Top 10 of 2023
This blog has now been running for a whole year! One of my first ever pieces was my top 10 dining experiences of 2022, therefore I have decided to continue the tradition as we head into 2024.
The list is not intended to rank restaurants against each other - it’s purely based on the overall experience I had at the time. It’s all subjective!
10. Summer Palace
Fine, this list will actually include 11 restaurants. Kicking things off in joint 10th place is Summer Palace in Llandaff. The venue is on Llandaff High Street, in the shadow of the beautiful Llandaff Cathedral.
Highlights included crispy and succulent roasted duck dishes, generously packed vegetable spring rolls, and juicy king prawns tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce with an array of vegetables. They are my go to Chinese in Cardiff!
10. Kindle
Yes, I know. Number 10 again. I promise it’s the last time there is a 'joint’ feature in this list - but there will also be some honourable mentions at the end. The vision/small plates at Kindle are unique, and I was surprised by the quality of their fried chicken. You can see my full review here.
9. Fowl and Fury
More fried chicken? Why not. I made several trips here during 2023, the first back in April. It became a bit of a ritual on a Friday night after getting my hair cut in Cathays. Husband and Wife owners Jamie and Natalie Rees opened their flagship store back in July of 2022, after a hugely successful residency at Sticky Fingers. They seriously know their chicken! Travelling to Texas, Louisiana, and Nashville to perform market research prior to opening.
Highlights:
- Their signature Sando.
- Chicken tenders on garlic toast with pickles and a choice of sauce (hot honey).
- Fury fries with cheese, slaw, chicken tenders, comeback sauce and pickles.
Fried chicken lovers: this is the place to go. Not the corporate chains in the mould of Popeyes.
8. Parallel
Recency bias is always a risk when creating these lists. But Parallel has firmly cemented itself as one of my favourite spots in Cardiff.
The chefs table is a great experience for their energetic fine dining. Read my piece here.
7. The Brass Beetle
Recency bias I hear you cry? Potentially. But the food here is pretty damn good. I had always heard great things about The Brass Beetle, and they certainly did not disappoint. They are serving up some of the most wonderful pizza in all of the city. Read more here.
6. Gorse
Gorse is currently a pop up restaurant run by chef Tom Waters who moved back to his native Wales in 2021 after working at several high profile restaurants including three Michelin star The Fat Duck. I was fortunate enough to visit during his residency at Ground Bakery.
Tom prepares a several course tasting menu to 18 (at Ground) customers single handedly on a Friday and Saturday evening, with help from his superb Front of House staff.
A stint at Insole Court followed at the tail end of the summer, before Tom closed the year back at Ground.
Plans for a permanent residency are in the works. I’ll be keeping a close eye on proceedings!
5. Thomas by Tom Simmons
Wouldn’t be a top 10 list without Thomas making an appearance, would it? I always have a remarkable visit when I’m there, the sign of a top tier restaurant. I was lucky enough to have made the trip here several times this year. One particular stand out was their Welly Wednesday.
- Tea brined fried chicken with lime mayo, sesame and coriander.
- Mushroom croquettes topped with truffle and parmesan.
- Grilled oyster in a smoked butter sauce and caviar.
- Beef Wellington served with creamed spinach and mashed potatoes.
The beef is smothered in mustard, wrapped in a chicken and ham mousse, rolled in Parma ham and pancake, then baked in puff pastry. We’re lucky to have them in Cardiff.
4. Cor
Cor is a beautiful and quaint venue with an ever increasing reputation, located in bustling Bedminster.
Pictured below are two outstanding dishes we sampled back on a warm day in August:
- Hereford beef bavette (flank steak) sous vide and finished on coals, caramelised Tropea onion, hazelnut beurre noisette, gorgonzola, beef and red wine jus.
- Cornish cuttlefish sous vide then cooked over fire with sobrasada and tximitxurri.
I’m plotting another trip in 2024 so I can take the Mrs, where we intend to swing by Lido on the same day.
3. Tropea
I was in Birmingham before flying out to Italy in May. It was a bold move booking an Italian restaurant before swanning around the Amalfi Coast for a week. The food here was as good as anything we ate whilst in The Boot.
My full review is available here.
2. Chinese Fast Street Food
You might be wondering how this unassuming venue could be so high on a list of established restaurants. My experience at Chinese Fast Street Food was one that holds great value to me personally.
When I rocked up here in March, I really wasn’t sure what to expect. They’d only been open a few days and were relatively unknown in the city. The piece I wrote managed to gain traction and they now have a cult following. I consider this as a breakthrough moment for this blog. Oh, and the food isn’t bad either! Read all the details here.
1. Y Bwyty Bach
I will never tire of championing the work done here by Connor Turner and his team. When their restaurant was open in Tretower, they were taking cooking in the Abergavenny and surrounding areas to another level entirely.
The restaurant is now unfortunately closed as Connor pursues another location for his venue, but you can still purchase tickets for pop up events being run on the 19th and 20th of January, and I strongly suggest that you do so. The link to purchase those tickets is here.
Below you can see:
- Classic style beef tartare: 40-day dry aged beef, capers, shallots, egg yolk, gherkins, and an in-house fermented hot sauce that provided acidity. Served on a rice cracker.
- Cured mackerel in a salty ponzu broth.
- Treacle bread, freshly baked for each service, topped with pumpkin seeds and oats. Served with a seaweed butter.
- Monkfish on the bone making it wonderfully moist, with a tandoori sauce infused with crab stock, mussel stock, plump mussels, and caviar.
- 20-day aged lamb loin and belly, smoked yoghurt, pea and broad bean fricassee, and wild garlic.
- Roasted peach, pistachio praline, sour peach ketchup seasoned with citric acid for sourness, buttermilk sorbet, and white chocolate. The creation of former Heathcock chef Rhodri Davies.
- Sweet treat: rum custard cake.
Honourable Mentions
I ate at so many places this year that it was difficult leaving some out.
Harry’s Sandwich Bar
If you live in Abergavenny then Harry’s requires no introduction. I was sent here on a judging assignment by the Italian Awards in the category of Best Deli. Waves of nostalgia come crashing over me whenever I’m here. Me and my close friend Conor came here countless times as unemployed teenagers. I love what Giuseppe does to provide the town with freshly prepared homemade Italian products including pestos and cakes.
Brother Thai
Another place that needs no introduction, however this time to Cardiff. Their roti wraps and Thai fried chicken on Whitchurch Road are irresistible.
Hiraeth
Lamb ravioli with mussels? Pickled onion monster munch? It’s the brilliance of Hiraeth. A clever, modern, and laidback tasting menu. You can read the full scoop from my trip to Cowbridge here. The team are relocating to The Court Colman Manor in February if you want to pay them a visit.
Amalfi Coast
I could have included several places we ventured to in Italy, mainly within the village of Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi. I wrote a recap of the week I spent there here.
And that is all for 2023 folks. Thank you for all of your continued support, I cannot wait to see what 2024 brings for the blog!