THE DISCOVERY | FOOD REVIEW
Celyn Avenue, Lakeside, Cardiff. 029 2077 5015 / www.knifeandforkfood.co.uk
A brief post-meal word with one of the management reveals that The Discovery steadfastly considers itself a pub, as opposed to a restaurant. This is hardly surprising – taking the alehouse from the equation would probably remove the (presumably) Lakeside locals, drinking in number in the bar. The dining room is even busier, mind, especially for a Wednesday. The latest project of the Knife & Fork company, The Discovery relaunched in March, and has evidently got off to a flyer.
Having squinted at the blackboard where the menu is written, my dining partner and I start. His prawn and leek fritters with Marie Rose sauce work in a cocktail party-meets-chippy way; my goats’ cheese bonbons are rolled in gingerbread powder, successful lateral thinking as it goes.
While the appeal of arranging food on slices of tree continues to puzzle me – you might even say that, when considering serving vessels, I’m incapable of ‘getting’ wood – my appetite for alliteration draws me to the main course, the plank of pig. Fillet, belly, tenderloin, crackling, a pulled pork scotch egg (the clear highlight) and black pudding with the consistency of breadcrumbs (pointless, didn’t work) are served with decent veg and a baked apple. Across the table, chicken breast spars with chorizo mash; my small sampling suggests the latter bullies the former into the background, taste-wise, but I’m assured this isn’t the case over the whole meal.
A white chocolate bread and butter pudding with marmalade has a similar issue – the preserve dominates to the point where we’re left merely assuming chocolate is actually in there – but the Snickers tart, which comes with salt caramel icecream and peanut brittle, is excellent, and deserves to pay off a few dentists’ mortgages. Topped off with a decent bottle of Chardonnay, bringing the total to about £50, the only reason I’ve ever had to go to Lakeside proves fruitful.
words NOEL GARDNER