The New Conway has established itself very well over the last four years as a good local gastro pub in Pontcanna and has certainly filled the void that is gastropub dining in Cardiff as a whole. So well done to its owners the Knife & Fork Ltd who also own Woods Brasserie (Cardiff Bay), The New Pilot (Penarth) and The Old Swan (Llantwit Major). I could probably list on one hand those pubs that truly live up to the title of gastropub in Cardiff, which is a shame considering the number of pubs we have. That's probably down to Brain's hold over the pubs in Cardiff, who I admit do good beer but on the whole do run of the mill food, although I understand that they are trying to change this at the moment as they have finally recognised that serving up bog standard pie and chips is no longer good enough across a diverse range of pubs in a multitude of socio-economic areas. Anyway I will be entertaining myself at a Brain's establishment in the near future to see how they are getting on!
Back to the New Conway. Its set in in the heart of Pontcanna for those of you who don't know it and in my experience normally hits the mark when it comes to the food. It is the only pub in Cardiff to gain an entry into the Michelin Pub Guide so they are definitely getting it right. After working a long stretch of night shifts I really couldn't muster the effort to get in the car and schlek across town to eat so decided on walking around the corner instead. I'm always a little hesitant to eat at the New Conway as sometimes I struggle to find something I want to eat and have sometimes been disappointed with my choices in the past. I put this down to the fact that they run a small kitchen with locally sourced ingredients and only prepare a limited amount of food for a small dining area and are always trying to experiment. So yes that is a good thing! Tremayne Haines, the Head Chef, can sometimes be a victim of his own experimentation, but on the whole produces great food at a good price.
The pub itself is small. The dining area is simple and modern, but at the same time cosy and warm just like a good pub should be. There is no table service so one orders everything at the bar and you choose what you are going to eat from a blackboard on the wall, slightly annoying but forgivable unless the bar is busy in, which case its really annoying. The New Conway rarely seems to have enough staff on to make your visit feel smooth and the manager (Phil Newbould) always seems to be running around, in a professional and hospitable manner. I do feel that he is a shining example of a hospitable and knowledgeable host and the New Conway are lucky to have him. No I don't know him, but have merely observed him ply his trade.
It took my wife and I a while to choose from the menu as it always does, the dishes never really jump out at me and I do have to think about what I want, that's probably a good thing though. We didn't try anything particularly adventurous but we wanted good ingredients, cooked well and ultimately provided comfort food, and I'm happy to say that is exactly what was delivered. Being exhausted we decided on no starter but dessert was definitely happening.
I chose the Calves Liver (£12.50) with bacon, onions, mashed potato and red wine jus. The calves liver was cooked to perfection, firm on the outside and a juicy medium rare on the inside - delicious and certainly put a smile on my face. In fact for me the whole dish was pretty much perfect and I don't say that very often. I can't remember the last time I ate mashed potato that was perfectly seasoned and suitably mashed. The butter, the seasoning and the smoothness of the mash just left me beaming and very much in food heaven; we don't really eat mash at home - not allowed the butter or the calories for that matter! I try to leave that for eating out. The calves liver came with two rashers of perfectly crisped streaky bacon, flavourful lardons, onions and red wine jus and a couple of pieces of kale. My only small criticism would be that I would have wanted more veg and really just seemed a poor token gesture. It would have been better altogether just to have left them off the plate and the bartenders recommend a side order of veg, which we had ordered. Just as well it turned out, lovely fresh vegetables perfectly cooked.
My wife went for their special of the day BBQ pork ribs and chips (£9.00). Oh yes! They were fabulous. On arrival at the table my wife and I just smiled and said"Wow! They look great". We were hungry, and a pile of ribs smothered in BBQ sauce with chunky chips just looked like happiness on a plate. Fortunately they tasted as good as they looked. Plenty of ribs, good meat (although they could have been more tender) and spicy BBQ sauce, yum yum yum! The chips were good quality thick chunky and heavy and really hit the spot. My wife being the garlic fiend that she is ordered some aioli (garlic mayonnaise) to go with the chips and I have to say that for us it was rather lacking in garlic so for me was little disappointing, there again my wife pointed out that we do like more garlic than most. If a recipe asks for two bulbs we normally double it at least!
The manager brought us extra napkins and a finger bowl for the ribs, which were definitely needed and a nice touch. As I said before the manager was running around the pub flitting from bar service to food delivery and really could have done with one more member of staff for a smoother experience. We did have to wait about 25 minutes for our food and the kitchen buzzed the floor staff three times before they were able to get off the bar to get our food and it was a similar story for other diners. Good food is worth waiting for, but not because they don't have enough staff on. This is usually down to the owners who limit the payroll on a weekly basis in order to make sure they make enough money. On the other hand maybe they were just a little busier than expected on a Wednesday night. If they could just be a little more prompt it would make the experience more enjoyable, their again table service would then make the whole experience a more expensive one as well! You get what you pay for.
Anyway on to dessert. We shared a dessert as we were starting to flag a little. Sticky toffee pudding (£5.00) with dates and vanilla ice cream is fantastic, when its made properly, and we were not disappointed. The dessert was well presented, although I initially thought to myself, I want more sauce I was wrong! This dessert was so well balanced, soft light sponge littered with pieces of date, not too rich, was sublime. The toffee sauce again wasn't overly sweet and the vanilla ice cream matched the sticky toffee pudding so well that it lasted about two minutes. I couldn't help myself and my wife sensibly marked out her half before I completely devoured it. I have been known to finish a dessert within minutes; I don't share desserts very well, she blinks and its gone!
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this visit to the New Conway and its probably the best meal that I have had there. The total bill came to £36.80 and included two pints of beer(£6.80). I left a tip of 10% as the staff and manager worked hard to ensure everybody was being looked after. Well worthy of its entry into the Michelin Pub Guide.
The New Conway
58 Conway Rd
Pontcanna
Cardiff
CF11 9NW
02920 224373
Opening Times: Sun 12pm-10.30pm, Mon-Thurs 12pm-11pm, Fri & Sat 12pm-12am
Web: http://knifeandforkfood.co.uk/conway
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