233 Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff
029 2039 7531 / www.happygatheringcardiff.co.uk
“Are you sure?” asked the waiter. These are words that do little to comfort someone eating in your restaurant. I somewhat expected my order of fried pig’s intestine with salt, chilli and pepper to be met with open arms. I had dreams of being given a badge of honour saying ‘bravest little diner’, and my picture being displayed on a wall commemorating other brave diners. Perhaps a discount. No. I was greeted with “Are you sure?” Suddenly I wasn’t so sure.
Cowbridge Road East’s Happy Gathering is consistently mentioned by foodies as one of Cardiff’s top Chinese eateries, serving up a mix of meals for the Western palate, dim sum, and what I now refer to as “are you sure” traditional dishes. Serving impressively quickly for a busy restaurant, our orders soon arrived. Sizzling sliced chicken in satay sauce, deep-fried dumplings, crispy noodles with shredded pork, and of course fried pig’s intestine with salt, chili and pepper.
Naturally I started with the intestine. While the use of spices was beautiful, I can’t say too much for the texture of intestine, which tastes somewhat like a meaty tyre. A confusingly tasty meaty tyre. The dumplings and crispy noodles with shredded pork were better, with a delightfully hedonistic overload of garlic. The highlight of the evening was the chicken satay, which got the difficult satay spice balance right. Although the meal satisfied, and the restaurant offers a good range of food at a good price, Happy Gathering is little different to many other Chinese restaurants in the city, but still a great place to go for Chinese New Year.
words LUKE OWAIN BOULT