food/drink
SVAGO ITALIAN KITCHEN AND BAR ***
153-155 Crwys Road, Cardiff. 029 2023 2261 / www.svago.co.uk
There is no doubt that Svago is a great looking place. It’s beautifully decorated
and all the details of the restaurant’s appearance have been well thought through,
with delicate cutlery adorning the tables.
Starters were extremely generous in size. My partner ordered the Svago signature
dish, polpi in umido (octopus stewed in a tomato sauce), and it could easily have
made a light lunch.
For mains I went for one of the exciting sounding specials: salmon with a sambuca
and breadcrumb crust. I liked nearly everything about the dish that came to me,
with perfectly crunchy potato wedges, a selection of vegetables with a bit of bite,
well cooked salmon and a soft bed of spinach. The only problem I had with the
dish was the very thing that made me choose it: the sambuca topping. Though
inventive it didn’t really add anything apart from an edge of sweetness that felt out
of place. I couldn’t help thinking that a simpler topping would have fared much
better, and that taste had been sacrificed for novelty.
My partner chose the pork valdostana (loin of pork wrapped in parma ham and
mozzarella in a marsala sauce). Though it was a good cut of meat, cooked well, the
cheese and sauce made the dish altogether too heavy.
Svagos shows a lot of potential: it has created a great dining atmosphere and is
genuinely a fun place to sit and have a drink and a meal. If they can take this
attention to detail and apply it in the kitchen it could become a real Cardiff gem,
but it isn’t there yet. HEATHER ARNOLD
pic: LARRY HOFFMAN
pic: ALEXIS LAMSTER
REAL FRANK FOOD ****
Adamsdown, Cardiff. Info: www.realfrankfood.com
As I was sitting on a small table, surrounded by meat-lovers, we went around the
room introducing ourselves like addicts at a support group: “My name is... and I’m
a foodaholic”. This wasn’t the crowd I was expecting when I was told I would be
going to a pop-up restaurant, especially given the vegan-only menu.
In the end it was like any other dinner party, with good food and company, the only
exception being that it was with strangers. “You get all sorts of people coming,”
explains chef and creator Romy, “last time it was all men!”
Romy has been hosting these ‘wholefood havens’ on-and-off for a number of years
now, but has recently committed to putting on these monthly dinner parties.
The menu is always vegan, but she is certainly a woman who knows how to keep
vegetables and grains interesting. We started off with a creamy butternut squash
soup, the creaminess provided by coconut milk which added a sneakily sweet edge.
Hidden within the orange broth were colourful vegetable crisps; it looked like the dish
had been garnished with potpourri.
The next course provided us with simple but scrumptious soy sauce-soaked
tofu ‘pouches’ stuffed with seaweed and red onions. This was then followed by a
colourful ‘superslaw salad’ which included apple and a mayonnaise made out of
tahini, instead of eggs.
This all lead up to a beautiful main of moist seasonal greens, sweet potato falafel,
steamed carrots and quinoa burgers. I struggled to properly pronounce ‘quinoa’,
but I was too busy shoving them into my mouth to really try that hard.
The evening was rounded off with poached pear in a chocolate glaze. I’m not
usually a fan of the darker shades of chocolate but this stuff was far from bitter,
and was matched perfectly with the sweet pear. If you fancy a dinner out with a bit
of a difference then Romy’s next wholefood haven is on Tue 15 Apr.
HEATHER ARNOLD
PARKWAY HOTEL & SPA ***
pic: RALPH DAILY
Cwmbran Drive, Cwmbran. 08443 876006 / www.bw-parkwayhotel.co.uk
For years, the Parkway has always appeared a bit austere and corporate. Given
its location on the outskirts of Cwmbran, it makes sense if on business to stay
somewhere five minutes away from the motorway. Having not visited for many years,
I was pleasantly surprised on a recent visit to experience the new warm and cuddly
Parkway.
There has clearly been an overhaul. An open fireplace in reception that leads to the
bar is a welcoming sight, as i ́ѡ