A fun fact is that another name (up North) for Gorse is whin, which with my love of a pun blog post title is just dandy(lion).

Shxte post title addressed, I have been enjoying the food of Tom Waters for a while, with his various Cardiff pop ups including at the Potting Shed in Insole Court and Ground in Pontcanna and to say I was rather pleased that he has opened a proper bricks and mortar restaurant in Pontcanna (having him as my private chef in Llandaff would have been better, but I can’t have everything it seems) is an understatment to say the least.

It is a brave move as hospitality is still in dire straits due to the double whammy of sky high overheads and skint customers. Based on pricing, with the evening 10 course tasting menu at £100, this is decidely aimed at the higher end of the Cardiff dining market. It will compete with the likes of nearby Thomas by Tom Simmonds and Heaneys (two of my go-to places for a celebration meal in Cardiff) and that is a pretty high bar (in Cardiff).

A table was duly booked (for J, A and I as a warm up for our pending trip, with Mrs SF, to Donostia – San Sebastian) and having tried the full tasting menu on previous occasions we thought it would be an idea to go for the shorter (and cheaper) lunch menu. Good prep for Spain, where I like my main meal at lunchtime (as the Spaniards eat ludicrously late in the evening).

Inside (of what was previously Fido, a dog friendly cafe), I like the open kitchen set up. I have always enjoyed viewing the ballet that is a well choreographed kitchen bridgade and, whereas previously we got the Tom Waters’ one man show,

here it was a trio all working seamlessly together.

It would be an absolute no no for the likes of me, with me dropping stuff, breaching all manner of health and safety dictats, swearing like a docker and the place looking like a bomb had gone off (just your average dinner prep in my kitchen, with Mrs. SF loving it when I cook). Here it was all very serene.

For the £35 price tag, the lunch menu looks particularly good value

which is great for a tight arse like me.

I will leave those more eloquent than me to pontificate as to merits of the longer menu dinner options of 7

and 10 courses,

but they certainly both read rather enticingly to the tastebuds.

Back to the lunch menu, proceeding were commenced with uber crisp and thin buckwheat crackers, topped with a punchy smoked cod’s roe topping and frongs of dill

Size wise this was quite dinky (as a proper canape should be), but it really packed a punch on the flavour front. Smokey, without overpowering the brininess of the roe and the nutty earthiness of the rather delicate cracker. A hit of anis from the dill added nicely to the mix. Good start this.

Next up, we had a choice of starter, with me going for the beetroot.

This worked really well, with the sharpness and heat of the horseradish sauce (which has a natural affinity to smoke – think smoked fish and horseradish) a perfect foil for the beets.

A nice mix of earthiness and subtle smokiness underpinned this dish. Not sure where the blackcurrant leaves came into the equation (in the sauce perhaps) as the leaves on top of the beetroot looked and tasted (with a slight pepperiness reminiscent of radish) like nasturtium leaves to me.

Nice whatever they were,

but if I were a betting man I would put my money on it being nasturtium.

Flavour wise, this dish didn’t miss a beet😀.

J and A both went for the celeriac soup

within which a runny (after being pierced) egg yolk sat. Mixed in with the nuttiness of the main ingredient, the eggs’ richness worked really well.

On top of it (and adding further richness) was a positive blizzard of mature caws cerwyn with a mild, nutty, butteriness that complimented the naturally nutty celeriac.

Billed as a standalone course, we used the bread as an adjunct to the starters (which I think is the right thing to do).  

Regardless, what a lovely roll the Gorse bread is. Pert and bronzed, with a delicate crust and a beautifully soft warm interior. All together, it acted as a well kneaded cuddle.

Lovely eaten unadorned, it came into its own when copious quantities of the house, sea lettuce, butter 

was slathered on it (with the sea lettuce giving it a cucumber- esque flavour, as well as umami undertones).

It was an excellent roll for the mop up role required of it for the starters.

As with starters, the lunch menu offers a choice for mains, with on the day that  being hake or barley (presumably the latter a sort of risotto style affair).

We all choose hake,

which was definitely the dish of the day.

Lovely pearly white bit of fillet, cooked on point with just past translucent flakes.

It was doused in a sauce of smoked butter and vinegar, split with a verdant herb oil.  The richness of the smoked butter was tempered by the vinegar, giving it a surprisingly delicate flavour that didn’t  overawe the fish (hake has to be one of my favourite white fishes, with Spaniards who know a thing or two as to what eats well from the sea loving it).

The fish sat on a chiffonade of leeks (luxuriating in more of that lovely sauce) that bought a zingy alium hit to the plate.

Nuttiness and a delicate smokiness came from the accompanying Jersey Royals (truly the King of Spuds). 

Really nice dish this that looked simple, but cleverly showcased the ingredients.

Desserts slightly split the table, with me more enamoured than J (she wasn’t keen on the set yoghurt base – I am going to have fun with her in Donostia – San Sebastian with foie, pigs ears and snouts et al on the menu).

To me there was a lovely intensity to the flavour of the fruit (strawberries can too often be bland, dull, affairs, but just sing when full on flavoured) and the surrounding syrupy sort of affair (infused with aromats, giving a hit of anis).

Lovely pepperiness to this, with the petals (marigold?) adding a citrus zing. I also enjoyed the tanginess of the set yoghurt base (J, who has a jelly and panna cotta aversion, felt it was too set – it wasn’t).

On the booze front they have a short but nicely balanced list and the waiting staff know their stuff in terms of pairings

Price wise, I feel £230 for an (albeit a very good) aligote (the other Burgundy white grape) might be a bit of an ask for Cardiff even though the mark up is actually not bad at all  (retails at around £180 in bond).

Lower down the list the Izadi white rioja retails at about £20, so £48 is pretty fair UK mark up wise, whilst the cheapest white (a Bulgarian number) at £35 retails at about £13.50, so again well below the seeming 3 x retail norm for mark ups these days in the UK.

On the reds, the mark ups are a bit more punchy with the most expensive wine being a Cali. cab sauv at £200 on the list (as it retails at about £56 the list price here  seems a bit off to me).

Lower down the red list, there is better value with the Neudorf pinot noir 2018 £56 on the list and around £23 retail and the Logadoj Melnik 55 on the list at £35 and retailing at around £18 mark.

I wanted the Izadi white rioja, which to me would (and did) work well with all the savory elements on the menu.

Lovely drop this, with a touch of oak and vanilla but not too much. Nice fruit too, with citrus and stone fruits to the fore.  Refreshing, with a nice level of acidity, it went dien very easily.  Decent value at £48.

Despite my recommendation to get a bottle of the Izadi, J and A refused to play ball and wanted a red.

Despite me begging for a light one, they choose a merlot syrah blend from Bulgaria (possibly out of spite).

Perfectly nice (£40, retails at £20 +), with plum, cherry and spices on the nose  and liquorice on the palate it was a bit heavy for (my tastes at least) for the food on the lunch menu.. The Neudorf pinot would have been a better red option,  based on the lunch menu, in my humble opinion.

The verdict

Tom Waters is a real talent, with him rightly in the running for the National Restaurant Award 2024 : Chef to watch. Cardiff is lucky to have him running the show at Gorse and it adds further to Pontcanna’s restaurant appeal, with it Thomas by Tom Simmons and Heaneys (and Poca – if you stretch Pontcanna to the limit) making for very fertile ground for a feed.

What I like is (certainly from the lunch menu) is he doesn’t feel the need to gild the lily by adding all manner of fancy pants processes or uber pricey ingredients (the trend of “Would you like to added caviar/truffle to that, for a whopping supplement?” rather pees me off, as if it was needed the chef surely would have added it in the first place?!).

Here there is a real “less is more” cleverness to the menu. A sign of a confident and very able chef.

With great flavour and a bargain (ish) price, the Gorse lunch menu is definitely a whin, whin situation.

As an aside, the Bottle Shop (just up the road from Gorse) is great for a pre- Gorse glass of vino.

I had very pleasant glasses of Greek  assytriko and a Georgian khikhvi.

which was an excellent preamble to an excellent meal at Gorse. Another whin, whin.

The details

Address: 186-188 Kings Rd, Cardiff, CF11 9DF

Website: https://www.gorserestaurant.co.uk/