16 Llandaff Rd, Cardiff
07807 038690 / www.dustyknuckle.co.uk
From its beginnings as a pop-up wood-fire pizza stall at the Riverside Market, to touring the summer festival circuit and holding pop-up nights at the Hangfire Smokehouse and Got Beef, Dusty Knuckle has now opened a permanent restaurant in the courtyard of Crafty Devil Brewing Cellar. Which, I have to say, is a brilliant idea. You can order, with the help of the Crafty Devil staff, a wide selection of IPAs, pale ales and so forth to complement your pizzas.
Phill Lewis, co-owner of Dusty Knuckle along with Deb Noyes, prepared all our courses with his gifted pizza hands. To start, my date and I were recommended Crafty Devil’s own American pale ale to complement the vegetarian antipasti, which incorporated a selection of Teifi nettle cheddar, green tomato chutney and the fresh and flavourful apple and mint. We also shared the Neal’s Yard goat’s curd, beautifully combined with locally sourced honey and acidic ribbons of pickled carrot.
For mains – pizzas, of course – we again both went for the vegetarian options: goat’s cheese with garlic pesto and Perl Las with purple sprouting broccoli. The ability Phil has to combine unique flavours on a beautifully cooked pizza base is mind-blowing. At the end of demolishing our pizzas and cider our stomachs were stuffed and our tastebuds satisfied, slipping into a heavenly pizza coma.
I would highly recommended Dusty Knuckle as one of the best new eats in Cardiff, but I do have to mention that the second time I went to Dusty Knuckle with a group of friends it was quite a disappointing experience – most of the vegetarian pizzas being out of stock, the quality not being as good as previous and our crème brûlée being served without a crispy caramel layer. I won’t hold this against them, though, as their pizzas were so amazing the first time we went there, and still highly recommend Dust Knuckle for a chilled out evening.
words JAYDON MARTIN, photo HUW JOHN