Cooking at home with Mercado 44
On July 7, 2020 by The Plate Licked CleanSaturday mornings have taken on a comforting form over the last month or two, centring around collecting my orders from the Bar 44 group’s new online Mercado collection service. Choose your treats, choose between Asador in Cardiff or the branches in Cowbridge and Penarth as a pick-up point. The shop is a deft selection of
How to make the perfect roast potato
On June 7, 2020 by The Plate Licked CleanI know I should have been doing something noble over the last few months. I haven’t learned a new language and I don’t have a sourdough starter to cosset, so I’ve had to make do with mucking about in the kitchen in the times I should have been working. There are plenty of others who
‘Cardiff Bites’: my lockdown list
On May 22, 2020 by The Plate Licked CleanIt’s a familiar title, filched from the pioneering grande dame of Cardiff restaurant blogging and current Instagram curly hair advice/cat appreciation maven): this is a bunch of essentially Cardiffian dishes and experiences which, unlike myself, were born and refined here. Dishes which have kept popping into my mind, taunting me with their charms, while we
The Scallop Shell, Bath
On March 7, 2020 by The Plate Licked CleanIn the scant few days before we are finally wiped out by some rapidly mutating pathogen, let’s celebrate one of life’s little pleasures. We’ve all daydreamed our way through interminable ‘meetings’, I’m sure, when even a full house of Management Bullshit Bingo can’t stave off tedium. One of my favourite reveries is the idea of
Sticky Fingers Street Food, Richmond Rd, Cardiff
On March 1, 2020 by The Plate Licked CleanIt’s a great name, no? Instantly evocative of the Stones’ infamous 1971 classic- founding member Bill Wyman has a tourist trap burgers’n’ wings joint with the same name in Kensington- it’s certainly digits to the fore: there’s hardly a dish here you won’t end up messy with. Anything which works on both levels and has
Moo Moo Thai Tapas, City Road, Cardiff
On February 21, 2020 by The Plate Licked CleanLet’s get the predictable gripe out of the way first: these aren’t tapas. Call me pedantic, call me awkward. My defence is Castilian blood. This isn’t ‘liking Spanish stuff’ as a lifestyle choice, this stuff is genetic. And if you still don’t get it, tickets for my one man show CAWL AND IRISH STEW ARE
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.