Cardiff has a plethora of really good fixed price lunch options, with the likes of Heaneys, Gorse, Thomas by Tom Simmons, Asador 44 and Casanova (to name, but a few) offering a fixed price for a two/three course luncheon.

There is now a new kid on the block in the form of Hiraeth with a compelling 3 course (plus bread) and a glass of wine all in for £35

This compares very favourable to the top tier, out of town, offerings at Gorse (£35), Heaneys (£35) and Tom Simmons (£38), none of which include a glass on wine with your meal for the fixed price.

Some/none will be thinking, hang on haven’t you reviewed them already? Well that may be true,  but that was for dinner and this is lunch and as such an entirely different kettle of fish.  That, to me, is worthy of more words.

You can also never have too much of a good thing and a return visit for their set, fixed price, lunch menu was a given, especially when it is a pleasant and pretty short walk from Chez SF. 

A plot was hatched during a long weekend in West Wales to start the next weekend a bit early with a late lunch and Hiraeth’s opening hours in terms of lunch are rather delightfully flexible with online a 15.30 available slot fitting in with all our requirement (me calling time on a busy, busy week mid Friday afternoon – I don’t tend to work Fridays, if I can help it, but needs must in certain weeks and this was one of them).

Bread is part of the deal and this is top tier stuff (and not sourdough – I am a lifetime member of the NBSDA League)

with their outstanding chicken skin butter available to slathering onto said warm bread (two loaves between the 3 of us).

In terms of starters, I do like a good soup and boy can Hiraeth do a good soup (the “cheese” soup they served up as part of the Mystere Wine Club dinner, back in October, was mind bogglingly good – soup as an art form, rather than dxckheads throwing the stuff at art), but was drawn to the rather interesting yet seemingly somewhat disparate sounding beetroot, goats curd, smoked almond and black olive number (I also hoped either Mrs. SF  or J would would let me try their soups).

Pretty little number,

with a medley of sweet beetroot and the salty tang of goat curd. The smoked almond added a nice textural crunch and cubes of apple, a nice touch of sharpness. I was curious as to how the black olive would meld with the other ingredients, with black olive a rather distinct and quite dominant flavour. Here, the tart brininess didn’t overpower the other flavours but rather acted as a seasoning highlighting the other distinct flavours. Sprigs of dill added a touch of anis, which worked well with the sweet beets. Clever stuff this, which was really perky on the palate.

Mrs. SF and J both had the soup, with the added bonus of a perfectly runny, crispy coated, egg.

Lovely earthy sweetness from the celeriac, enriched by the egg and more meaty (iron rich) earthiness from the black pudding crumb. A herb oil added a nice touch of freshness and the crisp shell around the egg, a welcome textural contrast

I often think soup is an underrated dish (blame sickly sweet Heinz gloop), but in the right hands they can be glorious. Hiraeth is very much the right hands.

On to the mains, all three of us were of like mind as to the choice. The roasted and smoked haddock, salmon and cockle risotto did sound nice, but I am not much of a fan of salmon (one of the few fish, bar from when smoked, I don’t really care for) and with the weather taking a turn for the baltic it had to be the beef, ale and suet.

The description left a bit to the imagination. Would it be a full on suet pie/ pudding or a deconstructed affair I wondered?

What arrived was a rustic looking behemoth,

with a light suet encasement and a bountiful interior of tender, well flavour, beef, carrot and a gloosy, ale infused, gravy.

Notwithstanding it being touch Sloth (from the Goonies)/misshapen on the eyes, this was a top tier pie. A seeemingly simple looking dish that had hidden depths of flavour.

It sat on a bed of shredded, well seasoned, buttery, sauted savoy (superior to the seemingly ubiquitous hispi, in my opinion) cabbage and other greens (bit of leek in there)

and a pool of a rather fine gravy

Despite the size of the pie, we all got a generous quenelle of, mustard seed infused, mashed potato.

Great flavour and velvety smooth texture to this, with nay a lump in sight yet not being sloppy.

Whilst not needed, as the main was more than big enough, we added a side of sauted sprouts with sesame and cashew (£6)

Good ratio of veg to nuts, with a nice crunch to this dish and none of the bitterness some people associate with sprouts (which had a nice caramelisation here). The nuts added both texture, a touch of sweetness (the sesame) and creamy richness (the cashew –  strictly speaking a drupe rather than a nut, but we all call them the latter don’t we). Nice dish this and a good size for the £6 price tag.

My only very minor quibble, with the overall main course dish, was I would have loved a bit more of the gravy to pour over the top of the pie. Nonetheless, this was an absolute “hug” of a dish.

On to the puds, the two on offer made choosing tricky.

After much deliberation I plumped for the rice pudding.

Lovely comforting dish this,

with the richness of the creamy vanilla infused baked rice being cut by a sharp apple compost. Almonds added a nice crunch and a touch more sweetness on top of a bruleed sugar crust.

Mrs SF and J went for the banana split with a treacle tart ice-cream.

I didn’t get a look in with this, with both of them demolishing it in double quick time. Both said it was fantastic, as I bemoaned the fact that they hadn’t shared any with me.

On the booze front, you get a glass of wine included in the deal. The options on the day were a white rioja or a Romania pinot noir,

with both £7 on the board. Take that into account and the price of 3 courses of  food (plus bread) comes in at a mere £28!

We all opted for the white rioja,

which had pleasing notes of stone fruit and a touch of vanilla toastiness. Worked well with both starter dishes and the bread, with a lightness of touch that can be missing from lower end white riojas (which can be overoaked and a bit clunky/clumsy).

As we had all called it a day for the working week, it would have been rude to not further indulge and a bottle of red wine was certainly in order for the beef and ale pie.

I decided on an aglianco (from the Campania region of Italy) from the La Guardiense Co – Operative (£34 on the list and retailing at between £12.50 and £16), with wines from the aglianico grape tending to go well with beef.

Nice drop this, with dark fruits and backnote of sour cherry. Tannins were still quite evident, aglianico wine can need a bit of bottle time to mellow out, but it all worked well with the pie.

On the drinks front, it is worth noting (if a table is available) that they are happy for people to drop in

for a glass of wine (all wines on list are, gratifyingly offered by both the bottle and the glass) and to add to that some “Picky Bits“.

With the pleasing longevity of the lunch service (we booked our lunch for 15.30), I will definitely be availing myself of this on a Friday/Saturday (here’s hoping a table will be free).

The verdict

Cracking lunch deal this, which achieves the much sought after (well to me it is and why wouldn’t it be to everybody else) lunch time fixed price menu trifecta of great flavours, robust portion sizes and super value for money.

With the glass of wine thrown in, I would say this is a firm contender for Cardiff’s best value for money (different from cheap) lunch.

I am already booked in again in December for their pre – Christmas  Sunday lunch offering.

and I will no doubt be in there before then.

We also had the Mystere Wine Club annual dinner there and they did us proud,

with a bespoke menu to go with the wines we brought. If you are looking for an event venue with top-notch food for up to 24 people, I can highly recommend this place. The event was a great success, with everything pitch perfect.

I couldn’t love this place more if I tried, with it pretty much my perfect place to eat out in in Cardiff and with the added bonus of it being just down the road from me. Pretty stoked about that!

The details

Address: Cowbridge Road East , Victoria Pack, Cardiff, CF5 1BE

Website: https://www.hiraethkitchen.com/

If you are looking for a late lunch, like us, I would check their online booking platform re lunch timings as we ate at 15.30 (even later options seemed to be available too), but their website does says lunch service till 15.00.