Kemis – craft in the Bay

Kemis – craft in the Bay, Cardiff Bay, 029 2045 3335, www.kemis.co.uk

Today was a wonderfully sunny day and going for a wander around the Secure exhibition at the Millennium centre was a real tonic. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and I just knew that spring was finally here. As I started to wind my way home Kemis – craft in the bay caught my attention. A spot of shopping then lunch was just the ticket to stave off the back to work blues.

Kemis is attached to Craft in the Bay a shop selling contemporary Welsh craft.  So two necklaces, a silver bracelet and a bowl later I was ready to tuck into my Salad Feast. This was exactly what it said on the tin, it was a feast, the variety of veg and lovely dressings in this mixed salad was tasty filling and healthy, not a limp lettuce or a gloopy mayonnaise potato to be seen. It was like no other salad I have eaten. Sitting on the tables on the top floor with the sun streaming in through the windows gave a great setting whether you are meeting friends or having a business lunch. Looking at the other choices healthy and homemade appears to be Kemis byword.

This is a bustling vibrant addition to the standard beige chain eateries that choke up Cardiff Bay.

Lottie x

Happy Gathering, Canton

Happy Gathering, Canton, 029 2039 7531, www.happygatheringcardiff.co.uk

Usually I can take or leave Chinese food. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it doesn’t make for those OMGI’mInHeaven moments. The Happy Gathering in Canton isn’t any different, but if you’re looking for a change from the limp sandwich and Snickers in your lunch box one day you could do much worse.

Upstairs it’s pretty massive, which always makes it feel empty, but look around and you’ll see plenty of Chinese folks dining here dotted around. The lunch time special lets you pick from a selection of starters and mains with plain or egg fried rice for less than £7. I had the prawn toast and shredded chilli beef.

The toast was great and the beef was quite spicy and wasn’t too sweet and cloying either. Everyone in our group throuroughly enjoyed their food.

Washed down with a couple of Tsing Tao I eased myself back downstairs and onto the street glad I didn’t have any meetings booked in that afternoon. The Happy Gathering never used to be the first place I thought of as a lunch time treat but I’ve made a mental note to try and come back here more often.

Barnabus

Rocky’s at The Butchers Arms

The Butchers Arms, Rhiwbina, 029 2069 3526, www.butchersarmsrhiwbina.com

To call this place a gastro pub would be to do it a disservice as this is a proper local’s pub complete with pub quizzes and a Tom Jones lookalikey, only much shorter, on a Friday night. The strangely named Rocky’s restaurant is at the back of the pub with not a wine glass or white tablecloth to be seen. (I must say I had my doubts and was expecting a repeat of the Black Cock). 

But this is where its similarity with the traditional pub ends. Its large specials board offering a wide range of differing foods sets it well apart from its pub grub neighbours. I had tempura prawns to start with a homemade sweet chilli sauce followed by poached haddock on a bed of creamy mash with a softly poached egg perched on top as its crowning glory. If I had had the space I could have easily eaten it all again. All the food had a real cooked to order from my favourite recipe feel about it. After you have finished eating you can join the friendly bunch in the bar to finish off your bottle of wine before gently swaying your way home. This is my local pub so I will certainly be back.

It also worth noting that a Farmers Market is held here every Friday where you can buy Chelsea Buns to die for and fresh Duck eggs for your breakfast. Good Quality local food is clearly important to the Butchers which I think is the secret to Rocky’s success.

Lottie x

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To be honest we headed out heading for the Ty Mawr but a combination of my poor map reading and a wet and windy night meant we failed to find it, so by way of compensation we thought we’d head to the Butchers as we’d heard good things about the restaurant here.

What we found was a rather empty restaurant at the back of the pub with a great choice of food and a very enticing specials board. Don’t be put off by the out of date menu on the website underselling itself with offers of 2 meals for a tenner and the ‘Christmas Fare’ deal (in March). What you find inside far exceeds this. I started with some juicy whitebait which came with a great homemade tasting tartar sauce. For the main I found it hard to choose between the Thai style mussels and the goose. In the end I plumped for the mussels as I really fancied chips and didn’t feel that goose and chips were de rigueur. The chips were hand cut and perfectly cooked and the mussels were cooked and flavoured with Thai spices just the way I like them.

Washing it all down with a couple of pints of Doom Bar I left making a note to return. This place deserves to be full on a regular basis, book your table now while you can still get in.

Barnabus

Snails – worth leaving your shell for

Snails, Rhiwbina, 029 2062 0415, www.snailsdeli.com

Local independent artisan and some of the best pumpkin soup on this planet. I use this adorable Rhiwbina coffee shop for business meetings, quiet afternoons with Barnabus reading the papers, and lunching with the ladies and little Lottie. 

This eatery is hallmarked by mismatched chairs and tables, a wealth of deli food on display and artisan breads to purchase. The food here is wholesome, tasty and homemade. Friendly service makes this coffee shop one of my favourite places to have a light lunch or whiling my time away over a nice coffee and a good book.

Lottie x

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Mmm... Snails, makes my mouth water every time I shuffle past it as I head down Beulah Road. It always looks full and crowded from the outside (because it usually is) as they’ve really shoe-horned the tables in, but if you head on in you’ll usually find a seat. When you do you’re treated to a good selection of well prepared deli-quality food. I settled on something simple this time – poached eggs on toast – and they were possibly the nicest poached eggs on toast I’ve ever had. 

Washed down with a pot of earl grey, I had to hurry out before spending all my meagre savings on the waistline expanding cakes and takeaway goodies.

Barnabus

Noodles4you

Noodles4you, Cardiff Bay, 029 2047 0244, www.noodles4you.co.uk

I wouldn’t normally be found wandering around West Bute Street, frequenting a noodle bar and buying food for around the £5.00 mark. However life sometimes takes a strange turn and a girl has to eat doesn’t she? Driven by hunger and with some in trepidation I entered the Noodle bar. Standing in the queue (I know actually standing in  a queue) I had the chance to work out the menu – pick your noodle or rice type to go with a vegetable selection, choose your accompaniment and add a sauce – simple enough. I chose egg noodles chicken and black bean sauce. The ingredients are gathered up and cooked freshly for you. The finished dish is served in a cute American style white cardboard takeaway box. I picked up some chopsticks and settled down outside to have a taste.

To my utter surprise these noodles were amazing. Fresh, tasty and nice and filling. It’s such a shame there is nowhere to eat inside but if you live in the bay area they will deliver to your home. This place is a lesson in ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. Give it a try you’ll not be sorry. 

Lottie x

Fino Lounge – Great pub atmosphere with good food

The Fino Lounge, Whitchurch, 029 2069 2616, thelounges.co.uk/fino-lounge/

When you want a night out with the besties with a couple drinks and some great noms it can feel like all your local pubs have turned into restaurants with white table clothes and square plates. Not so with the Fino Lounge. Part of a chain of pubs the Lounge has fashionable bar staff and a great atmosphere whether you are sharing a bottle pinot noir or a stack of pancakes with bacon on the morning after.

The evening menu consists of great burgers, fish finger sandwiches, sausage and mash and fish and chips. There is also a great range of specials that have a more of a home cooked feel than the standard menu. I chose the salmon and crayfish burger which went well with a couple of bottles of larger. I had a great evening and felt like I could linger until closing time drinking a laughing long after our food had been cleared away.

The Fino Lounge feels like the beating heart of Whitchurch with its clientele (the loungers) of yummy mummies, the up and coming, and young hipsters. Oh yes and the quadrophenia crowd on a Thursday.

Lottie x

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The Fino Lounge isn’t a place where I can easily wear sunglasses as the moody dark wood interior and low lighting contribute to me developing a bit of squint when I first walk in. However, once the old eyes have adjusted to the dimness, Lottie and I usually find a quiet corner (there’s tons of space in here) and try to stop ourselves from having a stack of eggy bread and bacon with maple syrup again.

The food and coffee is generally of a good standard and is helped along by the lively atmosphere inside. I try and have sausage and mash at in any venue I know I’ll be visiting more than once, it’s my yardstick by which I measure my eateries. This time it was Fino’s turn and they did a pretty good job, although weren’t the best I’ve ever tasted.

Washed down with a couple of glasses of mulled cider (OK, this was a few months ago) I swayed slowly out wondering if I should have had the eggy bacon stack.

Barnabus