food/drink
THE DISCOVERY ****
Celyn Avenue, Lakeside, Cardiff. 029 2077 5015
www.knifeandforkfood.co.uk/discovery
A brief post-meal word with one of the management reveals that The Discovery
steadfastly considers itself a pub, as opposed to a restaurant. This is hardly
surprising – taking the alehouse from the equation would probably remove the
(presumably) Lakeside locals, drinking in number in the bar. The dining room is
even busier, mind, especially for a Wednesday. The latest project of the Knife & Fork
company, The Discovery relaunched in March, and has evidently got off to a flyer.
Having squinted at the blackboard where the menu is written, my dining partner
and I start. His prawn and leek fritters with Marie Rose sauce work in a cocktail
party-meets-chippy way; my goats’ cheese bonbons are rolled in gingerbread
powder, successful lateral thinking as it goes.
While the appeal of arranging food on slices of tree continues to puzzle me – you
might even say that, when considering serving vessels, I’m incapable of ‘getting’
wood – my appetite for alliteration draws me to the main course, the plank of pig.
Fillet, belly, tenderloin, crackling, a pulled pork scotch egg (the clear highlight) and
black pudding with the consistency of breadcrumbs (pointless, didn’t work) are
served with decent veg and a baked apple. Across the table, chicken breast spars
with chorizo mash; my small sampling suggests the latter bullies the former into the
background, taste-wise, but I’m assured this isn’t the case over the whole meal.
A white chocolate bread and butter pudding with marmalade has a similar issue –
the preserve dominates to the point where we’re left merely assuming chocolate is
actually in there – but the Snickers tart, which comes with salt caramel icecream
and peanut brittle, is excellent, and deserves to pay off a few dentists’ mortgages.
Topped off with a decent bottle of Chardonnay, bringing the total to about £50, the
only reason I’ve ever had to go to Lakeside proves fruitful. NOEL GARDNER
GOT BEEF ****
Whitchurch Road, Heath, Cardiff. 029 2061 7534 / www.gotbeef.co.uk
The seasons are changing and, although the sun is making an appearance, you
never know with the Welsh weather – so best get someone else to grill you up a
good burger for you. The brand new Got Beef burger bar is a good place to start.
Technically, Got Beef isn’t new in Cardiff: having started life as a pop-up restaurant in
pubs and bars around town, it has now found a permanent home on Whitchurch Road.
Having heard good things, we excitedly looked over the menu. All the burgers are
made with Welsh Black beef (or a veggie patty for non-meat eaters) but of the six
choices, no two look the same.
I decided to go with the delicious Bombay (£7.95) which was topped with curried
bacon, giving the burger a subtle Indian edge, and delightfully crispy curried
haystack potatoes. My partner went for the fantastic looking Heisen Burger (£7.95),
with blue drunken onions (the onions had been drinking alcopops because they were
a bright and beautiful chemical blue), bacon and blue cheese which was delicately
placed atop the patty, rather than melted or put into a far-too-rich sauce.
As sides we went for the House Slaw (£2), which was sweet but not too creamy,
and Dirty Fries (£3.50) which are the same as normal fries covered in American
style sliced cheese, jalapeños, bacon and chipotle sauce. The fries were a bit too
spicy and sweet for my tastes but my partner loved it.
There is clearly passion at work at Got Beef, as their dishes are interesting but
also well thought out (it’s much more than novelty at work here), and everything is
well cooked. The only thing that would make this the perfect joint is the price; as
all sides are extras you have to fork out a little more if you don’t want to leave the
place hungry. If you head to Got Beef, expect a high quality meal that you’re willing
to pay for. HEATHER ARNOLD
ARBENNIG ***
pic: YOPPY
Romilly Crescent, Pontcanna, Cardiff. 029 2034 1264 / www.arbennig.co.uk
Given the translation of the Welsh word ‘arbennig’ is ‘special’, I was expecting
something very special indeed. The recently taken over Oscars has had a lick of
paint, new artwork and a bit of a general spruce-up. John and Ceri Cook are the new
owners; Ceri is front of house and John the head chef. John had previously been the
head chef at Oscars for 11 years, but now he is the proud owner of Arbennig.
Local produce, freshly caught seafood and a weekly changing menu are the key
pluses here and the night we popped in the menu had just changed.
I had bacon, roast pear and brie salad which was topped with toasted almonds
and caramelised balsamic. My partner had shredded fried beef, smoked whiskey
molasses with sesame, cucumber and coriander leaf. I followed with a