired by. With its warm and friendly service and charming setting, I think it’s a decent addition to Cardiff city centre’s restaurant line-up.

The details:

Address - Maison de Boeuf, 21 Castle Arcade, Cardiff CF10 1BU

Web - https://www.maisondeboeuf.com/

Telephone - 029 2280 4462

Pasture, Cardiff bar and terrace menu review

To say that Pasture has been a success story since it opened its doors in Cardiff in 2020, is probably a bit of an understatement.

In fact, they’re nearly fully booked for dinner on Saturday nights until the end of November and if you want to visit at all in the next couple of months then you’ll be scraping the barrel with a freakishly late lunch.

It’s a testament to the quality of Pasture’s cooking and its broad appeal - their dry-aged steaks and crowd-pleasing sides are top drawer and their classy dining space transports you a few thousand miles away from Cardiff.

However, as I don’t usually plan to eat a steak six months in advance, I was very pleased to find out that they also offer a terrace and bar menu which is walk-ups only.

Whilst it doesn’t include their signature steaks, it does have a selection of their indulgent small plates, a burger, a dessert and an umbrella. Really, what more could you want?

When we pitched up around 5pm on a Wednesday evening the restaurant was impressively almost completely full but there was still a few tables available in the bar.

With a few more drinking destinations planned on our night out, we supped a couple of halves of deliciously crisp and bready Lost and Grounded Keller Pils.

A stack of wings (£7.50) were categorically epic. Tender of flesh, crisp and rugged of crumb and coated in an addictively sticky, savoury, sweet and complex soy and bourbon glaze with a drizzle of pokey and garlicky kimchi mayonnaise, they were some of the best wings I’ve eaten anywhere.

A 45 day dry-aged burger (£14.95) was an intensely rich and delicious affair. A hugely meaty, juicy and fat-dripping patty was stuffed into a light and soft bun alongside tangy secret sauce, baconnaise and oozy and savoury Ogleshield cheese.

Crisp and refreshing dill pickles provided essential cut through for all that protein and fat whilst a bowl of crisp skin on fries were excellent too.

On a separate visit, a quartet of short rib croquettes (£5) were just as memorable as the first time we tried them. Tender beef shreds in a thick meaty gravy were coated in a crisp crumb and accompanied by gochujang aioli with a lovely thwack of chilli.

Striking looking black crispy squid pieces (£7.95) were impeccably tender and served with a dollop of aioli with a good hit of roast garlic.

Dessert was equally indulgent but didn’t quite hit the same level as the savoury dishes.

A soft and squidgy sticky toffee pudding (£7.95) with a scoop of light and creamy coconut ice cream was topped with a thick miso caramel sauce with a good hit of toasty dark sugar. However, I wasn’t quite sold on the sauce's slightly gloopy texture and the savoury complexity of miso was hardly noticeable. 

We've had a couple of excellent experiences of the bar and terrace menu at Pasture. It’s a great way to visit one of Cardiff’s best restaurants without any of the faff of planning months in advance.

The Details:

Address - Pasture, 8 - 10 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1BB

Web - https://pasturerestaurant.com/locations/cardiff/

Telephone - 07511 217422