This
is my first food blog which I hope will be the start of something fun and
informative both for myself and anyone who chooses to follow my love of food
wherever that may take me. I must apologise for not having taken any pictures, this is something that I will add in due course.
Almada is a small local restaurant on Cowbridge Road
East having taken over the premises from Seren. This would be my third
visit to this restaurant in the last eight months, although this time it wasn't
my choice as our friends had chosen it for a Christmas get together.
My expectation was quite high based on our previous
visits and for most of the meal I wasn't disappointed. The evening started off
with their usual complimentary marinated olives and pickled carrots, and is a
lovely touch which I really appreciate. Not something that many restaurants do
nowadays although I realise that is down to cost. The only menu on offer was
their set price menu for Christmas which was 2 courses for £22 or 3 courses for
£26. Slightly wrangled by this price fixing, but pretty good value I thought
once I had considered why. Restaurants these days, especially small locally run
venues, have to ensure they survive and this is the best way of doing it to
guarantee a level of spend per head. (Unlike the chain restaurants who are
merely trying to take as much of your money as possible, without any real need
and very little added value, at a time when they know everybody is going to be dining
out, Christmas, Valentines, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day).
The restaurant is a simple affair with very little
to wow you with its décor, but we eat out for the food and the company not the
décor. A warm welcome awaits from our host Nev, (Nevzat Karagul one of the
owners) who has always been an accomplished maître d whenever we have been
there and always has good chat; nothing is too much trouble for him. Service is
always with a smile and never rushed and quite often comes with an amusing
story.
With eight eager mouths to feed I was worried that
the kitchen might struggle but our food came out in good time. My chargrilled
pork ribs with paprika and red wine were succulent and meaty with a good sauce.
All of my friends enjoyed their starters especially the salt cod fritters,
washed down with a couple of bottles of good Portuguese red wine, which I have
subsequently forgotten the name of. We have always had really good wine here
and never paid over £20 a bottle so good value I feel. As the main courses arrived
I was disappointed to see that six of my friends had opted for rib eye steak
with wild mushrooms all of whom thoroughly devoured them. My wife had Frango de
Peri Peri Chicken with homemade chips for the third time in a row and was not
disappointed. Initially we had to check to see if they had used flattened thigh
rather than on the bone, which they had served the last time we were here and
was disappointing. My Caldeirada de peixe, traditional seafood stew with monkfish,
hake, king prawns, mussels and potatoes in a tomato and fish broth, was tasty
and heart-warming, but not quite as tasty as the seafood stew I ate here in
October, which was mainly mussels and chorizo. I might be slightly biased here
as chorizo is the king of sausages in my book, closely followed by the merguez,
but I digress (a discussion for another time perhaps). Having slurped my way
through a massive fish stew I had my eyes set on dessert, although I am always
wary of what restaurants are able to offer as so many of them buy desserts in
these days.
The dessert menu is a little disappointing compared
to the rest of the food on offer at Almada. I had chosen badly the last time I
ate here so I opted for the mixed ice cream (Chocolate, Maple Walnut and
Pistachio). I love ice cream, when I go to the cinema I am the man who has
three scoops of Ben & Jerry’s in a tub and wonders why they don’t make
larger tubs. I mean 3 scoops disappears by the time the adverts come on, why
not do a 500ml tub and it might last until the start of the film! For some
reason my wife is continuously surprised with the speed at which I demolish my
ice cream. Anyway, I was not disappointed by my dessert but unfortunately my
friends were. The Swiss roll looked like it had seen better days, was dry and
tasteless and really had little excuse for being put on the menu in the first
place. The Tarta de Natas which I had tried on my previous visit had not
improved.
On the whole we had a fantastic evening and the food
had been good enough to satisfy all of us. If Almada could sort their desserts
out and their consistency of dishes, this really would be a good little restaurant
from start to finish. There are rumours they might be opening a second
restaurant already and I do hope that this doesn’t dilute the charm or quality
of this local establishment.
Address: 146 Cowbridge Rd East, Cardiff CF11 9ND
Telephone: 02920 226242
Website: www.almadarestaurant.co.uk
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