Mrs SF and I have tried to have breakfast at Ffandango’s in Llandaff on a number of occasions, but have alway been stymied for one reason or another.

A rare solo day off (usually save them up for holidays away, so rarely take just the odd day off) didn’t work as on the Monday of our visit they were experimenting with only doing soup (at 10.30am soup was not on my want list – we went to the Potting Shed for breakfast instead). Another visit on a Saturday during a previous cold snap found the kitchen closed due to the chef being snowed in and yet another found the whole place closed (we were too early).

All very frustrating, as it is dog friendly and at breakfast/brunch time (of a weekend) we always have our two dogs (and often other people’s) in tow.

After a bit of a lie in (you don’t ever really get one with dogs) and a long walk with the doggies, we were later than usual and had build up a bit of an appetite (especially with the cold weather). We thought a cooked breakfast would be the perfect antidote to the cold and a very effective way of getting back any calories burned off during the walk!!

With dogs in tow, breakfast/brunch options are a little limited, but Ffandango’s is resolutely dog friendly and walking past it on said Sunday morning we, at last, found it open and operating in full breakfast mode.

We, therefore, were finally able to do Ffandango’s (for non Welsh speakers – I am not one, having come here to go to University and then never left – “ff” in Welsh is pronounced as “f” in English whereas a single “f” in Welsh is pronounced as a “v” as I understand it).

The place

Located on the High St. in Llandaff (the village come city, come Cardiff suburb where Mrs. SF and I are based), Ffandango’s is a organic food shop/deli that has expanded into the restaurant/cafe business.

Inside it is quite nicely decked out.

Higgledy piggledy chairs and tables mix in nicely with the dark wood on the walls.

I quite like it inside and the people running it are very affable (and particularly dog friendly). Nice pit stop for a bit of brekkie I thought.

Since our first aborted visit their previous association with Bara Menyn, when it got a rather good write up from Gourmet Gorro (who knows a good breakfast when he sees one), has ended and a new chef is in situ. The format seems similar, but the Welsh flavour of the breakfast menu (previously featuring things like cockles and lavabread) have certainly been toned down.

The food

The breakfast/brunch menu is available all day and offers an interesting mix of the more conventional fry up and more hipsterised stuff (baked eggs with chorizo, as well as smashed – why it is smashed as opposed to merely mashed is beyond me – avocado).

There is also wider (non breakfasts) offering, which links in to the place’s deli operations.

Whilst the timing of our visit was closer to lunch time we were both drawn to the breakfast (rather than lunch) menu and on it to the more traditional items.

I decided on the Llwndaff, which (at £8.50) offered a rather fine and full, if not particularly cheap (pays your money…, as they say), compliment of breakfast items.

The protein elements were two rashers of good (with a nice crisping up of the fat) bacon (proper thick cut with little shrinkage), a far from regulation sausage (a short and plump number, full of flavour), a nicely runny golden yolked egg (sitting on a bit of non regulation buttered toast) and a killer slab of black pudding (nicely crisped up on the exterior and soft and yielding in the interior).

Added to this were some beautiful crisp yet fluffy fried potato cubes, two tomato halves (properly seasoned, although they could have done with a touch more cooking time) and a field mushroom (with a good earthy flavour to it).

The final element of the Llwndaff was a pot of beans. Beans are a contentious item on a fry up – some people love them, whilst others loathe them. Personally they do not offend me, but I would have preferred another sausage or a further egg on my plate instead.

Mrs. SF went for the more diminutive “small fry up” (£6 50), which lacked the black pudding, beans, mushroom, potatoes (and had only a single rasher of bacon) of the Llwndaff.

Very nice (again the toms. needed a bit more grill time), but perhaps a touch expensive at £6.50 in comparison to the Llwndaff for which you get a fair bit more for your extra £2.

I rather liked the fact that they eschew the standard brands on the sauce front and go with local stuff in the form of Chilli of the Valley (for the record I am very much in the brown, rather than red, sauce with breakie camp).

The drink

On the drinks front, to be honest, I didn’t really explore the options past what came out of their rather impressive coffee machine.

Very nice flat white (£2.40 I think), with nice mocha and caramel notes and a touch of fruitiness.

Very pleasant with my breakie.

Booze is available (wine and beer) but I didn’t check out the options any further as am not one to drink with my breakfast if I am honest (bar from the very occasional glass of bubbly or a Bloody Mary).

The verdict

I really enjoyed the breakfast offering at Ffandango’s. Good food at a fair (rather than cheap) price, with quality ingredients and the added bonus of the place being resolutely doggie friendly (a huge bonus for Mrs. SF and I).

The bill was a smidgen under £20, which I though was fair value for the quality of what we got.

Would I go back ? Oh yes, I can see Mrs. SF and I (borrowing from the Queen classic that I bastardised for the title of this post) “scaramouching” up there and doing Ffandango’s again on a number of occasions.

The details

Address: 26 High Street, Llandaf, Cardiff, CF5 2DZ

Tel: 02921 32 3012

Email: ffandangos@outlook com

Website: Click here

Not on Twitter or Instagram as far as I can tell.

Opening hours: Mon – Fri: 8.00 – 18.00, Sat: 9.00 – 17.00, Sun 10.00 – 13.00.