BWYDIFUL
589 Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff. 029 2056 8332 / facebook.com/bwydiful
Food: **** Atmosphere: ****
Central to the “Preston Model”, a political and economic strategy for resuscitating ailing towns, is the concept of community wealth building – pumping as much money as possible into local businesses. Canton is hardly ailing, but it does seem that Bwydiful, a new burger joint near Victoria Park, is operating on the same principles. Their beer is brewed by Crafty Devil, just across the train tracks, while their buns are baked at Pettigrew next door.
It might be midweek in the depths of January, but a number of diners are already ensconced in the restaurant’s bright, colourful interior. The street-food supremos took their time readying the premises, with the opening delayed until December – but it was worth the wait. A criss-cross tower of crispy halloumi fries with a deep green chimichurri dip and chilli jam, and hash brown bites with a fruity dunking sauce, get us off to a flyer. The Hawaiian burger boasts a wheel of lightly singed pineapple atop a slice of bacon so thick it’s practically a gammon steak. That’s trumped by the Caws Caws, whose patty is crowned with a generous, oozing dollop of Welsh rarebit – its mustardy kick nicely offset by Bwydiful’s own rich, gloopy barbecue sauce. To call it a cheeseburger would be a gross insult – it’s far superior to that.
Of the local produce, the ciabatta rolls are soft yet pleasingly robust, while allowing co-owner Jon to talk me into a pint of Orange Juice Blues – fresh, citrusy but still unmistakeably ale-y – is certainly not something I regret. Indeed, aside from a bit of pinkness to the patties and slaw that wasn’t quite so aggressively peppery, there’s little else that we would ask for.
Attempting to establish a permanent home can be a precarious business for pop-ups – Got Beef’s short-lived presence at the other end of Cowbridge Road being a case in point. But for Bwydiful, this feels like right time, right place. Together with Pettigrew, the Dough Thrower, La Creperie, Bloc and a soon-to-open Italian, it’s at the heart of an emerging foodie hub to rival anything in Pontcanna.
words Ben Woolhead