Restaurant review: Hang Fire Southern Kitchen

We visited Hang Fire Southern Kitchen for the first time on Friday evening. I'd booked it back in March as a birthday present for Neil, so we'd had more than enough time to get excited about it.

I was absolutely STARVING by the time we got to Barry. I had a tiny lunch to make sure I left enough room for copious amounts of meat in the evening, and my appetite was definitely at its peak. 

When we arrived at 6pm, we were shown to our table by the restaurant owner herself. She told us a bit about the history of the restaurant and explained that her partner was downstairs cooking all the food. The interior was completely different to what I expected, in a good way. It felt airy, authentic and relaxing. It was fairly quiet in the restaurant at that point but it soon filled up as the evening went on. 

I'd already looked at the menu about fifty times in the week leading up to our reservation, but I was still debating between a few different things. I eventually decided to go for the 'choose two BBQ meats' option and chose the spare ribs and the Texas sausage. I don't order ribs very often as I don't like eating meat off the bone, but loads of people had raved about the ribs at Hang Fire so I thought I'd regret it if I didn't try them. I also ordered a side of pastrami hash because I wanted to try as many things as possible (and I was starving). 

Yum yum yum! My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when all this was put down in front of me. The seasoning on the ribs was absolutely delicious and the meat fell effortlessly off the bone. The sausage had the most beautiful smoky flavour, and I loved the accompanying homemade barbecue and mustard sauces. The pastrami hash with the crispy onion bits piled on top was also amazing and I could have eaten it all night. I didn't take many photos because I was so hungry and eager to devour everything straight away, but photos could never do the food justice in any case!  

Neil ordered the brisket and burnt ends with the mac'n'cheese on the side, and he was also really impressed. I left a quarter of a rib and some of my pastrami hash behind because I was so full at the end, and I felt genuinely gutted that I couldn't quite manage it all. I was also disappointed that I didn't have room to sample one of their desserts! 

Our main meals, sides and pints of diet Coke came to £55 in total. I thought this was very reasonable considering the great quality and the massive portion sizes. Everyone who served us was friendly and efficient, and they all clearly loved working in such a unique restaurant. 

Have you ever been to Hang Fire Southern Kitchen? We'll definitely be back! 

Breakfast review: Bill's

Going for breakfast at Bill's has become a little bit of an obsession for us over the last few months.

I've visited Bill's loads of times for lunch and dinner, but we'd never got around to going there for breakfast until the end of May. We were missing our American breakfasts after coming home from Florida with a particular craving for pancakes, and we'd heard that Bill's was a pretty good substitute.

There's a Bill's in Cardiff city centre and in Cardiff Bay, and I've been to both restaurants several times over the last few years. However, when we go to Bill's as a couple, we always go to the one in Cardiff Bay as it's more convenient for us and is set in beautiful surroundings, especially on a sunny day.

On our first visit to Bill's back in May, I ordered the banana, strawberry and blueberry pancakes. You can choose between a 3 stack or a 5 stack, so I opted for the 3 stack to be on the safe side. I've got a hefty appetite but, for some reason, I REALLY struggle to finish all my food when it comes to American pancakes. 

I think you'll agree that this is a very instagrammable breakfast. The pancakes come with a decent helping of Bill's 'pancake syrup', which is basically their own branded maple syrup. The fruit adds the sweetness that's needed to break up the texture of the pancakes, and the whole dish just works perfectly. These pancakes are slightly thinner than their American counterparts which means they're more manageable for me, and I can comfortably clear my plate as long as I order a 3 stack. 

On our second visit to Bill's for breakfast in June, I chose the smoked streaky bacon pancakes. I think I marginally prefer the fruity variety, but that bacon really was cooked to perfection. My only slight issue with the bacon pancakes is that they come with a big dollop of very rich butter as well as the pancake syrup, and this meant the meal felt a little too rich for me towards the end. 

Bill's has plenty of options for breakfast if you don't fancy pancakes, but I don't think I'll ever be able to order anything else just in case I'm disappointed! There are also plenty of beverages on offer including tea, coffee, orange juice and a very tasty apple, carrot and ginger juice. 

Our breakfast usually comes to around £22, and Bill's will also add an optional 10% service charge to your bill. I think this is pretty reasonable for a good quality breakfast, and it's always a lovely experience with great service. We definitely need to plan our next visit soon. 

Have you been to Bill's for breakfast recently? What did you think? 

Restaurant Review: Mint and Mustard

*This is really more of a 'look what I ate on Saturday night' post rather than a detailed review, but that title wasn't as catchy and didn't alliterate.*

We went to Penarth's Mint and Mustard restaurant last Saturday evening in advance of me starting my new job on Monday. As I've said before, I will happily use any excuse to go out for a nice meal.

We'd been to Mint and Mustard a couple of times in 2015 but hadn't been back since, so I was excited about giving it another go. It's quite fancy for a curry house which means it's a lovely place to go for a special occasion, so I decided to get dressed up for the event.

We went for poppadums, starters and mains on this occasion. The poppadums are all broken up in a basket when they're served, and they come with three different chutneys. My only complaint is that the little dishes are too small which means the contents run out too quickly! I'm not a fan of lime pickle and always avoid it, but the other two choices were amazing.

I ordered the Onion Palak Pakora for my starter as I had this dish back in 2015 and hadn't forgotten how much I loved it. Mint and Mustard's pakora is basically a fritter of shredded spinach, onion and water chestnuts. They taste just like onion bhajis (in my opinion) which is probably why I love them so much, and the accompanying sauce is delicious too. A little spicy, but just the right level of spice to complement the pakora. 

After sampling the delicious chutneys and my starter, I was extremely excited about the arrival of my main course. I wanted to try something a bit different on this visit so I ordered the Five Spiced Paneer Masala. As I've become a little obsessed with paneer after my recent visit to Vegetarian Food Studio and prefer vegetarian curries to meaty ones, it seemed like the perfect choice. 

This was SO GOOD. Although it was a little more spicy than the masala sauce I've had in other restaurants, I didn't mind as it was beautifully tasty and chock full of flavour. It was also a realistic portion size which meant I managed to eat nearly all of it rather than having to leave half a bowl of curry behind. I ordered a side of pilau rice to go with it, and we also shared a garlic naan. 

Our meal came to £59 in total. This included poppadums and chutneys, two starters, two mains, two sides of rice, a naan bread, a large diet Coke and a medium glass of wine. This is obviously much more than we'd usually pay for a curry! However, Mint and Mustard is quite an upmarket place and we were happy to pay more as it was a special occasion. 

Have you ever been to Mint and Mustard? Let me know what you thought! 

Restaurant Review: Restaurant James Sommerin

Last Friday, I reached an important milestone in my recovery journey - all clear for a whole year. We always eat out somewhere nice after my three monthly appointments, but we decided we needed to go somewhere extra special on this occasion. It's been an incredibly tough year for both of us so I think it's fair to say that we deserved to treat ourselves.

After much deliberation, we took the plunge and booked dinner at the Michelin-starred Restaurant James Sommerin on Penarth Esplanade. If we can't treat ourselves to an extravagant meal for this level of occasion, when can we?!

In an extremely rare burst of optimism, I bought my dress for the occasion from New Look months ago.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we were shown to our table straight away. As we were visiting on a Friday evening, the tasting menu was the only option on the menu. A few people had already told us that we might as well go the whole hog and opt for the tasting menu if we did go there, so we were perfectly happy with that. We were presented with two options - the standard tasting menu or the surprise tasting menu. As there were a couple of items I didn't fancy on the standard menu, and just because it was a special occasion, we decided to go for the six-course surprise tasting menu with wine pairings. When I told the waiter that I don't like fish, he was very understanding and assured me that my menu would be planned accordingly. 

Before I get started on talking about the food, I should make a few things clear... firstly, I apologise for the terrible photo quality. The lighting wasn't very good in the restaurant (and I didn't think using the flash would be appropriate!) so my photos definitely don't do the food justice. Secondly, as I've admitted before, I'm a terrible food blogger. This means that any detailed descriptions below have either been taken from Google or just vaguely guessed at as I could never remember all those intricate ingredients myself. I also haven't gone into detail about the specific tastes and textures because I'm rubbish at doing that, quite frankly. All you need to know is that everything was amazing. 

We were served a few 'snippets' before the first of our six courses which were a pleasant surprise. These were made up of a wild garlic espuma with toasted seeds, cheese gougères, and tapioca crisps with taramasalata and hummus.

We were then shown a huge platter of different breads and asked which we wanted to try. I assumed we could only choose one but Neil chose two, so I went ahead and chose the same two - a caramelised onion wheel and a rosemary focaccia. The bread came with a dollop of unsalted butter and a seasalt and seaweed butter, served on a pebble from Penarth beach! 

Next up, it was time for our first starter and our first glass of wine. Although I was quite nervous about the prospect of drinking lots of red wine as I'm not usually a fan, I've since come to the conclusion that I must have only tried rubbish red wine in the past as I loved the varieties we had on Friday night. This course was a lovely concoction of wood pigeon, black pudding, raspberry and beetroot.

It was soon time for our next savoury course and our first glass of white wine. Neil was served trout for this course and I was given the vegetarian option as I'd asked for no fish. I can't find a detailed description of this course anywhere, but it was basically made up of mozzarella, basil, pine nuts and heritage carrots. I never thought I'd say this sentence, but they were the best carrots I've ever had in my life. 

We both had a vegetarian offering for the next savoury course - potato, garlic foam, mushroom shavings and an additional mushroom concoction (you might have guessed by now that I often use the word 'concoction' when I don't know what something is called). I don't like mushrooms so this was probably my least favourite dish, but that potato really was spectacular. 

It was time for our main course and I think this was my favourite dish of the night. I could have eaten it three times over! We had a beautifully cooked steak, shallots, roast parsnips, mushrooms, root vegetable puree and a red wine jus. It was absolutely spectacular and blended perfectly with the accompanying wine.

In the blink of an eye, we moved on to desserts. I was THRILLED to discover that there were two dessert courses, as you can imagine. The first one was the best dessert I've ever had (and I've eaten a lot of desserts). It was a deconstructed lemon tart with blueberries, shortbread, meringue and the most amazing lemon sorbet. And who doesn't love a bit of lemon-scented dry ice action? The accompanying wine was my favourite of the evening as it reminded me of the ice wine we sampled in Toronto. 

While I was still waxing lyrical about my first dessert course and the wine, out came the next one. The second dessert was a raspberry souffle with a quernell of violet ice cream, and it was absolutely exquisite. This was actually the biggest course of the evening and I struggled to finish it, but I was determined to finish every bite. It was too tasty and too expensive not to! 

We absolutely loved our experience at Restaurant James Sommerin and I wish we could eat there every weekend. All the staff members we spoke to were very attentive and every course, both food and wine, was described in great detail. We ate at our own pace and were there for a good three hours in total. 

Although it's not cheap and is by far the most expensive meal we've ever eaten together, it definitely lived up to our expectations and 100% deserves that Michelin star. 

Have you ever been to Restaurant James Sommerin? What did you think?

Restaurant Review: Tony's

Tony's is our 'go-to' restaurant. Midweek birthday? 'Let's go to Tony's'. Need to get out of the house for an hour on a Saturday evening? 'Let's go to Tony's'. Meeting up with friends? 'Let's go to Tony's'. You get the picture!

Tony's is situated on a little street in the middle of Penarth, so it's within walking distance or a five minute drive away from where we live.  The restaurant used to be in a different location and my husband remembers it fondly from his childhood/teenage years, but it closed for a few years and re-opened in the town centre. The first time I visited Tony's a couple of years ago, we were offered free starters as the manager wanted opinions on some of their signature dishes. I immediately knew it was my kind of restaurant! The starter was amazing, in case you were wondering... I'm salivating at the very thoughts of it.

I nearly always order the Combination pizza for my main meal which comes with ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions and mixed peppers. I'm not even going to try to describe how good it tastes (I'd be a terrible food blogger), except to say that it's just as good as all the authentic Italian pizzas I've ever had! Praise indeed, I hear you say. I did stray from my trusty pizza and ordered a bolognese on one occasion, which was also really delicious and a very hefty portion. However, I did slightly regret not ordering the Combination as I love it so much. The dough is amazing, the crucial cheese to tomato ratio is always perfect, and the combination of toppings is just spectacular.

We usually have a Diet Coke each when we go to Tony's, but I have been known to splash out on a cocktail or a glass of wine on a couple of special occasions. Everything is very reasonably priced, including my fully loaded pizza which is one of the more expensive items on the menu at £12.50. A meal for two easily comes in under £35 which is a great price for such an authentic and good quality experience. We're nearly always served by the same staff members, and they're equally as polite and attentive every time. Although we usually book a table if we're going with a group of people, we tend to just walk in when we go on a weeknight or early on a Saturday evening as the restaurant is generally quiet at those times. I'd expect a little restaurant of this quality to be packed all the time, but I'm not complaining as it allows us to be spontaneous and pop in at short notice.

Have you ever visited Tony's? Make sure you give it a try next time you're in/near Penarth!

Restaurant Review: Etc

We visited Etc in Penarth for the first time last week to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. We wanted to try somewhere new, unique and highly recommended, and Etc ticked all those boxes!

The restaurant was very quiet when we arrived at 6:30pm and we were seated straight away in a secluded spot next to the window.

Etc is a very small restaurant with a decadent black and gold interior, from the light fittings and the wall hangings down to the menus and candle holders. I'd read in a couple of reviews beforehand that the decor was 'too much', but I thought it was really classy and nicely done. And, crucially, it's very instagrammable! There were a few black and gold balloons dotted around so I assumed they were in preparation for someone's birthday party, but it turns out that they're all part of the restaurant's general theme. 

I'd already studied the innovative menu in great detail beforehand so I knew exactly what I was having to eat. However, it took a little longer to decide on my cocktail as the drinks menu was very extensive! I eventually settled on the Spiced Ginger Mojito, and Neil had a glass of Pinot Grigio. 

Although my starter was listed as a Small Plate on the menu rather than as an actual starter, I knew I absolutely had to order it as soon as I read the description. I chose the Chicken Satay which was mouth-wateringly described as 'peanut butter chicken infused with honey, coriander and chilli served on a bed of egg noodles'. Seriously, who wouldn't choose it with a description like that? 

As you can see, the 'small plate' was a decent portion size for a starter and it was so delicious. I usually struggle with taking meat off skewers (there was an embarrassing incident a few years ago when I accidentally flicked a piece of chicken across a crowded restaurant), but the meat on these skewers was lovely and tender. The egg noodles had a slightly nutty tang too and were just the right texture - not too chewy! 

After consuming this amazing starter, I was very excited about the prospects of the main course. I chose the vegetarian version of the Pineapple Upside Down dish which was made up of pineapple basmati rice with mixed peppers, chilli and coriander served in a pineapple shell.

Imagine my delight (and the speed in which my phone camera appeared) when this beauty arrived on our table! This portion was huge, bearing in mind that the pineapple shell was hollowed out and entirely filled with the tasty rice concoction. There were big chunks of pineapple included throughout and the delicate flavouring of the rice was divine. I'm not usually drawn towards dishes made up entirely of rice, but this one definitely didn't disappoint. 

We were both pretty full after our starters and mains but we decided to force some dessert down too as it was a special occasion (and because, let's face it, we love food). I went for one of my favourite desserts in the world - Vanilla Panna Cotta. This particular panna cotta came served with fresh strawberries and raspberries, and drizzled with a raspberry coulis.

Just like the other two courses, the presentation of the dessert was exquisite and the taste wasn't bad either. Although I've been very spoilt with my previous experiences of panna cotta as I usually order them in Italy, this one measured up very well compared to my authentic Italian desserts! 

This was one of our more expensive meals together at £75. Just to recap, this included two alcoholic drinks, two starters, two main courses and two desserts. It's obviously not somewhere we'd visit every week, but I thought it was perfect for a special occasion and well worth the money for such a lovely experience and amazing and out-of-the-ordinary culinary delights. The staff were friendly and attentive and the atmosphere was perfectly relaxed, just what we needed for our anniversary meal.

Have you ever visited Etc? What did you think? 

Restaurant Review: Moksh

If you've read my last blog post, you'll know that I had one of my three monthly check ups at the hospital last Friday. We always make an effort to go to a special restaurant in the evening after these check ups, and this time we decided to try somewhere brand new based on lots of positive recommendations from various friends - Moksh in Cardiff Bay.

We booked our table for 7pm and it was pretty quiet when we arrived. We'd already decided that we'd spoil ourselves and go for a three course meal as the starters and desserts sounded just as amazing as the main courses. I also treated myself to a glass of Prosecco as it was technically a celebratory meal, and it wasn't much more expensive than a soft drink!

I was torn between quite a few starters, but I finally decided on the Chicken James a la Indiana with CO2 Essence. What on earth is CO2 essence, I hear you ask? I wondered exactly the same thing... 

Don't ask me about the science behind it, but the waitress poured water into the container above and it erupted into an impressive steam show which smelt of cinnamon. I am quite easily impressed, but I thought this was a great spectacle. The food itself was really good, and was a deceptively large portion for a starter. There's half a naan bread hiding underneath all that chicken and sauce!

For my main meal, I decided to go for chicken again and ordered the A.D.I.D.A.S. (All Day I Dream About Spherification). It came with rice which meant I didn't have to worry about side orders, and it sounded very intriguing. 

It was completely different to what I was expecting, but it looked absolutely amazing. The spheres were visually impressive and full of fruity flavour, and the chicken was beautifully flavoured too. Oh, and there was LOADS of it. It also came with a chilli Cantonese inspired sauce which was a little spicy, but not overly so. The sauce meant that the meal wasn't too dry and 'samey' and was the perfect accompaniment. 

We also ordered a garlic and coriander buttered naan to share which was really tasty. It was quite thin which suited me fine as I didn't have room for a big wedge of naan bread on this occasion!  

Although we were very full after our main course, we heroically decided to go ahead with our original plan of ordering desserts as they sounded so unique and unlike anything we'd ever had elsewhere. I went for the Arabian Nights dessert which came with pistachio mousse, curry ice cream, dates meringue, gold dusted sweet hummus macaroon, edible sand and the magic lamp. 

There aren't many things I love more than an instagrammable dessert. The magic lamp was similar to CO2 essence I had with my starter, but even more aesthetically pleasing as the steam came out of the spout and tiny little holes on the lid to give a bit of a mystical effect, The pistachio mousse was probably my favourite element of this dessert, closely followed by the macaroon and the meringue. The curry ice cream didn't do it for me unfortunately as I didn't think the combination of flavours worked very well. However, I've heard others raving about it so it's just down to personal taste. 

The service was quite slow when the restaurant got busier towards the end of the evening, but the staff were all polite and we weren't in a rush so we didn't mind. The restaurant is quite small and doesn't feel overly crowded, and I loved it that everything was colour coordinated (orange, in case you were wondering). This was one of our more expensive meals in the UK at £78 but, considering the quality and quantity of the food and the special atmosphere, as well as the unique nature of the experience, we thought it was worth it.  

I also appreciated the opportunity to get dressed up and to put some make up on... I've been struggling lately and hadn't made an effort with my make up on for about a month, so it was nice to spend some time getting ready for a nice occasion! 

Have you ever been to Moksh? What did you think? 

Eating our way around Walt Disney World

We're off to Florida in just 13 days and I can't wait to eat EVERYTHING as soon as we step off that plane. We're trying out a few new restaurants this year so I thought I'd give my readers a run-through of what those new ones are, as well as a quick mention for some old favourites.

One of the many perks of going on holiday to Walt Disney World is that you can book your restaurants in advance, so we already know where we'll be eating nearly every day. We also have a list of 'maybe' restaurants up our sleeves for the days where we haven't made any reservations yet... we spend an awful lot of time talking about food!

Here are the new restaurants we've already booked for this year's holiday:


Yak & Yeti
We never usually eat a sit-down lunch at Animal Kingdom so we thought we'd change that this year. I've heard great things about Yak & Yeti so I'm very excited about this one!

Cítricos
I love everything about the Grand Floridian and, having tried two restaurants there so far, we thought it was time to try another one of the resort's signature offerings.

Kona Café

I've never visited the Polynesian Resort apart from whizzing through on the monorail, so I'm looking forward to exploring the resort after our breakfast at Kona Café.

Tutto Italia Ristorante
Tutto Italia comes highly recommended from my in-laws so we're looking forward to giving this one a try. You can never cram too many Italian meals into one holiday!

Teppan Edo 
We've been meaning to try Teppan Edo for a few years and have never managed to fit it in. It always smells amazing when we walk past so this is another one we're very excited about.



The difficult (and fantastic) thing about going to Florida is that, although we always want to try new restaurants, we also have a huge list of favourites which we just have to keep going back to. It's almost impossible to narrow down, but I think these are the five I'm looking forward to the most...

Shula's Steak House

Narcoossee's

Via Napoli

Yachstman Steakhouse

Cheesecake Factory

And, last but not least, Walt Disney World offers an amazing array of quick service options for those occasions where you just want a quick and casual bite to eat rather than taking your time at a table service restaurant. Here are the five quick service options I'm most excited about...

D-Luxe Burger

Earl of Sandwich 

The Artist's Palette 

Lotus Blossom Café
(I weirdly haven't got any photos of the food from there!)

Ghirardelli 

Have you tried any of these restaurant options? What did you think? Let me know if you have any more recommendations! 

Restaurant Review: Romeo's by the Sea

It's been a while since I've written a restaurant review so I thought it was about time I rectified this situation! Penarth has some lovely independent Italian restaurants, one of which I blogged about many moons ago (Villa Napoli), so I thought I'd focus on another one of these restaurants for my first review of 2017.

Romeo's by the Sea is situated a stone's throw away from Penarth Pier which means it's conveniently within walking distance of our house. We visited for the first time last August to celebrate our second wedding anniversary and we've been twice since then with my parents.

The picturesque location of Romeo's by the Sea means it has a perfect seaside view if you're lucky enough to bag a table by the window. We've managed this on two out of our three visits so those are pretty good odds! The restaurant has plenty of external seating as well as ample seating indoors and I would recommend that you book a table if you'd like to try it out, particularly if you're visiting over the weekend. 

Romeo's has a very extensive menu and offers something for everyone, whatever your tastes. There are lots of vegetarian and/or gluten free options, as well as a hefty fish and seafood offering. I've tried the Penne Spezzatino, Penne Amatriciana and Tagliatelle Chef and I can very highly recommend all three! We also treated ourselves to starters and a bottle of wine on our first visit to Romeo's which were just as tasty as the mains.  

You'll be pleasantly surprised when you look at the prices on the menu, particularly as the portions are always very generous. I love restaurants where you get plenty of food on your plate and Romeo's certainly ticks that box. Just to give you a rough idea, a meal for four with soft drinks, main courses and two sides cost £54 which I think you'll agree is very reasonable considering the quality of food and those massive portion sizes. 

The staff members are all so friendly at Romeo's and, although the service is always quick and efficient, you never feel as if you're being rushed out of the door to free up a table. We've dealt with lots of different staff members during our three visits and they're always very eager to help and to make us feel welcome. 

Have you ever been to Romeo's by the Sea? Will you be adding it to your 'must-do' list after reading this post?