NOOK
587 Cowbridge Road East, Canton, Cardiff. twitter.com/nookcdf
Food: ***** Atmosphere: ****
If the landlord of the Victoria Park has any decency, they’ll be paying Nook commission. Even on a Monday night, the restaurant’s front-of-house staff are sending a steady stream of people to the pub to wait until a table becomes available.
Nook’s no-booking policy might be the source of frustration for some, but it’s a perfectly reasonable pre-emptive strike against the contemporary scourge of the small restaurant: no-shows. Considering ourselves extremely fortunate to have bagged the last available table (whose wonkiness is immediately corrected by our attentive waiter in time-honoured tradition, with a well-positioned piece of folded cardboard), we marvel at the wall of wine and the fact that there are a further five different natural wines on tap. One melt-in-the-mouth bread roll and one plate of blistered-to-perfection, salted padron peppers later, and we’re ready for the main event.
As always with a small-plate restaurant, the dilemma is not only which dishes to choose but how many. In three of the five we plump for, the leading lights aren’t quite upstaged, but the quality of the supporting cast certainly makes the overall show sing. Spicy harissa mayonnaise gives a trio of arancini some zing; a gooey ball of burrata is brought to life with vibrant chimichurri; Middle White sausages from celebrated rare breed butcher Huntsham Court Farm sit on a rich bean cassoulet. Best of the bunch are the pressed potato – a herby, garlicky but surprisingly non-creamy cousin of dauphinoise – and Nook’s signature staple, tempura battered enoki. I’ve never quite understood people who talk of mushrooms as a meat substitute, but this magnificent specimen is juicy and flavoursome, with the genuine texture of pulled pork.
As befits a menu that simply lists the components of each dish, avoiding pretence and superfluous adjectives, our dessert is not referred to as a deconstructed lemon and ginger cheesecake – though that would be one way to describe it. ‘Lip-smackingly delicious’ would be another.
At around £65 for a meal for two excluding service, Nook isn’t cheap and as such is one for special occasions. But there’s no doubt you get what you pay for. And, after your first visit, you may find your definition of ‘special occasions’ becomes rather more relaxed.
words BEN WOOLHEAD