St David’s Hotel, Havannah Street, Cardiff. 029 2045 4045 / www.admiralstdavid.co.uk
Food ***** Atmosphere *****
Following an overhaul of the restaurant at Cardiff’s deluxe St David’s Hotel, The Admiral St David has exploded onto the city’s food scene. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations from Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, The Admiral brings an innovative menu to Cardiff with a Welsh twist. What first hits you when you walk into the restaurant is its stunning views; it has a terrace perfect for drinking a glass of wine or one of their many well-crafted cocktails while admiring an unparalleled view over the sights of Cardiff Bay. We start the evening with a mojito and are treated to samples from the bar snack menu: wasabi rarebit, Korean beef bon bons, chicken satay sliders, and king prawn skewers. All far better than the traditional bar snacks of a weirdly opened packet of crisps or pork scratchings.
We’re then shown to our seats by the fantastic staff and served wines from their wine list – large enough to offer genuine choice but not so large that you feel like you need to commit most of the evening to reading it. We’re told that we’ll be sampling from the a la carte menu, and are promptly brought out a selection from the menu, among them a honey-roasted pumpkin salad, a house salad, sirloin steak with tempura hon shimeji mushrooms, chicken laksa, Welsh lamb, sea bream with Malaysia spiced rice, and wild mushroom pajeon pancake. The food is of very high quality and is expertly cooked (the tender chicken thigh used in the laksa and the delicate flavours of the pajeon pancake stand out as firm favourites), and the menu offers a satisfying range that still seems to have a focus, something that could easily be overlooked with drawing inspiration from such a wealth of cultures.
To finish, I choose a rich dark chocolate fondant with a smooth smoky old fashioned. The Admiral St David offers a blend of innovation, good food, and reasonable prices, all in arguably the finest surrounds for dining in the city.
words LUKE OWAIN BOULT