A celebrated food critic has sung the praises of three Cardiff restaurants, after apparently facing a snag in her initial eating plans whilst on a trip to the Welsh capital. The Sunday Times writer Marina O'Loughlin had to abandon her original (unnamed) restaurant choice, over what she says was a bit of a snag in the booking process, and ended up eating at not just one but three of our restaurants: Bacareto, Kindle and Nook.
And it seems they thoroughly impressed her - and understandably so. With a shared "loveliness" and "commitment to getting it right", Marina wrote of this appetising trio: "This lot know the contemporary food scene and are happily up to their armpits in it" and in her headline described them as "Cardiff's hat-trick of local restaurants".
With Plan A scuppered after she says she experienced poor service in attempting to book a table, she came up with Plan B, C and D - the latter (Nook) gripped her attention through a social media post in which they pleaded for help in spreading the word of their indie business far and wide.
Read more: We asked people who queue for Fresh the Baguette Bar why they love it so much
Starting her tour of Cardiff, Plan B was the relaxed and informal café bar Bacareto, which was inspired by the small bàcari of Venice and serves up mouth-watering, simple seasonal food and drink in a creative and social space. It opened on Church Street in 2021 and since has gained a loyal customer base and even featured on the Cardiff Wine Passport.
This fallback plan, it seems, hit the spot and despite not being "Cannaregio", she deemed this Venetian-inspired eatery as "an indie beacon in a parade of (mostly) mid-range chains".
She goes on to paint the "cool" picture of the place - which was started by a "bunch of skate park owners" who have reinvented themseves as "smart, savvy restaurateurs".
She said: "What a cool little joint this is, with its terrazzo flooring, mustard yellow booths and distressed plaster walls; its hidden, herb-lined terrace backing on to the walls of the market."
And its dishes, too, from snackettes and small plates to a number of larger dishes - "as restrained or blowout as you fancy" - have been labelled as the "perfect drinking food" by Marina, describing flavourful items such as devilled egg halves "titfered with pungent anchovy"; a "binge" of fritto misto di verdura ("the poshest munchy box") and pizzette - to name just a few things. Dubbing it "a lovely place to be", we couldn't agree more - see our review of Bacareto here.
Bacareto took to their Instagram to express their gratitude at Marina's words. It wrote: "We are so delighted to be featured in this week's Sunday Times @marinagpoloughlin article. Having been open just over a year, the way we've been received by the Cardiff community has really overwhelmed us, and we are just completely stoked that our brilliant team and all the hard work seems to be doing the trick! Being alongside such awesome businesses in the city centre is really a privilege too."
Her Plan C and Plan D were also triumphant choices and included two out of three of Phill and Debs Lewis' food adventures, Kindle and Nook. Their third is Dusty's Pizza. Read more on their story here.
Outdoor sustainable restaurant Kindle - which sources all of its produce locally, grows veg in its restaurant garden in the grounds, and cooks over open fire - is described as not being "short on ambition" nor skill and is praised highly for its "fire food" menu, despite the confusing use of descriptives such as "galumphs" and "glorious mess".
And despite being in the firing line of Wales' blustery elements with a restaurant that seats its diners outside, she wrote: "Plan C is a curious idea in a city not known for tropical temperatures" - it didn't ruin the experience; they had blankets.
She wrote that Nook was "a cute, wine bottle-lined corner spot in Canton, in a small parade of other indie food businesses". She said: "A plaintive tweet draws me in: “The mood in the camp is low,” they say. “We need to call on you guys. Talk about us to people you love.” So off I trot.
"I’m glad I do — each dish is a small triumph. Particular love for purple sprouting broccoli, tempura-fried till crunchy, in a pool of satay-ish peanut sauce punctuated by blobs of fine chilli jam and topped with a fried egg — a rampage of flavours and textures." The remaining dishes she tried - ragu of pork and aubergine in mandilli di seta (silk handkerchief) pasta, "crisp-fudgy" hasselback potatoes in butter "spiked with caramelised garlic", for example - had her uttering one euphoric phrase: "Mamma mia."
After referencing the concluding message in Nook's tweet: “Do we shut up shop and reinvent the offering?”, she pleads to the restaurant: "I’d say no, hang on in there — what you’re doing is uplifting", before adding: "Those potatoes are the stuff of legend."
Nook took to Instagram soon after to express its glee at such a glowing review, saying: "there is a much welcomed light at the end of the tunnel".
It wrote: "Full of pride for what has been overcome and achieved in our formative years since opening! Today we got wind that we have been reviewed by the wonderful @marinagpoloughlin - a prestigious restaurant critic writing for the Sunday Times Mag. In a nutshell she thinks Nook is great! And wants all of you to know it too…
"After everything that we have felt recently and the commitment shown to creating inspired menu’s @dusty_phill - this is a much welcomed light at the end of the tunnel!"
While Marina admits none are perfect, it seems they come pretty darrn close. Four more of Cardiff's offerings are also praised in her concluding statement. Parador 44 - with the "finest honesty bar I've ever met" - Asador 44, Vermut and Nighthawks all get shoutouts and Marina implores locals and non-locals to support indie places and dive head first into our "spirited food scene" - a command we welcome with open arms.
To read the full review, see here.
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