Beef tartare
The food scene in Wales has improved beyond measure over the last decade, with the charge led (I would argue) by Ynyshir on the fine dining front. It sometimes feels like half the best places to eat in Wales are headed by alumni. That aside, Cardiff itself has also burgeoned with good eats; The Plate Licked Clean is a great blog that I’ve followed for ages, and the couple of places I’ve been on prior visits to the city leave me pretty sure that we see eye-to-eye on food!
This visit we went to Asador 44, a Spain-inspired grill place that is now most definitely a Cardiff institution. So I was only somewhat hopeful that it would still be as good as when TPLC first reviewed it years ago. The dining room is big, friendly, casual and cosy. This was the final Sunday lunch of the year and service was slow, both up front and from the kitchen. I’m imagining an unexpected seasonal staff shortage. It was all fine.
Whole sea bass
The food was great though. My starter of ex-dairy beef tartare with grated cured egg yolk on top and a big crunchy charcoal cracker flecked with fennel seeds to scoop it up with was jolly good. Full flavoured beef, as you’d expect, but nothing gristly in there. Maureen’s grilled king oyster mushroom was good, with a sticky diced aubergine relish on the side. For main course I shared a whole sea bass with friend Tim. This was a cheerful monster of a fish, beautifully cooked off of the grill. Both the richly smoky romesco sauce and the brightly minty salsa verde were excellent. We went with a side of tenderstem broccoli, which came with an ajo blanco sauce that lacked a real garlicky punch and some bits of almond cracknel that were too big and so oddly separate from the broccoli. The other side was a silly bit of a Sunday-lunch-nod; Yorkshire pudding with chorizo. I thought it would be somehow cleverly done, but was a big and rather dry Yorkie with a few bits of fried chorizo dropped into it. Maureen’s confit duck leg sat upon a lovely baked rice with sticky burnt edges, shot through with morcilla and more salsa verde. The duck leg was fine, maybe a bit dry.
So we had a mixed bag at Asador 44, with some lovely fish and baked rice, a nice tartare, but some just-okay sides and duck leg. It’s probably be around £45 each for a decent meal without drinks and I think that’s probably nudging the high side for what we ate. That said, I’d say it’s a solid recommendation if you’re visiting Cardiff and want somewhere to eat in the very centre of the city.
Baked rice and duck
