LAGUNA KITCHEN & BAR GENTLEMEN’S AFTERNOON TEA | FOOD REVIEW
Park Plaza Hotel, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff. 029 2011 1111 / www.lagunakitchenandbar.com
The qualities perceived as ‘gentlemanly’ have evolved through the generations, and at this point seem more self-parodic than anything. The friend I’ve invited to sample Laguna’s recently introduced Gentlemen’s Afternoon Tea says, not unreasonably, that the name makes him think of waxed moustaches, The Chap magazine and so irritatingly on. However, this hotel-based restaurant is coming from a slightly more dignified angle, expanding on its already highly regarded menu.
The fare on offer, which includes tea and costs £18.95 per person, is billed as “a masculine twist on the traditionally feminine afternoon pastime”. Basically, this means lots of red meat and no vegetarian options. Of six miniature dishes on a slate, the two seafood efforts – a prawn cocktail in a shot glass and a smoked salmon blini – are perfectly well executed but too slight to leave much impression.
The more robust items give this tea its heart. Welsh sirloin is offered both on ciabatta, with very good red onions, and in a Yorkshire pudding with attention grabbing horseradish sauce. A burger of Brecon venison, in between petite brioche slices, is held together with a wooden skewer (proving impossible to eat at all daintily without cutlery). The chorizo scotch egg with bloody mary mayonnaise’s combo of spice, smoke and crunch is over too soon, and voted best by both of us.
Two desserts apiece would each pretty much suffice on their own in terms of size and richness. Rum baba comes with raspberries and cream; chocolate fondant with a golf ball of clotted cream and raspberry sauce. The latter is especially good, although only one of us is piggy and blokey enough to finish it, and a gentleman would hardly insult his friend in print. Teas are fruity, cosmopolitan and sourced by Waterloo Tea; just under a tenner for two beers reminds us we’re in a hotel if nothing else. We may not be ‘gentlemanly’ enough to be Laguna’s exact target audience, but just liking good food will probably suffice.
words NOEL GARDNER