Continuing the revisit theme of late, a Spanish Wines by Ultracomida/Spanish Wines Online (in person) Catalunya tasting (oddly by far the most expensive wine was my least favourite one on the night)

gave me the opportunity to try out the revamped Uisce, with the need to fuel up a bit before the tasting. A case of well it is, sort of, on the way from my gaff (Mrs. SF, who is off wine at the moment so didn’t come to the tasting, rather guffawed at that) to Penarth Road.

After its revamp, it certainly looks very swanky and a fair bit bigger,

but is bigger better in this instance?

I always liked the informal feel of the old Uisce and thankfully this has not been lost through the tart up, with very much a speakeasy vibe to the place (to my mind).

The food menu includes their signature oysters (Cardiff’s appetite for good oysters seems unbounded and these are some of the best you can get in the city),

as well as a nicely balanced selection of  small plates.

We started off with a mix of the oysters, which can never be a bad thing.

Big buggers these, with the star of the show being the bloody Mary ones.

Whilst I have been tiring a little of late of the seemingly ubiquitous sourdough (does everyone have to do it) I think it may be a criminal offence to go to a Heaney’s establishment and not order it with the marmite butter. Bit like going to Agra and passing on the Taj Mahal.

The quality of this stuff (£4.5) is probably what started the ongoing cardiff sourdough craze, with that signature chew and a glorious ummami hit from a slathering of the very generously apportioned marmite butter. I think there would be riots on the leafy streets of Pontcanna if they ever took this off the menu.

Aged comte and onion tarlets (£6 for 2) came in a delicate (brik?) pastry case with just enough structure to restrain the filling.

The comté had a lovely rich nuttiness to it, which complimented the sweetness of the slow cooked onions. Delightful little things these, with my only regret being that they were gone in one bite.

Choux buns (£7) were next up,

with a lovely light choux shell and a volumious, airy, duck liver parfait interior.

Rich, but with a surprising lightness of touch, these were absolutely dynamite. A rather fun black garlic reduction, which brought pickled onion Monster Munch to  mind, added nicely to the mix.

Uisce’s croquetas (£7) have to be at least on a par with those at Bar 44.

Here they had a crisp shell and an oozing, just set, bechamel interior studded with  nuggets of nutty jamon.

I think in a dictionary all you need to put by the word “Moreish” is a picture of these.

The Spanish theme continued with aged manchego and truffle infused honey (£7).

Lovely stuff this, with the sweetness of the honey really amping up the nuttiness of the cheese and the earthiness of the truffle.

Our server recommended we order two of the truffled chicken (£8.5),

but this was one of the dishes that I least enjoyed on the night. The fried chicken had the requisite crunchy coating and juicy interior, but it lacked the promised earthy hit of truffle and all felt a bit pedestrian. Don’t get me wrong, it was nice, but if we had had time we would have reordered many items and this wouldn’t have been one of them.

Similarly padron peppers (£8), with romesco, slightly disappointed and seemed a bit pricey (when compared to other stuff we had).

To me they lacked char on one side (not the presented side), giving them a slightly raw taste and texture, and the romesco was a bit sweet for my tastes.

Personally, I think padrons are at their best when only accompanied by copious amounts of top quality sea salt.

Things got back on track with some top-tier taters (£8). 

An uber crisp exterior and a fluffy interior, was nicely complimented by a generous drift of sweet, milky, spenwood goats cheese and the nuttiness of brown butter (which also gave it all a, pleasing to the eye, glisten).

On the booze front there are, of course, copious cocktails and beers, but wine is my bag and the list here has everything by the glass (which I think should be standard but sadly isn’t), which I really like.

Decent selection of whites,

reds

and others

makes for a far from pedestrian list

Prices seem pretty fair, based on a random selection. The German Von Unserm riesling retails at around the £22 mark and is £55 on the list (so a smidgen over a 2 x mark up) and in the reds the Conde Valdemar Rioja retails at around the £15 mark and is on the list at £39.

With the small plates style of eating here, rioja seemed the perfect choice (always a good food wine) and we went with the Conde Valdemar.

Nice drop this, with tart red cherry and a touch of vanilla spice. Good food wine this.

I had a glass of the Oremus Mandolás Furmint (dry style furmint from Hungary) as a snifter. Lovely wine, with aromas of peach and a saline citrus finish on the palate.

The verdict

Good wine (and other booze), all by the glass, and fab food in a lovely space (which is dog friendly) ticks so many of my boxes.

Service was really good too, with our server highlighting to us the rather fine oyster happy hour (£2.50 per oyster as opposed to the usual £4 a pop from 17.30 till 18 30) when we ordered at 17.24 and holding said order until 17.30 so we could take advantage of the reduced price.

A great little wine bar just got a little bit bigger and better and that is never a bad thing in my book.

The details

Address: 6 – 10 Romily Crescent, Pontcanna , Cardiff, CF11 9NR.

Website: https://www.heaneyscardiff.co.uk/uisce