29 Park Place, Cardiff. 029 2115 7605 / knifeandforkfood.co.uk/venue/twentynine
Food **** Atmosphere ****
Twenty-Nine Park Place might love its location enough to name the operation accordingly, but over the years it’s come to be viewed as a millstone by some. Various bars and restaurants have opened, ticked along, flatlined, rejigged and ultimately closed in this building; Cardiff Arts Institute begat Bacchus begat 29 Park Place, and despite the near-identical names of the latter and its new incarnation, the difference feels greater than that between Bacchus and 29PP’s iterations of bang average pub chow.
The latest purchase by middle-market gastro group Knife & Fork, open since July, Twenty-Nine Park Place’s menu goes larger on the foodie flourishes – foams, purees and such – than their other venues. It’s also got a competitive draught beer selection, from which we grab a decent raspberry sour and local witbier before starting with fresh bread and deep-fried cockles and mussels. Ox cheek scotch egg maintains the rebadged bar snack theme, but is niftily done with long-cooked meat and a runny yolk; a large scallop is draped in sorrel, flanked by cauliflower puree and rested on pancetta sand, but meatily robust enough not to seem fussy.
A hake fillet, crisped up top and flaky beneath, boasts five accompaniments, more than any other main. Of these, two feel largely decorative (parsley sponge because it tastes of very little; clams because there’s only two of them) but beetroot foam and squid ink polenta do fine work. I’m going on trust that my companion’s cornfed chicken, partnered with gnocchi and tomato salsa, is good, but kudos to his ratatouille side, ordered in the mistaken belief it’d be necessary portion-wise and finished by me.
Desserts are of the adult kind, which is not a virtue in itself but serves as warning that a scoop of lemon and mint sorbet, ostensible understudy to a meringue-y citrus tart, is a sword-sharp mouth-puckerer. A café gourmand – one macaron, one chocolate brownie and a dense jellified square akin to membrillo paste but made with, I think, blackcurrants. Much more than a name tweak, Twenty-Nine Park Place is off to a flyer, switches up its menu every few weeks and, with three courses, sides and booze weighing in at just over £80 for two, represents sterling value in its sector. NOEL GARDNER