When I heard that Simmie Vedi was taking over as lead in the kitchen at Chapter Arts Centre in the Canton burb of Cardiff and developing a new menu, I was keen to see what she would come up with.

I think it is fair to say the previous menus were a little on the pedestrian (dare I say boring) side.

and someone like Simmie Vedi would (on the face of it) be exactly the sort of person to pep it all up a bit.

The dining/bar area is a nice space, with decent booze on offer and, to my mind, deserves something a little less identikit in terms of the food offering.

The new menu

and a salads, sarnies and soup board

suggest a lot more of an inventive spirit at work in the kitchen with a clear Middle East/Levantine steer in terms of the plates and some rather fine fillings for the focaccia element, although I don’t think a reuben without corned beef in it is actually a reuben. I mean, if you use pastrami or turkey, instead of corned beef, it becomes a Rachel rather than remaining a reuben (although I do hear tell of sandwiches call Georgia and California reubens that use turkey, but to me those will always be a Rachel).

On a first visit, I tried the Turkish eggs (£10) with the allure of aleppo pepper butter and that most underrated of herbs in the form of dill (no idea why it isn’t used more here in UK, as it has a great flavour).

After singing the praises of dill, it was conspicuous by its absent from the dish (replaced by what looked like the vastly inferior, and not much of it to boot, chive), although I did quite like the red veined sorrel (with its mildly lemoney tang, of which more would have been nice, to compensate for the missing dill).

Notwithstanding the lack of due dill – igence regarding plating, overall I really enjoyed this dish.

The tangy yoghurt (with just a whisper of garlic in it, which some may feel it was a touch too subtle but I thought it was fine with it not being overpoweringly garlicky) and the zingy fruitiness from the aleppo pepper worked really well as against the richness of the eggs. The suitably runny yolks flowed freely into the slick of chilli butter at the yoghurt pool party.

Very nicely cooked eggs, with the right level of viscosity to the yolk and no jellified white bits (I can visualise J retching at the mere thought of jellified white bits). I always think a poached egg is a good test of a chef/cook prowess.

Easy to get right (in theory) and even easier to get wrong is a poached egg. Get it consistently right and you have someone with skill, to which inventiveness can then be added to the equation. Fail, however, at the basics and invention be damned.

The flat bread (a generous portion) operated admirably in it mop up roll.

Perhaps it could have been a bit more charred/crisp on the exterior if I was being fussy.

As second visit took me more to the Western Med. (Provence), with the soup of the day (£6) in the form of the au pistou (which as a summery veg. packed soup seem apt for what was an oh so rare sunny day).

Decent sized portion, with it being suitably loaded up with various veg.,

very well flavoured and properly seasoned. Personally I would have preferred the veg. a bit more chunky, but there was no denying the flavour here.

In terms of bread this was a bit meh, as plastic white sliced rather than the advertised on the board ciabatta (but I was thankful it wasn’t the ubiquitous sour dough, which is bloody everywhere), and I (not sure why) have a bit of an aversion to wrapped single pats of butter. I know it generally means  less wasted butter (not packaging wise though), but they tend to be straight out of the fridge and thus rock hard, plus aesthetically they just don’t look great. Minor issue mind, with the soup itself very nice.

On the drinks front, there are hot drinks (coffee from the admirable Hardlines)

as well as interesting booze selection. Still never had a negroni, which may well make me one of the few (along with members of a yet to be discovered tribe in the upper reaches of Amazon and the evolved sour dough denizen of the 3rd planet in from Proxima Centuri) who haven’t.

I had a coffee (cortado – £3.20) on both visits

and it really lived up to its chocolate and dried fruit billing.

The verdict

Enjoyed my visits to Chapter. It is a nice space (especially if sun it out and you are out the back in said sun) and the booze offering has always been pretty good.

The food offering previously lacked something and it seems to me the new menu has addressed that. Interesting and well flavoured dishes now populate the menu and the prices, as against portion sizes, seem pretty reasonable.

With abundant free parking onsite and near by (subject to Cardiff Council rowing back on the ludicrously proposal to remove the 2 hour free parking – will kill many a business if they don’t see sense) and it makes for a very nice spot for daytime dining.  Definitely a new Chapter, food wise.

The details

Address: Chapter Arts Centre, Market Rd, Cardiff CF5 1QE.

Website: https://www.chapter.org/about/what-is-chapter/food-drink

Opening hours: Mon – Sat: 09.00- 18.00 and Sun: 09.00 – 16.00.