Renaissance
Swansea is awash with new developments of late, from SA1 to the new entertainment
complex at the bottom of Wind Street. It is tucked down here, dwarfed by
the new Waterfront Museum and the Vue building site that we find the small,
whitewashed block that is Renaissance. Head Chef Paul, originally from Malta,
claims his speciality is "everything": he may not be modest but
he does cook up fantastically fresh Welsh produce taking his influences from
France, Italy and Morocco. I have a delightfully succulent warm avocado pear
and buffalo mozzarella mille foglie followed by a far from bland risotto
of field mushrooms in which the shallots, garlic and white wine brought out
a rich, full flavour while my date devoured his juicy plate-filling 16oz
T-bone steak (bistecca fiorentina) in record time, and gave it a huge thumbs
up.
Renaissance Restaurant, York Street, Swansea
Tel: 01792 474099
Mezza Luna
In most other parts of the world, food is a social event. So it’s good
to see the recently-opened Mezza Luna, on Cardiff’s City Road, challenging
the Western way of eating. The mains arrived with great anticipation: we had
both opted for chicken. Being a breast man, I had ordered the meshui - chicken
breast marinated with fresh chilli and garlic, stone baked and served with
rosemary potatoes. The generous portions tickled my tongue with their heat.
As for the chicken al cream, you would swear that the mushrooms had just been
hand-picked. Desert included a traditional Middle Eastern dish of pastry bites
served with Lebanese ice-cream made from rose water and pistachio, swilled
down with authentic
Arabic coffee.
Mezza Luna, City Road, Cardiff
Tel: 029 2047 2771
Indica
Open for just under a year, the owners have taken the traditional serving method
of Thali (where a meal of many different curries and sauces is served in separate
little dishes on a tray) and given it a modern twist. The menu is expansive
as much as it is impressive with a clear choice between the classic Indian
dishes, including dosas, and more adventurous creations: duck with bamboo shoots
anyone? And the chef goes to great effort to add Indian spice to sirloin steak
and Welsh lamb chops. Curry can often be too rich and overbearing, but at Indica
the chefs use a wide range of flavours to their advantage and aren’t
afraid to try something different. For the main course, a shared Thali consisted
of chicken jalfrezi, coconut fish curry and king prawn Manchurian massala.
The unique service allowed for a divulgence into every taste-bud being more
than satisfied.
Indica Restaurant, 9 High Street, Pontypridd
Tel: 01443 404 443
www.indicarestaurant.co.uk
Read the full reviews in the current issue of RedHanded.
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