ANSH | FOOD REVIEW
589 Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff. 07498 499787 / www.ansh.cymru
Reviewing new burger restaurant Bwydiful in February 2019, I noted that “attempting to establish a permanent home can be a precarious business for pop-ups”. So it proved for Bwydiful, sadly, though the pandemic undoubtedly played a key part in its demise. Salute the courage, or marvel at the foolhardiness, of anyone who would not only decide to step into the breach and set up base in the same premises at the present time, but do so selling a similar product.
I say “similar” because Ansh’s not-so-secret weapon in Cardiff’s burger wars is the involvement of Shaun Jones, better known as head honcho of high-class butchers Oriel Jones. With his exceptional produce allied to self-confessed “burger nerd” Aled Hill’s culinary nous, Ansh appear to have a ready-made recipe for success.
What they don’t currently have, due to the refit, is a functioning kitchen, so the orders are cooked in their trailer parked out the back (off-street food, if you will) and then ferried through to the front door for takeaway collection. On weekend lunchtimes, it seems to have become de rigeur among local food bloggers to devour their bounty across the road in Victoria Park, no doubt reducing passers-by out for their government-approved constitutional to a quivering, salivating mess of envy. This being a Saturday evening, though, it’s dark and the gates are locked, so a hasty scamper homeward along Cowbridge Road in sub-zero temperatures is in order.
Miraculously, everything is still hot when we sit down to eat – and that’s not the only evidence of sorcery at work. The Blodeuwedd’s potato bun (Ansh get bonus points for bucking the baffling trend for brioche) defies the laws of physics by being simultaneously soft and robust, while the vegan patty within is so convincingly meaty that it would dupe even the most committed carnivore.
Nevertheless, it’s overshadowed by the Madarch Hud Pete – a feast for the eyes almost as much as for the taste buds. Served in a psychedelic multicoloured bagel, it looks like the sort of thing the Beatles might have snacked on during their Magical Mystery Tour. Inside lies a mind-bendingly tasty combination of cheese, hash brown and mushrooms that delivers such a honking hit of garlic that you’ll have no problem ensuring that those around you adhere to social distancing guidelines.
And then there’s the Byrger Oriel Jones, positioned at the top of the menu with good reason. Rather than adding a jaw-dislocating second patty to what is already an extremely good cheeseburger, Ansh’s flagship features a delicious deluge of slow-cooked black beef brisket in rich ale gravy. It might not be so Instagrammable, and it’s impossible to eat with even a modicum of decorum – but if I was to drown in a vat of that stew, I’d die a very happy man.
Perhaps next time I’ll have the pluck to plump for the more polarising Barti Ddu, with its charcoal bun and seaweed rum sauce – but ignoring the siren call of that brisket will be practically impossible.
words and photos BEN WOOLHEAD
