Casanova, Cardiff Italian restaurant review - Assaggi menu

The recent launch of Casanova’s small plate (assaggi) menu offered the perfect excuse for a revisit to this Cardiff based Italian restaurant that's a fixture in both the Michelin and Good Food Guides.

Available Monday - Thursday from 5 to 7pm, it offers a more accessible price point than the evening set menu with each assaggio weighing in around the £4-5 mark.

As we browsed the menu we were given complimentary dinky glasses of Lettera penisola sorrentina, a beautifully fruity yet dry sparkling Campanian red wine. We ordered a couple more larger glasses for a bargainous offer price of £3.50 each.

Ragu’di manzo (£5) was a deep flavoured stew of red wine and tomato studded with yielding pieces of slow cooked beef and topped with a golden sheet of fried polenta. 

Ceci (£3.50) was Mrs G’s dish of the night. Tender chickpeas and soft butternut squash compote were cleverly fragranced with roast lemon puree.

A first rate piece of earthy, chilli-spiked black pudding (£3.50) was joined by sweet and tangy red onion chutney, fiery chilli sauce and pieces of roast apple that could have been a touch softer. 

A pretty head of golden roast cauliflower (£4) was seasoned with salty capers and lemon fragranced brown butter. It was lovely combined with the black pudding and the beef stew. 

Meaty, dill-fragranced house cured salmon (£5) came with a couple of blobs of creamy avocado puree and refreshing pickled cucumber. It would have been even better if the advertised horseradish in the puree was detectable. 

A goats cheese and beetroot salad (£6) was a great example of this classic combination - the tender cubes of beet were coated in a warming horseradish dressing whilst the tangy goats cheese was drizzled with fragrant truffle honey. 

Seriously savoury pieces of 36 month aged parmesan (£5) were balanced by spreadably sweet quince jelly.

A freebie salad combined well-dressed shavings of fennel with refreshing orange segments and crisp pecans. 

Finally, top drawer Tuscan salami (£4) was heady with the aroma of fennel. 

Soft and crusty white bread was a lovely mop for all the delicious sauces and dressings. 

Desserts were both epic.

A gorgeously wobbly coconut pannacotta (£6) was served with blowtorched pineapple, oat crumble and sweet lime curd.

A super rich and smooth chocolate torte (£6) was joined by salty caramel sauce and balancing creme fraiche.

Casanova is one of Cardiff City Centre’s few excellent independent restaurants. If you’re looking for an excuse for a first visit or a revisit, their new Assaggi menu is it.

The Details:

Address - Casanova, 13 Quay Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EA

Telephone - 02920344044

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

Lyalena, City Road, Cardiff Lebanese restaurant review

This blog is long overdue a review of one of City Road’s many Middle Eastern restaurants. 

In fact, a handful of new places have opened since my last write-up.

Lyalena is the latest arrival. A Lebanese restaurant, it occupies the the former site of Mezza House. 

The restaurant has been nicely refurbished with a bright and modern feel whilst the menu is as you’d expect - a wide selection of mezze lead onto grilled meats and interesting specials like mansaf (fermented dried yoghurt with rice and meat) and kabseh (spiced rice with meat and a cucumber salad). There’s also a good range of freshly squeezed juices in lieu of booze. 

Orange juice (£2.50) was exemplary. I saw a big handful of fruit taken from the fridge for its preparation. The Power (£3.50) was a smooth and creamy ginger-twanged shake made from banana, milk, honey and nuts. 

Sujuk hallumi (£4.25) combined crisp and spicy pieces of Turkish sausage with well-crisped but slightly rubbery cheese. Accompanying side salad was a bit tired looking.

A pretty looking small mixed mezza (£7.25) was mostly very good. 

Hummus was hyper-smooth; a pair of aubergine dips (creamy mutabal and mixed pepper studded baba ghanouj) were lovely but could have taken a bigger lick of smoke; and falafel were crisp with a soft interior. The only disappointment were the yalanjey (rice stuffed vine leaves) as the filling had compacted into a stodge. 

Fresh bread was made in house. It was deliciously light with a slight chew. 

A lyalena mixed grill (£9.95) was right on the money. The trio of kebabs had a good smoky note - super-tender spicy chicken shish, well-herbed lamb kafta (mint and parsley I think) and juicy lamb shish.

Chilli sauce had a lovely fiery sweetness and a mound of fluffy rice was beautifully buttery. But, some sad looking salad let the team down.

Nicely stuffed, four pieces of homemade semolina cake accompanied the bill. Crisp, slightly chewy and moist from a good soaking in sugar syrup, it was lovely stuff.

We had a very tasty meal at Lyalena. It's another solid addition to City Road's cornucopia of kebab restaurants. 

The Details:

Address - Lyalena, 175 City Road, Cardiff CF24 3JB

Telephone - 02920 491 215