What can I tell you about Filipino cuisine? Well, I guess I could do the usual blogger thing and look up Filipino Cuisine on Wikipedia, paraphrase some of it and pretend that I'm an expert. Or I could come clean and tell you that I've been to Jollibee once (it was underwhelming), have had a corker of a lunch at Panadera Bakery in Camden Town, and I gather that roast pork is kind of a big deal. Which brings me to Donia, a sister restaurant to Panadera, which is located on the top floor of Kingly Court near London's Carnaby Street. Since opening in late 2023, it’s been getting a lot of love ..read more

An unassuming student pub in the middle of Cathays isn’t perhaps the first place you’d expect to find one of the best roast dinners in Cardiff. But, it’s a lot less surprising when you consider that the kitchen is run by the former head chef of Heaney’s, one of Cardiff’s most acclaimed restaurants. Steve Bennett has been head chef at the Flora for over a year now and we were very impressed by his internationally influenced street food menu when we finally checked it out in February. Arguably, it’s his Sunday roast at the Flora which has generated the biggest buzz and it’s highly advisable ..read more

People are always drawn towards the shiny new thing. It’s how this blogging schtick works and I’m no exception. A new restaurant opens and bloggers and influencers clamour to be the first to review it (or get a free meal). Everyone posts about it on social media. The next place opens and then the whole bandwagon moves along. I last visited Ichiban over twelve years ago when I reviewed one of Cardiff’s oldest Japanese restaurants at its previous home on Albany Road in Roath. Whilst we had a good meal, I always found the interior a bit dark and oppressive and the barred windows uninviting ..read more

I’m a sucker for a superlative. In fact, one of my mates takes the piss of out of my tendency to regularly declare something to be the “best” I’ve eaten in Cardiff. The best pizza. The best kebab. The best burger. The best ham in aspic. The best turducken. What can I say, I’m in the hype game. And people don’t want to read about the seventh best birria tacos in Caerphilly or the fourth best pulled pork bun in Cardiff. So, when an Instagram connection who knows a lot more about Chinese food than me declared Crown Kitchen on City Road to be the best Chinese restaurant in Cardiff, I promptly dug ..read more

Mrs G is rarely in the mood for pizza. So, whenever she is, it’s action stations and I immediately dig out my emergency pizza slice and secret stash of garlic and herb crust dip. It was one of those occasions the other week and I remembered that we hadn’t yet visited West at their permanent home in Canton, which opened in March last year. Owned by Jez Phillips and Ieuan Harry, the same team behind the excellent Ffwnres Pizza in Cardiff Market, West specialises in New York style pizza. West was previously based at Kongs in Cardiff city centre and we had a few excellent meals during their ti ..read more

Burger King. Don of Doner. Meatball Monarch. Chicken Chairperson. It’s common for hospitality businesses to anoint themselves the ruler of a foodstuff. Whilst you could say that a name like Tortilla Titan smacks of bravado. You could also argue that if you’re not trying to be the best at a particular cuisine, you may as well not bother. Even I quite fancy opening a Belgian-style chip shop called Fry King just so I can use the strapline “So Fry King good” (I’ll get my coat). All this preamble brings me to City Road’s newly opened Biryani Kings, who opened just a week ago and are the self ..read more

As a Geordie I’m probably slightly biased, but Newcastle is a bloody cool city. It’s not just its beautiful setting on the banks of the Tyne, the stunning Georgian architecture, the 50,000 seater stadium located in the heart of the city, and the thriving cultural scene. It’s the food and drink scene that I’m primarily talking about. And I don't just mean the number of branches of Greggs. Newcastle is a city where it’s possible to stumble between pub after pub serving excellent craft beer. It’s something that I always find strangely lacking in Cardiff, except for a few notable exceptions (a ..read more

It’s a testament to the quantity and quality of Middle Eastern grill houses on Cardiff’s City Road that we’re often slow to visit the latest openings. Why would we take a punt on somewhere new when we’re guaranteed a killer kebab at on of our old favourites? (Saray is our pick of the bunch in case you’re asking). However, whilst feeling a little ropey on a Sunday lunchtime, we were drawn towards the gleaming new décor of Syriana Grill House. One of the newest additions to the street, Syriana opened its doors three months ago on the former site of Lilo Express. For followers of Cardiff ..read more

“Joey doesn’t share food” is one of the abiding principles I’ve followed in life when dining out in a big group. All too often I’ve been out with a load of mates and shared dinner only to end up with a single mouthful of the particular dish I wanted to order. Also, people often end up skirting around the food out of politeness so you don’t get to eat anywhere near as much as you’d like. In contrast, by only sharing with Mrs G, we know exactly what’s ours and we can divide it up between the two of us with no fuss. However, I’ve clearly been doing it wrong all this time. Because last w ..read more

As a fully-fledged fried chicken fiend and a card-carrying Carhartt-clothed craft beer nerd, Whitchurch's Kegbelly is a new Cardiff opening that I’ve been very excited about. It seems like I'm not the only one. Because by all accounts, they’ve been rushed off their feet since they opened in the middle of August. On social media, there are regular photos of the venue being standing room only with people spilling out onto the street. And soon after opening they sold out of their own Yawn house pale ale, such was the demand for the stuff. Kegbelly is co-owned by Mr Croquewich, local stre ..read more