72 Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff. 029 2034 4320
It’s not, in fairness, hugely taxing to locate niches in the Cardiff restaurant ‘scene’. Many subsets of food, be they stylistic or global, are simply not represented. This means that someone with culinary smarts and a little confidence can plug the gap. The Canton-based Pho Bac, which since December has been the only Vietnamese restaurant in the city, appears to possess both listed attributes, and seems to be occupying its territory very well so far.
Buzz visits at 8pm on a Tuesday and half an hour later, every seat downstairs is full. (There are tables upstairs, too, as well as karaoke if you visit at the right time and/or are sufficiently merry.) The staff’s attentiveness level is correctly pitched: prawn crackers and a bottle of Hanoi lager each to start, advising on the menu without being didactic. Starters-wise, I go for sour soup with seafood, which is nowhere near as hot as the cartoon chilli on the menu has me fearing, and smuggles flavour in its uncaringly oil-smudged liquid. My partner has a large seafood fishcake cut into quarters, which assuming you cheer deep-friedness brings contentment.
I’ll confess to getting a pang of food envy when we were eating our mains, and looked round to see a mother with her baby demolishing a massive bowl of chicken noodles, and a waitress carrying a glowing fried tilapia – but don’t mistake this for dissatisfaction with our choices. My beef in red wine sauce is curious, though. It’s cooked with carrots and potatoes, and is glutinous and tender, but largely resembled a stoutly British stew. Conversely, the apparently popular chicken with ginger, lemongrass and pickled vegetables was aromatic yet weighty.
Leaving just enough room for dessert – a hot taro soup, made from a southeast Asian potato-like veg but with a sweetness guaranteed to split opinion – a meal for two came to £37.50. For this you can eat very well and, if you’re a Cardiffian at least, somewhat uniquely. NOEL GARDNER