I visited recently with a friend looking for a quick bite to eat near Cardiff Central railway…read morestation, as we were both arriving and leaving by train. It's in the same block as John Lewis and opposite the Marriott Hotel.
The décor is done pretty well: one side has a wall of glass (as do all the premises here) but they've softened it with their shop, selling pasta, meringues etc at the entrance area, which is all prettily done in pastels. Inside, the main restaurant is spacious, with high ceilings, and the overall minimalist effect is softened with wood. So far so good.
We both had mushroom bruschetta to start, followed by Penne Gardiniera and Spaghetti Carbonara, and we went for soft drinks as it was a bit early in the evening to be drinking (I'm getting to that sort of age).
The bruschetta was fine - toasted bread, with a mixture of sautéed mushrooms, spinach, garlic, and quite a lot of chilli. This was quite tasty, and not too heavy, but some might find it a bit spicy.
I've had their Penne Giardiniera in other branches before, which has finely sliced courgettes, chilli flakes, garlic, cheese and fried spinach balls. The latter taste quite salty, but remind me of my Mum's stuffing balls (which is why I'm fond of it). They'd overcooked the courgettes a bit, but the taste was nice.
My friend's Carbonara was less successful. This version lacks the creamy sauce one normally associates with carbonara, and is made simply with eggs, Grana Padano cheese, guanciale (pork cheek lardons), and seasoned with black pepper. Arguably, this makes it more authentic, which would be fine, except the guanciale were cooked to a dark brown colour and were so hard, my friend struggled to eat them. He also found it rather tasteless - hence losing a star.
Service was fine - efficient rather than friendly - and the bill came to £43 including a tip. I don't think I'd rush back on that experience, as there are other places in the area to try next time.
