Cardiff & Vale College, Dumballs Road, Cardiff.
029 2025 0377 / www.theclassroom.wales
Be they budding hairdressers or biologists, the lower floors of this college are still bustling with students when we arrive just before 7pm. One in the eye for anyone who might carp about today’s idle teens – as, indeed, is The Classroom, which is at the top floor of the building and whose kitchen pairs esteemed head chef Alex Smith with catering course trainees. Moreover, they’re working on a menu that’s vibrant, considered and modish, for a fair price.
Whisked via elevator past the college’s jumble of glass and primary coloured fittings, we’re given a window seat – it’s not very busy, but it is a Wednesday – in the bright, airy room. The open-plan kitchen reveals Smith with a solitary assistant, but the duo prove able from the starters. Potted rabbit is rich, gamey and fine; a salad of dandelion and carrot tops (from the late rabbit’s personal stash, no doubt) is indifferent and black onion seed toast seems to be missing its seeds. Similarly, the globe artichoke gets a tad lost in an artichoke and pea risotto, but the creamy decadence compensates for this.
Main courses ascend a level, with very little to fault beyond nitpickery. Of fried John Dory with lemon and dill gnocchi, samphire and cockle veloute, the gnocchi was vaguely cloying but the fish was meaty and exquisite. A Caerphilly cheddar soufflé wobbles alluringly and is properly light and fluffy when set about; yellow beetroot is an especially worthy accompaniment. With desserts added, this felt like a perfectly weighted three courses. A pear parfait delivers a belting rush of concentrated fruit in each mouthful, while the hit of cocoa from a dark chocolate and rum torte is even more impressive, arriving in three stages.
A meal for two came to £75, a good bottle of Le Versant pinot noir accounting for one third of that. The Classroom is a noble concept with results to match, and the fact that most of the CAVC students are subsisting on wraps from the One Stop down below shouldn’t stop you from visiting.
NOEL GARDNER