Chai Green, Roath, Cardiff: review
On January 21, 2023 by The Plate Licked CleanSome subjects are guaranteed to provoke a thunderous eye roll in any food discussion right now. Instagrammers touting themselves for ‘collabs’ before they’ve proved they have an opinion worth a damn?Always a front runner. The perceived dubious use of crowdfunding? Certainly. Claims of ‘authenticity’? That’s a slippery beast at the best of times, a loaded
Bab Al-Yemen, Grangetown, Cardiff: review
On December 14, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanIf you like lamb, have number 16, he says, grinning. That’s what everyone likes first time they come here. Haneed lamb it is, then. Unsurprisingly for a local Yemeni menu, meat dominates and lamb in particular. Some names are faniliar, others less so: so you can have it minced with tomatoes and onions, as soughar
Nook, Canton, Cardiff: revisit review 2022
On December 10, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanI’ve come at the wrong time, haven’t I? It’s a bright, cold day, the light filling the room those huge windows. Lovely if you’re the kind of inveterate arsehole who insists on photographing their dinner, mind. And yet…in my head, the default Nook look is seeing the place lit like a picture on an autumn
Little Vietnam, Albany Road, Cardiff: review
On December 1, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanIt starts well enough. I’m anyone’s for a good prawn cracker and I’m brought a complimentary bowl of prawn crackers, a nice touch. They don’t last long. More arrive: I do love it when someone tops up my crackers. Matron. King prawn with lemongrass are not ready yet this lunchtime, so I order strategically: I
The Grange Pub, Grangetown: 2022 revisit review
On November 19, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanIf Dante Alighieri imagined Hell’s gates with the inscription ‘Abandon all hope, ye who enter here‘ – and as a mission statement that takes some beating- then what happier slogan should you find at The Grange? After a series of heartily satisfying meals here on Grangetown, it’s tempting to imagine something which leaves you in
Koi (No Yokan), Windsor Place, Cardiff: review
On November 12, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanLet me tell you a tale of fried chicken. I was in a good mood, the sort when someone stops you in Queen Street to tell you your hair looks good. And if it soon becomes obvious they’re trying to get me to sign up to something, you still have to take the wins where
This blog is a very simple thing.
I won’t try to sell you any hand lotion, exercise programmes, coffee syrups or Patagonian nose flutes. You won’t find tips on dating, ‘wellness’ or yoga mats.
I write because I love it (and food, as indicated by my increasing girth). Greed happens to be my Deadly Sin of choice, but at least it is never shy of providing me with subject matter.
A simple thing, then: all you get is me wittering on semi-coherently about places I’ve eaten at; hence a ‘restaurant blog’ rather than a ‘food blog’, although there are a few recipes scattered throughout.
From mezze to Michelin ‘fine dining’ and all points in between.