Wildflower Kitchen, Cardiff cafe review

*Wildflower Kitchen has now closed* 

Wildflower Kitchen on Cardiff’s Whitchurch Road is a business which lives up to its name.

Their outside garden seating area is home to bug hotels; vegetable peelings go to feed goats on the family farm; there’s an emphasis on local produce; and all their chutneys, cakes, salads and jams are made in house.

Located on the former site of the Aegean Greek Taverna, Wildflower opened their doors in October 2019, so didn’t have much of a chance to find their feet before the pandemic arrived. But, it's a business which established its roots at Insole Court where the team ran the Potting Shed Cafe for three years.

Whilst Wildflower’s interior has a shabby chic vibe to it, their menu focuses on a mix of hearty sounding lunch and brunch dishes from cooked breakfasts and toasted sandwiches to avocado on toast and halloumi burgers.

A pair of ice cold smoothies were super fresh and not too sweet - a Very Berry (£3.20) had a lovely hit of tangy mixed red berries whilst a tropical Sunshine Treats (£3.20) combined creamy coconut milk with the fragrance of mango and passionfruit.

A corker of a Welsh rarebit (£8.95) saw a thick slice of toasted granary bread topped with a good ooze of melted cheese and mustard, soft and sweet leeks, and a fragrant rosemary and wild garlic crumb which added extra crunch.

Side salad was no mere afterthought. Wholemeal pasta salad, curry-spiced roast cauliflower and chickpeas, kale, sultana-studded couscous and thick hummus were all lovely accompaniments.

Chorizo hash (£8.95) was a delicious combination of comforting flavours - a runny-yolked fried egg, soft and crispy spuds, paprika-twanged chorizo slices, sweet peppers and a vibrant salsa verde were all bang on.

I couldn’t resist ordering a sausage roll as a side snack and at £2.20 it delivered a lot of bang for my buck. The whopping roll combined plenty of well-seasoned sausage meat stuffed into a thin layer of pastry.

With a good selection of tray bakes on offer, it was a colourful slice of lemon and rose drizzle cake (£2.95) which caught my eye. Light and moist, the generous slice of cake was topped with sweet icing and had a good hit of tangy citrus and the fragrance and texture of rose petals. Thankfully it avoided straying into potpourri territory.

We had a lovely brunch at the Wildflower Kitchen. It’s another great independent business which has joined Whitchurch Road’s ever increasingly impressive line-up.

The Details:

Address - 72-74 Whitchurch Rd, Cardiff CF14 3LX

Web - https://www.wildflowerkitchen.co.uk/
Telephone - 029 2022 1053

News bites

• Former British Baker of the year Alex Gooch has announced plans to open two more cafe-bakeries. The first to open will be on Radyr's Park Road on the former site of The Orchard whilst the second will be at the Lakeside shops redevelopment.
• Alium, the new restaurant from the Humble Onion's Antonio Simone is set to open in Barry on the former site of Hang Fire Southern Kitchen on Friday, March 11th. The restaurant will focus on big-flavoured produce-driven cooking with dishes including ox cheek fritter with sriracha mayonnaise; crispy chicken thigh with peanut butter and chilli; and a selection of dry aged steaks cooked over charcoal.
• Bookings are now live for Newport Market for its relaunch date of Saturday, March 19th. Redeveloped by Loft Co, the same team behind Barry Goodsheds and the Tramshed, the Grade-II listed market's food court will host street food vendors like Bristol's Seven Lucky Gods and Flour & Ash; Meat and Greek; Dirty Gnocchi; and Tasty Peninsula. 

Pasta Ripiena, Bristol, Italian restaurant review

Going out for a bowl of pasta just isn't the kind of thing we tend to do very often.

When many of the tastiest pasta dishes require a handful of ingredients and a bag of dried pasta, and so many restaurants offer little more exciting than spaghetti bolognese or cream heavy carbonara, I don't really see the point.

However, I'll make an exception for the places which go to the trouble of lovingly making pasta from scratch as well as creating labour-intensive sauces which I can’t be faffed to cook at home.

The Heathcock, Trullo, Padella, Manteca, Marmo and Zucchini are all places which fall into this category.

Another place is Pasta Ripiena in Bristol, part of the Bianchis Group, a set of restaurants that have been on my to visit list for a very long time. They always seem to be fully booked on Saturday nights; fortunately a last minute cancellation meant we managed to snag a 5.30pm table.

Located in Bristol city centre, Pasta Ripiena’s cosy dining room has a lovely vibe. And their compact menu doesn’t have a dud sounding dish on it. The focus is a selection of handmade filled pastas in shapes that I've almost universally never heard of.

Whilst Mrs G glugged a glass of Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (£6.20), I enjoyed a can of light and funky Lost and Grounded Farmhouse Pale Ale (£5.95).

A pair of big flavoured starters were a statement of intent.

Dinky sweet Queen scallops (£10) baked in the shell were slathered in garlic butter and topped with toasted crumbs.

Thankfully, we'd ordered a portion of first class light crumbed, olive oil rich and rosemary fragranced focaccia (£3.50). It was an essential mop for every last drop of butter and breadcrumb.

A fresh salad (£6.50) of sharp tasting grumolo leaves were balanced by creamy goats curd, zippy segments of blood orange, the crunch of hazelnut and a vivid herb oil. 

Onto the main event and both pasta dishes lived up to expectations. Thin and beautifully al dente, each shape was creatively filled and elevated by its accompanying garnish.

Boat shaped casoncelli (£18.50) were filled with slow cooked dry aged beef shin and sailed on a sea of silky celeriac puree, earthy wild mushrooms and a rich meat jus. It was one of my favourite flavour combinations translated into a pasta dish.

Twizzled tortelli piacentini (£16.50) were filled with a soft and porky mix of potato and prosciutto. The dish's pigginess was dialled up even further by a deeply savoury and porky broth studded with tender pieces of slow cooked wild boar, soft onions and cavolo nero.

With all that leftover sauce, we were tempted to order another portion of focaccia but as if by magic two more pieces of bread arrived at the table unprompted. We were informed that this Italian tradition is called ‘scarpetta’, and it’s one I'm very much in favour of.

Desserts were both belting.

The lightest, creamiest and wibbly-wobbliest of panna cottas (£6) was topped with a vivid green pistachio crumb and a drizzle of olive oil. Whilst the olive oil potentially could have tipped an already rich dish over the edge, it actually had the opposite effect with its grassy bitterness providing a lovely counterpoint.

Finally, a pair of meringues (£6.50) with a crisp exterior and a light and delicately fluffy interior were filled with chantilly cream and slices of sweet and sharp rhubarb. A rhubarb coulis also provided balance.

We had a superb meal at Pasta Ripiena. This is the kind of pasta it’s worth going out for.

The details:

Address - Pasta Ripiena, 33 St Stephen's Street, Bristol BS1 1JX

Web - https://pastaripiena.co.uk/

Telephone - 0117 329 3131