food/drink
ST MARY’S HOTEL & GOLF CLUB ***
Pencoed, nr Bridgend.
Info: 01656 861100 / www.stmaryshotel.com/restaurant
Five minutes for the M4 and 15 minutes from Cowbridge, St Mary’s Golf Club is
known for its Vale Weddings and its golf course, but a recent overhaul of the
restaurant and a new menu and head chef has been introduced in the hopes
of attracting a new audience.
The setting is undeniably pretty and serene. A cobbled walkway leads from the car
park to the bar, restaurant and lounge. The restaurant overlooks a deck and part of
the course, and the front entrance has decking and a seating area. The restaurant
is a little bit too bright inside for my taste, but there are a couple of cosy corners.
The menu is straightforward, various specials of the day are on a board as you
walk in, and the wine list is extensive as the owners have their own vineyard in
Spain which they supply to the restaurant.
I chose from the specials board and had the smoked haddock fishcakes to start
and mushroom soup, and for mains I had monkfish tails served on a bed of black
pudding with samphire. My partner had loin of pork on a casserole base with an
apple and Stilton cassoulet with seasonal vegetables, we shared a bottle of the
house white from the owner’s vineyard and a lemon posset dessert, as mains were
surprisingly filling. For a reasonably priced evening out and in a setting that is
genuinely remote and pretty, you can do a lot worse. ANTONIA LEVAY
LAGUNA KITCHEN & BAR ****
pic: MISSION PHOTOGRAPHIC
Park Plaza Hotel, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff.
029 2011 1103 / www.lagunakitchenandbar.com
The back’n’forth about the financial morality of tasting menus in restaurants
normally goes: here is the menu, here is its price. Real people can’t afford to spend
that much on a meal! Plenty blow that on a plane ticket/night on the tiles/North
Face jacket without anyone declaring class war. But they get what they pay for, not
like these ponces with their tiny portions. Etc.
Laguna has just launched its Chef’s Table tasting menu: diners (between six and
12 of them per evening) sit at a big table next to the kitchen and natter with head
chef Justin Llewellyn about the six courses and four different wines. It costs £45
a head, which is by no means crazy as tasting menus go, but not exactly a bag of
chips for us austere Alistairs, y’know? Here’s the thing: pretty much everything is
from the top drawer, structured judiciously, served with unobtrusive flair – and if
you leave feeling underfed, I fear the problem is with you.
In order, then. A mise en bouche of poached pear, goat curd, remarkably sweet
smoked venison and beetroot, teamed with a sparkling Del Fin Del Mundo from
Patagonia. Technically and hilariously functioning as a starter, a massive sharing
platter of oligarch-rich lobster thermidor, oysters, cockles, potted salmon and
samphire; a 2011 Sancerre is the cheerful sidekick. A palate-cleansing gin and
tonic sorbet precedes individual beef wellingtons: robust fillet, a pastry circle,
wild mushrooms and port jus. The Malbec companion, again from Patagonia, is
probably my pick of the wines.
A crème brulee is ‘merely’ good – the announced passion fruit is superfluous
– and the Moscato Passitto dessert wine is definitely one for mead fans. Petit
fours and coffee round off a meal which is genuinely good value if you could even
countenance this kind of outlay. NOEL GARDNER
LA VITA ***
5 Wellfield Road, Cardiff. Info: 029 2037 3433
La Vita is the latest venture of restaurant owners Fran Power and Marco
Branciamore, the people behind The Sicilian Orange on Whitchurch Road. Having
seen reviews of their first restaurant I imagined that the food at La Vita would also
include good quality ingredients, look good and taste good. I wasn’t wrong.
The menu comprises of a somewhat strange selection, from small plates of
arancini (breaded balls of risotto, a Sicilian classic) to main courses costing
around £14. My sundried tomato, olive and goat’s cheese ciabatta came in at
£3.95; a reasonable price considering what a big chain might charge for the same
thing. The ciabatta was pleasantly chewy with a little crunch, the cheese warm
and melted and the tomatoes tangy. My companion’s king prawns, drizzled with a
chilli garlic sauce and served with more ciabatta, were juicy and succulent. Both
came with salad and just the right amount of balsamic glaze. The Illy coffee served
in La Vita is also better than your average cup.
However, while the food was faultless, the overall experience was mixed. As a
Sicilian cafe I also expected some warmth and atmosphere but sadly this is what
La Vita lacks. The music, urban artwork and general decor seemed at odds with
the more rustic food they serve.
Maybe I’m being too picky, but to me it seems as if La Vita is not quite there
yet – wherever ‘there’ is. Grab a bite to eat from here, certainly; it is reasonably
priced and pretty tasty. But if you’re looking for some sunny food on a dreary day,
perhaps get yours to-go. AMY MURNAN
BUZZ 36