Be Excellent To Each Other

It's my parents wedding anniversary soon and they want to go out for a really nice meal, so could anyone here recommend a nice Cardiff area restaurant that I could pass on to them? I remember being suitably impressed by the sound of the place the Gaywoods went to on their wedding day but I can't remember the name? I think they are looking for something British, and they originally looked for Michelin starred (they've never been to one before) but couldn't find any.

I will ask Mrs Kov, as we found a lovely Italian there.

Scrap my post then

It was The Hardwick. It was superb, but it's a way out of Cardiff

http://www.thehardwick.co.uk/

Book a meal at the Gaywoods. Food, company, volume... What more could you ask for...

Jamies is ace. Italian tho, kind of. As in they do pasta & risotto, but I had a meat & 2 veg dish anyway & it was lush

I like the idea of Jamie's Italian, I like the menu, but I've never actually had a good meal there. It has all been cooked well enough, but I find a lot of it just doesn't work that well as actual food.

Jamies (guildford) seemed like spending lots of money for the privilege of eating at a restaurant owned by a Cockney arse. Wasn't overly impressed.

The trainees haven't been trained in slathering in all the food like Jamie.

Same in Portsmouth, really wasn't impressed

Really liked the one in oxford.

Excellent, thanks! Can you remember how far outside Cardiff it is?
Mr Dave I'm not sending them to the Gaywoods, but only because I'm sending myself there when I next get a chance!

Its around a 45 min drive from the centre of Cardiff, 30 miles.

The Jamie's in Cardiff is alright, the one in Glasgow is pish. Hope that helps!

The Hardwick is perhaps too far (it's near Abergavenny) (but see my next post). If it isn't, it's my recommendation. The Foxhunter, which is not far from it, is also great. Both are run by celebrity chefs (Stephen Terry and Matt Tebbutt, respectively. You might recognise them from Great British Menu, Saturday Morning Kitchen, etc.)

A few names for their short list: The Potted Pig (town centre); Wood's Brasserie (in the Bay, rather than town); a few in Canton: Oscars (that's pretty good, with a nice ambience), Bully's (heard it's good, not tried it yet). At a push, the Fig Tree in Penarth, maybe. I think Oscar's would be my choice out of these, followed by the Potted Pig, followed by Wood's. And there's a couple of reasonably decent Japanese and Thai restaurants in Pontcanna I can't recall the name of off-hand, if that takes their fancy.

High end Cardiff eating is a bit of a vacuum though, I'm afraid.

Nearest Michelin stars are The Walnut Tree (Abergavenny) and Casamia (Bristol). I don't think the Walnut Tree is as good as the Hardwick or the Foxhunter. Casamia is superb, but it's even further away.

And fuck Jamie Oliver. There's a good family-run Italian literally over the road I'd much rather give my money too.

BTW If you ever want to meet up for a pint when you're down this way, Gill, then just say.

This might help: the Hardwick has some reasonably priced and eminently pleasant B&B rooms. So they could make a night of it.

How about ones in North Wales?

I have already pencilled in the one near Snowdon with a Michelin star and a very Welsh name.

Brilliant thanks! I've sent that onto my mum to see what she says hopefully ill be down in Cardiff in the summer. I'll let you know!

Oh! I can help!

Within Cardiff centre there's a few nice options. If they're up for curry I can strongly recommend Vegetarian Food Studio in Grangetown, just over the bridge and about ten minutes walk from the centre. They're pretty cheap and the food is amazing, plus a very friendly ambience. If you're after curry with meat then Eurasian is pretty good on Cowbridge Road East, but not as good as VFS.

I also recommend Casanova, practically next to the City Arms which is good for a pre-meal beer. http://www.casanovacardiff.co.uk/

They do Italian food but it's more of the provincial peasant type, less of the pasta and more of the rich meat dishes. Great place and once when our food was a little slow in coming (about twenty minutes or so late) they gave us a free nice bottle of wine and threw in some starters.

For sushi try Tenkaichi on City Road - http://www.tenkaichi.co.uk/ Pretty good stuff and a league ahead of the other sushi joints in town.

The Meating Place on St. Mary's St. has been getting good reviews from friends and others. I've not tried them yet but it's a good bet if they're after steak and pie type goodness. http://themeatingplace.co.uk/location

If they're there in the daytime Cafe Minuet in Royal Arcade is great. It's not at all a romantic setting and can be crowded in its tight confines, and it closes at 4:30, but the food is excellent. Especially the soft cheese and mushroom / spinach pancakes in delicious sauce.

Hope that helps!

Soft cheese and mushroom and spinach pancakes sounds great, tempted to have a go at making that, is it blue cheese or a Brie or something?
There's an Indian that's become a favourite of my parents, I think they go there with my dads workmates. Not sure what its called, I think it's fairly close to them and they live in Whitchurch but Cardiff is so small everything is close to everything else! I'll need to find out which one it is and see if you know it.

I'm not sure what cheese they use, but it's light and creamy and not too heavy on the flavour. I don't think it's brie. I'll ask next time I have one.