Eat The Bird, St Mary St, Cardiff
On September 23, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanMoving into the former Grazing Shed on St Mary St, Cardiff’s Eat The Bird is the first opening outside Devon for a small, award-winning group. Fresh from their two silver medals at WingFest, and against notable competition too, you’d hope they have come in earnest. Reading around online though, I was prepared to write what
Al-Madina Mandi, Grangetown, Cardiff: review
On September 18, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanOpen for just over a month as I write this, Clare Road’s Al-Madina is another unadorned, uncomplicated Grangetown find. It’s not just the plastic sheet-covered tables and it-would-be-an-upgrade-to-call-it-bare- bones decor: there’s no social media, no Google listing yet, no invitation evenings with prescribed hashtags and 13 identical captions. How utterly refreshing. The bilingual menu- Arabic
Haraf East African and Mediterranean, Grangetown: review
On September 5, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanThe cutlery at Harafs doesn’t have elegant lines and reassuring weight: it’s a jumble of odds and sods in a canteen style plastic tray. There’s no written menu either, and you’ll probably end up eating with your fingers- there’s a basin by the kitchen if that bothers you- and drinking your soup straight from the
Le Mandela West African restaurant, Grangetown: review
On August 29, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanYour starter for ten. No conferring, now. Do you know your ntaba from your nkwobi? Or your bobolo from your attiéké? If you do, you’re ahead of me. Not without a surreptitous under-table Google, anyway. And I’m still in two minds about the esi ewu. But in terms of an overdue education, a couple of
Lahore Kebabish, Grangetown: review
On August 25, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanI love watching a chef work the tandoor. It’s something about the calm, economical movements, I think: the minimal fuss. You appreciate their efficiency, especially knowing, from limited experience, how ferociously hot those ovens are; and how reaching in and slapping the dough-laden gaddi ‘pillow’ against the sides- and getting it to stick- is harder
SEN BBQ, Canton: review
On August 22, 2022 by The Plate Licked CleanWho doesn’t love a good Mediterranean grill house? There’s something refreshing about the lack of pretension and the unshowy consistency. The local default is City Road, where there’s a cluster of good ones, but this is another dispatch from the Canton food mile. If you’re planning on a takeaway, you wait at tables in the
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.