Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff
029 2022 5839 / www.calibresellacardiff.co.uk
Food **** Atmosphere ***
One of the things the Cardiff food scene has in abundance is Italian restaurants, ranging from authentic delights where many of the city’s Italian population get their tastes of home, to establishments that offend them with their overly greasy concoctions. Canton’s Calibresella is lodged firmly in the former camp and is a slice of fine Italian cuisine in Wales. Its success in providing customers with an experience of the cuisine of the Italian Calabria region (the ‘toe’ of the peninsular) is proven by the fact that on any visit to the restaurant you will almost always overhear people speaking Italian.
From the outside, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was little more than a greasy spoon that does pizza, but the food they serve is arguably one of the city’s culinary highlights with experienced chefs who’ve worked all over Italy, and while it is a little simplistic the restaurant itself does have a certain charm. Upon a recent visit to the restaurant I was delighted to see pasta Amatriciana, something I’d kept an eye out for since I first tried it in Rome and had yet to see in the UK. Of course I had to have it, and when I first tasted it I was whirled back to the banks of the Tiber where I’d first sampled it. With a range of favourites and Calabrian delicacies, delicious espresso, pastries, and one of the nicest calzones you’ll hope to sample in Wales, Calibrisella offer a huge selection at an extremely reasonable price. Look no further for hearty Italian cuisine cooked by chefs with passion and in depth knowledge.
words LUKE OWAIN BOULT