Glo
Glo is the latest welcome arrival on the independent bar scene in Cardiff.
Taking up residence in the premises of the old Bar Ice, Glo certainly ticks
all the boxes as far as appearance goes. Hand stencilled walls - check. Nu-soul
soundtrack - check. Young crowd in smart jackets, distressed jeans and impossibly
straight hair - check. But what is going to set Glo apart from the swathe
of bars offering chic décor and clued-up clientele in Cardiff? Two
words - the food. Unlike many of its peers, Glo is the real deal when it
comes to the food served. While some bars make a show of plating up in the ‘open
plan’ kitchen while surreptitiously nuking the bejesus out of everything
in the back, Glo’s process is simple: source the best produce locally,
cook the food well, and charge the customer what it is worth. Easy. Well,
that’s the theory but how did it work in practice? I went for the Welsh
black fillet, a piece of meat that a chef would have to work hard to balls
up but one that nevertheless often is. Mine was moist and tender, its flavour
perfectly matched by a Penderyn sauce and wild mushrooms. My friend, something
of a sea-food obsessive, decided to go for the mussels in white wine and
shallots and despite not being the easiest to please was impressed to say
the least. A mountainous portion of fresh mussels, the shallots and wine
just there to help the taste along and crusty bread to mop up. Lovely. In
fact, so impressed were we that we decided to check out the cocktails too,
blended as they were by the in-house mixologist and let’s just say
we stumbled into cold, wet Cardiff with a little more than a healthy glo.
La Parrilla Restaurant
When situated in the alarmingly unromantic sounding J Shed on the brand new
SA1 development, it must be very satisfying to be able to reassure your customers
that you’re the old hands behind such a stalwart on the Swansea culinary
scene as La Braseria. Housed in what was once an old grain warehouse, the dimensions
of La Parrilla set it apart from it’s older sibling, and are used exceptionally
well: light, airy but not hangar-like; the team here have somehow managed to
create a warmth that is so often missing from these dockside redevelopments.
Of course, just as with La Braseria everything is on display - from the just
landed fish and succulent meat to the plentiful wine fridges - La Parrilla
gives you a reassuring sense that you’re in safe hands. And they trust
you too. As with La Braseria, rather than order from a set menu, you simply
approach the counter where today’s fresh catch or prime cuts are displayed
and take your pick. J went for the day’s special - a Moroccan spiced
cod served with salad and a choice of potatoes. As you’d expect, the
fish was remarkably fresh and the Moroccan spices were in total harmony with
the delicate flavour of the cod. Overwhelmed by the bounty on display, it took
me a while to decide what to go for but in the end I went for a whole sea bass.
It arrived baked in salt, still whole, before being expertly filleted by the
staff on hand and served with chunky chips and tartar sauce. With a wine list
that takes in everything from pinot to Petrus, La Parrilla is definitely set
to become as much part of the family here in Swansea as it’s older sibling.
The Stonemill@ Rockfield
Sitting pretty in the Monmouthshire village of Rockfield, the Stonemill’s
exposed beams, simple furnishings and millstone centrepiece can only be described
as charming. Yes, I said charming. That’s the kind of effect this place
has. It makes you use words that unless you were a member of the local bridge
club only Morrissey would usually dare. But we were bringing our dry, urban
palettes full of car fumes, swearing and burger vans with us and were unused
to such country refinement, how would we fit in? Thankfully, there is nothing
stuffy about The Stonemill. You won’t have to dig out your finest tweed,
just sit back and enjoy Michael Fowler’s excellent cooking, which only
two months into the job has already earned the restaurant two AA rosettes.
With Michael on such fine form, we went for a specially prepared taster menu
devised by the man himself. First up were scallops resting on a bed of lentils,
topped off with a lemon grass veloute which pulled off the impressive trick
of being both regal and rustic, the lentils giving a robust earthiness to the
high falutin scallops and the veloute. Speaking of robust flavours, next came
seared wood pigeon with wild mushrooms and coriander gnocchi - a clever method
if ever there was one of getting the public to eat their meat and dumplings.
We were then treated to a dark chocolate delice with white chocolate ice cream,
the caramel salted properly and not cloying in any way, followed by an apple
sorbet served with calvados which readied us for a well thought out cheese
board catering for every taste from the creamy Caws Presili to a fiery Celtic
Promise but never letting up in quality. Handsome, as Morrissey might say.
Read the full reviews in the current issue of RedHanded.
Matthew David Scott eats to the beat (Nu-soul if you must know)