Readers of the blog will know I am a big fan of the Sunday roast and we have some cracking options here in Cardiff with the likes of Bar 44, Asador 44, the Heathcock, Bully’s and Heaney’s to name but a few in terms of going out to eat a roast.

The continuing closure of restaurants, as lockdown drags on and on and on and on, has not stunted my appetite for the good old roast dinner and another weekend of “we’re not going out” brought the excuse of ordering in and with the above build up it had to be a roast.

Having had my last proper meal out back in 56 BC at Thomas by Tom Simmons (and very good it was too), I was keen to try their takeaway roast (J had given it the thumbs up, with is usually a good sign).

Ordering was simple (or so I thought – more on that later) via their website.

With a choice of beef (£16/£8), lamb (£16/£8, pork (£14/£7) or veggie (£12/£6) – the lower price is for a child portion, as well as one dessert (£6), I decided to ecshew my usual choice of beef and went instead for the pork belly (hoping for some nice crackling). Mrs. SF opted for the lamb. I also (or so I thought) ordered 2 pud. portions.

You can choose a time (very good range of slots available) to pick up and then it is a case of bombing down to Pontcanna and giving yourself pleny of time to find a bloody parking space (would drive me nuts to live down there with the on street parking issues).

All bagged up in containers, it was still nicely warm when I got back to the house, so no additional cooking required.

Opening everything up it all looked really promising (Mrs. SF had dug in to the veggies at this point so portion sizes were larger than portraited below).

I then opened up the carton that I assumed to be the pudding (sticky toffee pudding) and found (after a double, double, take) what transpired to be two children’s portions of nut roast😱.

Now people who know me (being an ardent carnivore, with no children) will know that me choosing to order a kiddie’s nut roast (left alone two of them) is about as likely as Nancy Pelosi asking Donald Trump out on a date.

Convinced I had picked up the wrong order (and having no email confirmation to check the order against) I gave them a call. They dealt with what transpired to be momentous incompetence on my behalf very calmly and professionally. Checking the order, they emailing me a copy of my order and then called me. I definately (if inadvertantly) did order the nut roasts (must have inadvertantly clicked on the wrong box) and the reason I had not got the email order confirmation was I had put (oddly as it auto fills this sort of stuff usually) in gnail not gmail. They said they regrettably didn’t have any pudding left – I cried a little as I stared at my nut roasts!

Whilst all this was occuring (with me having a bit of a flouncy sulk at my uselessness), Mr SF had wisely put the stuff in the oven to keep warm and heated up the two lots of gravy.

A very nice ensemble I have to say, with the amounts somewhat “beefed” up by the extra kiddie portions

The pork was a beautifully tender, well flavoured, piece of rolled belly, but I was just a little disappointed that it lacked some shards of crackling (one of the joys of a pork roast).

Mrs SF’s rolled lamb was even better,

with again a great flavour. Both were generously apportioned.

On to the veggies, the triple cooked roasties lived up to their billing. They had a lovely crispness to them (a few roasties had already been taken out by Mrs. SF – I got actually got a very respectable 6 roasties)

and the mash was beautifully smooth, with an indulgent butter to potato ratio.

Other veggies included a good red cabbage dish (with a nice balance of sweet and sour)

and a really peppery swede and carrot mash.

All finished off with a fine yorkie (still think they should only be served with beef, but I am clearly in a massive minority here and not as if I wasn’t going to eat it) and some rather pleasing gravy.

Nice touch to have different types of gravy for the lamb and pork.

All make for a very nice Sunday roast dinner.

The booze

On the booze front, you can pick up a bottle from the restaurant’s selection,

with the Tinto Pesquera (a Ribera del Duero wine) on the far right end a good pairing with a roast dinner (particularly lamb).

I have plenty of Ribera del Duero wine in the wine room, so rather than buying another I dug a 2004 (a very good vintage for Ribera wines) out of the wine room from Vinas del Jaro.

Lovely wine, drinking à point, with a glorious blackberry laden nose followed by more teritary notes of leather and tobacco.

On the palate, there was a good heft of ripe blackberry, followed by rich vanilla and liquorice. Great paired with the roast dinner and a wine to really savour (with a few years still in the tank).

The verdict

Despite the “entirely my fault” ordering cock up, I really enjoyed my Sunday dinner from this place. Excellent quality, offering good value and great flavours. Much to my surprise I sort of enjoyed the nut roast (had it for lunch the day after), despite it being just a bit too sweet for my tastes.

If you fancy supplementing your main (and pud – if you get the order right unlike me) they had some interesting starter options to pay for and pick up on the day.

Both looked rather good.

Would I order again? Yes , definately – I may even get it right next time!

Details

Order on line via their website at:

https://thomas-pontcanna.co.uk/shop/

It is pick up (rather than delivery) only.