Eating Out - The Mint and Mustard, Cardiff

My good friend Nazir, told me about this place. Although he hadn't been yet he had read that the chef had won something at the Tilda Rice Awards. I decided to give it a try.

It's quite a small place (certainly no more covers than "Aunties") but they are opening an extension in October.

It's obvious from the start that they are not trying to emulate the other well known local Indian Restaurants. The sign outside says "Indian Fine Dinning" and they are definitely after something different.

I knew they were going to succeed when the popadoms arrived. They were about 2 inches in diameter, half plain and half spiced, with home made chutney's and not a tinned mango in sight!

I started with Lamb Pattice, which I guess was like a samosa, but in what I think was a semolina crust and not the usual crispy batter.

Mrs A, indecisive as ever, had a "Pearl" to start which was basically a taster portion of all the other starters on one plate.

Then I had a chicken Biriyani, which was served in a metal bowl with a pastry top and was really good. Mrs A had Prawn Moilee, after making sure they were big prawns and not those tiny frozen things
you often find in a bad curry.

She took a Steamed Basmati rice and we shared a Subz Kadai (Steamed Vegetables of the Day) on the side.

For dessert she chose had a Crème Brulee flavoured with Rose Petals and I had a Chocomosa, which was 3 chocolate samosa's and pistachio ice-cream and to die for!

All in all I was very impressed. They are certainly trying to aim for flavour as opposed to heat. Contrary to the norm in an Indian restaurant, where you can tell that they have 3 basic sauces that go on everything with a few minor additions; I felt that here each dish was individually designed and prepared. I'm sure the fact that the menu is a lot shorter than a standard Indian menu helps a lot.

The flavouring and seasoning was very good, bags of flavour where it needed to be and subtle hints to enhance it.

I would certainly go again and Mrs A declared it her new favourite Indian.

Oh the bill! Well with a large beer and 2 cokes the whole lot came to £52.50 which I thought was good value compared to what else is out there.

The Mint and Mustard, 134 Whitchurch Rd, Cardiff, CF14 3LZ.
Tel. +44(0)2920 620 333. http://www.mintandmustard.com

Eating Out - Gilby's Restaurant, Cardiff.

It's been about 5 years since I last ate at Gilby's near Culverhouse Cross. It always had a reputation of being a "cut above" and 5 years ago I must admit to having an excellent meal there, so it was with this memory that I booked a table for our 2nd Wedding Anniversary.

The premises is split into the restaurant itself and a reception area with bar. The reception was packed and after ordering a drink at the bar we were forced to stand for 10 minutes until someone was called to the restaurant and we could grab a seat. It took about 30 minutes for someone to come and take our order and a further 30 minutes and a complaint before we were told our table was ready. I was not impressed at having to wait a whole hour after our reservation time to get a table. Then to add insult to injury the Maitre de's excuse for the delay was that "everybody had ordered the complicated dishes tonight". The obvious reply was "well they shouldn't be on the menu if the kitchen can't cope with cooking them."

Last time I was here I ordered beef capaccio and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I was pleased it was still on the menu and ordered it again. Mrs A had the divers scallops. The capaccio was good, but not as good as I remembered, but the scallops were excellent quality.

For main course I took the veal and Mrs A the sole. Both dishes were of excellent quality meat and fish respectively, but did not excite the pallet. They were just high quality, plain cooked food.

We can't remember what we had for dessert. Which I think speaks for itself.

Gilby's is high quality ingredients, simply cooked. If you are looking for something exciting or just a little different you won't find it here. Is it as good as it was 5 years ago? No. Would I go again? Not in a hurry, maybe another 5 years.

Price? 3 courses for 2 people and coffee was £101. I've eaten much better for a whole lot less!

Gilbys Restaurant, Old Port Road, Culverhouse Cross, Cardiff. CF5 6DN
Tel: 029 2067 0800 http://www.gilbysrestaurant.co.uk/

I'm Back

Been away for quite some time. It's been nearly 3 months since I last posted here. My mother passed away on April 2nd, quite unexpectedly, and although this blog has been on my mind. It's taken me a while to get to sit down and find 5 minutes to update it.

I've been to eat in quite a few places in the last 3 months so I'll spend the next few posts catching up on my reviews to get back in the posting habit.

Murder of Reverend Paul Bennett

I knew Paul Bennett, but not very well. I knew him through my mother, a regular church goer at St Fagan's. I knew him through is visits to my late father following his stroke. I was impressed by his handling of my father's funeral service and by his care and compassion.

"Father Paul Bennett, 59, was killed in the grounds of St Fagan's Church in Trecynon, near Aberdare, on Wednesday. He had been stabbed several times."

That was what the BBC news web site had to say (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6452429.stm).

What they nor, as far as I am aware, any other news station had to say was that St Fagan's Church is directly behind Trecynon Police Station, in fact the churchyard is almost the back garden of the station.

Am I just cynical in thinking it's the police keeping that quiet, so that their claims of an "increased police presence" to reassure the locals don't look quite so foolish?

Eating Out - Bwyty Dylan, Merthyr Tydfil

This is the first in what I hope will become a series of restaurant reviews as the wife and I travel around the eateries of South Wales.

We went here on Friday the 2nd March as Mrs A, declared the domestic kitchen closed! :-)

I've heard about this place from a few people and to be honest the reviews have been mixed. I'd heard that it started life called something else, then became Dylan's, then closed down, but has now opened up again above the Lord Raglan pub in Cefn High Street.

I called around lunchtime and was told that a table for 2 at 7.30pm "shouldn't be a problem", which left me wondering if we would be dining alone. I was also informed that as yet they hadn't got the facility to take plastic sorted so I should bring cash or a cheque. I opted for the former.

One of the things that annoys me about restaurant reviews is that there seems to be a number of critics who review every restaurant with the same criteria they would use to review a Michelin 3 star establishment. So as I add my experiences of eating out, I'm going to try very hard to remember the type and price point of the place as I feel this needs to be taken into account.

Any way lets move on ........

Friday was a miserable night, it was wet and cold when we pulled up outside the Lord Raglan. We parked the car as close as we could and ran into the pub. The first thing that struck me was how friendly the place was. Not just that the staff were friendly, but the customers were too. I'm not a regular pub goer and usually find that when I enter somewhere I haven't been before the "locals" normally ignore you. The Lord Raglan was different, there were a few people at the bar that immediately struck up conversations about the horrendous weather outside.


We stated that we had booked a table and after collecting a drink at the bar, were shown to the upstairs restaurant. This was a fairly large open room, freshly decorated in nice pastels, with about a dozen tables, one of which was already occupied.

The menu was scanned and choices made. Mrs A opted for the garlic mushroom tartlet as her starter and I plumped for the deep fried brie. There was a "special" tonight which was some kind of lamb dish, we thought a rack and I went for this while Mrs A chose the crispy duck.

The starters duly arrived and initially I was a little disappointed to see that the deep fried brie was "bought in" and the mushrooms, in the garlic mushroom tartlet, appeared to be out of a tin. Having said that the presentation was excellent and there was nothing wrong with either dish.

By the time we had finished our starters there were a few more customers and the place was beginning to get busy. There was a little confusion when the main course arrived (ours not theirs) as my lamb did not fit the description of "rack", looking more like a shank and I wondered if they had brought me the lamb dish on the menu and not the special of the day, especially as our waitress hadn't appeared too confident about the menu when we ordered (it turned out to be her first night), but I was assured that I had been brought the correct dish and just accepted that I probably misheard it's description in the first place.

The main courses were all served with a choice of potatoes, being chips, garlic roasted, new and maybe on other I can't remember. There was also a salad garnish. Vegetables, normal or "special" were an additional £1.75 and we opted to take one serving between us of the "special". They weren't.

My lamb however was a revelation, there was plenty of meat and it just fell off the bone, being so tender. It was in a different league to the starter. Mrs A said that her duck was excellent too and the piece that I tried led me to believe that she wasn't lying. We both took the garlic roast potatoes and these came in a separate bowl and were plentiful.

By this time the restaurant had filled up and there was only 1 empty table. I was very pleased to see that the place was already being supported by the locals.

After a few minutes rest we moved on to dessert. I plumped for the chocolate cake and fresh cream while Mrs A took the mousse.

Again I don't think these were home made but they did the job none the less and the chocolate cake was nice and moist and gooey.

I think the kitchen at Dylan's has made a sensible decision. They know that home made starters and desserts would be too much of a stretch for them, so they have decided to use good quality, ready prepared items and concentrate on providing excellent main courses. I think this is the right choice for their market place.

Three courses for the two of us, including drinks, was a shade over £36 and represents excellent value for money in my book. The starters and dessert "did what it says on the tin", but the main courses really stand out, especially the lamb.

The staff are friendly, the service is good, the place is comfortable. They tell me they have only been going a month and are open Tuesdays to Sundays in the evening and for Sunday lunch. Weekday lunches soon.

Would we go back? - definitely!
Recommended? - certainly!

Summary - A cut above your average pub restaurant, offering excellent value for money and good traditional food. Look out for the lamb! 8/10

Total Lunar Eclipse

Last night was a total lunar eclipse I took this photo with my Kodak Z612 mounted on a tripod from my friend Ruth's back garden in Mountain Ash, South Wales.

Considering it's not much more than a "point and shoot" I'm very impressed with the outcome.