SUNFLOWER & I
1 Mount Stuart Square, Cardiff Bay. 029 2048 4211 / www.sunflowerandi.co.uk
Food **** Atmosphere *****
Sunflower & I feels like something of a hidden secret, even though it’s been a well-established venue in Cardiff Bay for a number of years. Perhaps it’s the fact that the Coal Exchange next door has been undergoing a long-term renovation, or perhaps because years of managerial neglect have sucked the life out of Mermaid Quay, ensuring less nearby footfall – even the promised £50m renovation in the area feels more like one of those sky-high plans that real estate suits come up with every few years here in the Cardiff but amount to no concrete change. Nevertheless, Sunflower & I is a real beauty in Cardiff, and certainly one of the prettiest restaurants/cafes going.
It feels rather like some 1920s-era Mitteleuropan café, and the décor – flowery, art deco-inspired, with suitcases and chairs seemingly glued on the wall above you makes the venue deliciously pleasant to sit in. The recent addition of lounge-type music sessions on Sunday evenings is a great touch, even if they occur when the kitchen is closed; it’s worth coming down just for these, with the piano and instruments placed centrally in the venue.
The food is Polish, which is typically hearty and full of stews, pastries and meats (not far off British food), but with arguably a wider variety of flavours thanks to regional influence. Prices are fair, with mains landing between £7.50 and £12.50 and platters at £13.50, and the quality is uniformly excellent. Our party of four gorged on sauerkraut and mushroom pierogi (cooked just right with the filling succulent and rich), breaded pork chop (I’m a sucker for these things, and aside from the a small section of the cut being somewhat chewy, the fry was great), Breton-style beans (more filling than they looked), and breaded chicken breast roulade (also great).
Dessert consisted of two poppyseed cakes, one Viennese cheesecake and one Cracovian cheesecake. Aside from our bickering over what constitutes the difference between Viennese and Cracovian cheesecake, they were all superb once again. Added to the fact that the multilingual waiter was able to take orders in both Serbian and Portuguese (the lingua franca of our table), it was hard not to be impressed.
words Fedor Tot