Cherry Orchard Road, Lisvane, Cardiff. 029 2076 5961
I’ve always found that central Cardiff lacks decent food-led pubs. Yes, we have The Conway and The Cricketers, but as there’s little else it’s often necessary to head out of the city centre to find somewhere more desirable. So on a wet, miserable evening fighting against the onslaught of traffic heading in to the city for the Cardiff-Leicester League Cup match, we found ourselves in suburban Lisvane.
Since opening a few months back The Old Cottage has certainly made a name for itself on the Cardiff culinary scene, with rave reviews being brandished about. Their menu changes seasonally and this happened to be the first night of a new set of dishes – not that you would’ve noticed as it didn’t seem to faze our lovely waitress or the quality and standard of the food. To start we had smoked salmon which was served with a citrus ponzo dressing, fennel and herb salad (£6.95) and chorizo and potato hash with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce (£7.25). Both dishes were incredible, with the salmon seasoned to perfection and the flavours of the chorizo, potato, egg and hollandaise complimenting each other beautifully.
After much deliberation, for mains I chose the grilled goat’s cheese crostini salad with roast sweet potatoes, borlotti beans and a blush tomato dressing (£9.95) whilst my husband picked the spit chicken with a piri piri sauce and frites (£12.45). Both were absolutely delicious, with the only suggestion for improvement would be that the chicken could have done with a small side salad on the plate, perhaps instead of the frites.
The minute we left we were already deciding when we could next go back. I suggested the following night, which my husband didn’t say no to… ANGHARAD BROWN