God Save the Village Green
Whenever I'm looking for foody inspiration I usually turn to Twitter. They're a helpful (and hungry) bunch and can usually be relied on to point you in the direction of a good meal or steer you away from a potential salmonella infested nightmare. And so it was that I found my blogging diary looking a little empty. I sent a short message into the ether asking for suggestions or, more to the point, a restaurant willing to let me over the threshold.
A reply came back quickly from the Village Kitchen and Bar, situated in leafy Whitchurch, asking if I fancied dinner with them soon. Of course I did!
Walk the 10 minutes or so from Llandaff station and you'll find Merthyr Road, buzzing with restaurants, coffee houses and bars - a world away from the city centre yet just as vibrant. We entered VKB to find a cosy but welcoming bar area, decorated in muted cappucino colours and glammed up with some modern chandeliers. We were shown to our table and began to peruse the a la carte menu.
Deciding against starters in favour of pudding later (being sat directly opposite the dessert carousel may have had something to do with this) we quickly opted for Corn-fed Chicken (£12.95) for me and Crisp Belly Pork (also £12.95) for my partner.
The sign above the open kitchen pass reads "Good food takes time" and whilst this is true, we certainly didn't have to wait long before our meals were presented to us.
The chicken came as a ballotine, stuffed with a coarse chicken liver and mushroom pate and wrapped in bacon with a peppercorn sauce and lambs lettuce. I'd opted for chips and these came served seperately. Visually it was well presented but I felt that the bacon could have been a bit crisper. No matter as the chicken itself was moist, juicy and packed with the rich flavour of pate. The chips were crisp and fluffy and the peppercorn sauce fiery enough without overpowering. Wanting some extra veggies on the side I'd ordered a portion of the seasonal vegetables (£2.50) - brocolli, carrots and cauliflower all cooked to perfection, piping hot and neither raw nor sloppy, which can often happen in restaurants. (I wanted to show you pics but sadly all the photos I took that night were out of focus - this had nothing to do with the glass of wine, honest!)
The slab of pork belly was served atop a generous portion of savoy cabbage and carrots and coated in a delicious sweet and sour sauce. The outside of the meat was crisp and the fat melting but the pork itself was overcooked by a matter of a minute or so. The flavour combination was stunning and the dish was vibrant without resorting to the lurid colours you often find at your take away.
Onto the much awaited puddings and we decided on Passionfruit and Raspberry Trifle for me and Chocolate and Strawberry Roulade (£4.50 each) for my partner. The trifle was pleasant enough but didn't have a hint of passionfruit amongst the custard, fruit and jelly. Served in a glass, the accompanying plate with it's splodge of raspberry sauce was a little bit wasted. The roulade was creamy but light and not overly sweet - disappointing if you were looking for a chocolate fix. It came with a light caramel sauce on top so didn't really need the extra cream. Both were nice enough but didn't set our worlds on fire and were decidedly average compared to the chicken I had.
In all it was a good meal but possibly one that didn't live up to its full potential.
[Blogger's Note: In the interests of fairness I think it's only right to point out that whilst I offered to pay for the whole meal, when presented with the bill we were only charged for drinks]
A reply came back quickly from the Village Kitchen and Bar, situated in leafy Whitchurch, asking if I fancied dinner with them soon. Of course I did!
Walk the 10 minutes or so from Llandaff station and you'll find Merthyr Road, buzzing with restaurants, coffee houses and bars - a world away from the city centre yet just as vibrant. We entered VKB to find a cosy but welcoming bar area, decorated in muted cappucino colours and glammed up with some modern chandeliers. We were shown to our table and began to peruse the a la carte menu.
Deciding against starters in favour of pudding later (being sat directly opposite the dessert carousel may have had something to do with this) we quickly opted for Corn-fed Chicken (£12.95) for me and Crisp Belly Pork (also £12.95) for my partner.
The sign above the open kitchen pass reads "Good food takes time" and whilst this is true, we certainly didn't have to wait long before our meals were presented to us.
The chicken came as a ballotine, stuffed with a coarse chicken liver and mushroom pate and wrapped in bacon with a peppercorn sauce and lambs lettuce. I'd opted for chips and these came served seperately. Visually it was well presented but I felt that the bacon could have been a bit crisper. No matter as the chicken itself was moist, juicy and packed with the rich flavour of pate. The chips were crisp and fluffy and the peppercorn sauce fiery enough without overpowering. Wanting some extra veggies on the side I'd ordered a portion of the seasonal vegetables (£2.50) - brocolli, carrots and cauliflower all cooked to perfection, piping hot and neither raw nor sloppy, which can often happen in restaurants. (I wanted to show you pics but sadly all the photos I took that night were out of focus - this had nothing to do with the glass of wine, honest!)
The slab of pork belly was served atop a generous portion of savoy cabbage and carrots and coated in a delicious sweet and sour sauce. The outside of the meat was crisp and the fat melting but the pork itself was overcooked by a matter of a minute or so. The flavour combination was stunning and the dish was vibrant without resorting to the lurid colours you often find at your take away.
Onto the much awaited puddings and we decided on Passionfruit and Raspberry Trifle for me and Chocolate and Strawberry Roulade (£4.50 each) for my partner. The trifle was pleasant enough but didn't have a hint of passionfruit amongst the custard, fruit and jelly. Served in a glass, the accompanying plate with it's splodge of raspberry sauce was a little bit wasted. The roulade was creamy but light and not overly sweet - disappointing if you were looking for a chocolate fix. It came with a light caramel sauce on top so didn't really need the extra cream. Both were nice enough but didn't set our worlds on fire and were decidedly average compared to the chicken I had.
In all it was a good meal but possibly one that didn't live up to its full potential.
[Blogger's Note: In the interests of fairness I think it's only right to point out that whilst I offered to pay for the whole meal, when presented with the bill we were only charged for drinks]
Comments
Am pleased to say the service was good when I went (as you'd expect given advance warning) but those around us all seemed to be served promptly and politely.
My chicken was definitely the stand out dish and whilst the pork was pleasant it wasn't fantastic.
The puds were both average.
It's okay but really needs to try harder if it's to attract people out of the city centre. The Echo review won't do them any favours with that though.
2. Because I couldn't think of a snappy title and when in doubt I revert to song lyrics (check my archive!)