Based on my experience of eating out (in Cardiff and beyond) the acquiring of a Michelin star can be hard and certainly for Cardiff the getting of even one (Penarth isn’t in Cardiff) seems very hard indeed. 

Notwithstanding the clear prestige that still comes with a Michelin star, I  would say that few (if any) meals I have had in Michelin starred places would make my top 10 (lifetime) meals and possibly the worst meal of my life was in a very expensive and pompous 2 star Paris joint where at one point in proceedings I though “Is this French Candid Camera, taking the pxss out of a perceived peasant Brit” as there is surely no way in a business that operates in a sector called “hospitality” that a front of house could be quite so breathtakingly rude and stuck up.

I was slightly surprised they didn’t offer a nappy based on their seeming view that I was an oaf of such “manque de raffinement” that I would be unlikely to understand something as sophisticated as un toilette being more likely to drink from the bowl (if I could have gotten away with it I would have eviserated the Maitre d’ with the butter knife he clearly thought I was too stupid to know how to use, other than maybe to stick up my nose, although that may have rather proved his seeming point I suppose).

For a capital city, the paucity of a Cardiff Michelin star could/perhaps should be a source of no little embarassment if the Guide is the Bible it is held out to be (not sure it is/should be anymore to be honest). To my mind, there are without doubt some exceptional starred restaurants (Dede on Masterchef looked amazing, with seemingly no pomposity and is surprisingly reasonable price wise), but for many getting one seems to signal a whopping upping of the prices (standards have to be maintained, to keep it at all cost once acquired).

I was booked in (when Covid was still a thing) a few years back at Humble Chicken in London and the prices at that point (pre star) seemed very reasonable (with it possible to dine well with a drink for around £50 based on a Andy Hayler review). They cancelled my booking (due to staff sickness) and I did recently look at whether it could be an option next time I am up in London (with it since having acquired a star) and found the prices somewhat higher (lunch £125 a head and dinner £185 all sans booze). I am sure it is lovely, but it was (so I was told) pre star.

Regardless of my views as to Le Guide, a Cardiff based place (shock horror, did the satnav send them the wrong way and they found themselves inexplicably in Cardiff) that has recently caught the eyes of the inspectors is Gorse and whether this will lead to a elusive Cardiff star (is that a good thing is perhaps moot, as it could come with an inevitable price hike and a likely inability to get a table at a reasonable hour as the glitterati pour in) I don’t know, but seeing it praised by those people prompted me (so it can’t be a bad thing if others act on the same basis) to book a table for a pre Christmas dinner.

J, A and I had previously very much enjoyed their set lunch and I thought a pre Christmas meal at Gorse with Mrs. SF would be rather jolly, with J (on hearing) saying can I come along too.

We plumped for the 7 course

rather than 10 course option because 10 courses from 19.00 seemed a tad ambitious for a habitual lunch time diner like me and because I am tight (well OK mainly because I am tight). Personally I thought the 7 courser looked the better option of the two from what was online (again mainly because I am tight).

We started off with the obligatory snacks/ amuse bouches, which based on the description sounded way more than a mouthful just to say let alone eat. They were actually a trio starting off with a seaweed broth. My initial thought on seeing this on the menu, was this is what you would be forced to eat if marooned on a desert island, a Robinson Crusoup if you will!

The smell was quite bready, with a distinct whiff of fungi in there. Dare I say a touch musty.

On the palate, it was very savoury, with an big hit of umami. Actually not a bad option if marooned.

Next up were delicate brick pastry tarts loaded up with raw gurnard and trout roe (again a desert island option for me, as I would undoubtedly fail to get a fire going).

Gurnard is a a bugger to prep (being well boney, so I tend to avoid it at home and here the hard work had all been done). The raw cubed flesh had a nice firm meaty texture, with a touch of sweetness as against the acidity of a citrussy marinade/dressing. The trout roe, atopping it, popped little bombs of brininess onto the palate and the meadowsweet (not the yellow leaves – not sure what they were – nasturtium maybe) a touch of vanilla.

The final amuse bouche was a cone of mushroom and pickled juniper.

Lovely earthy flavour to these, with the juniper bringing a subtle touch of ginny botanicals to the party.

Quality canapés these.

Next up was a real Bobby Dazzler of a dish, with slices of sweet scallop and pickled green strawberries.

The latter brought a refreshing tartness to the dish, with a bottom layer of smoking cream and an aniseedy herb (chevil?) oil adding nicely to the mix. Lovely dish this, with the spankingly fresh and sweet scallop the (rightly so) star of the show, with the tangy topping of the strawberries boosting the scallop’s sweet flavour.

A veggie interlude followed, which was probably my least favourite dish of the night (bar was very high mind, so it was still pretty good).

I enjoyed the raw beetroot slivers with the bilberry (a jam sort of affair), but found the pickled beetroot a tad pedestrian/Baxter’s jar- ish.

I was back in clover with a cod dish.

The pearly white tranche of cod was cooked to a just translucency and sat in a sauce heady with sweet brininess of mussels, together with a touch of anis from the lovage and a tang of pine from the spruce (quite subtle the latter). We were split as to the nature of the cylindrical veg. I thought it turnip, whereas Mrs  SF and J felt I was wrong (they tend to gang up on me) and called it swede (I would have been right either way if I was Swedish as a swede is a Swedish turnip).

I don’t generally regard bread and butter as a course and retained the majority of my parker roll for later mopping up duty

Notwithstanding this, the bit I tried solo was rather fine with a crisp salt crust and a pillow soft warm interior just begging to embrace the subtly saline laver butter.

My decision to save an element of the bread was vindicated (in spades) by the next course.

Monkfish can be tricky to cook, with it going tough and rubbery if it goes over and thus I tend to leave it to the pros rather than cooking it at home.

Here the cooking (as you would expect) was bob on, with a slight char on the exterior amplifing its trademark meatiness.

The hen of the wood/maitake mushroom added further to the meatless meatiness, with a deep umami flavour. The onion bearnaise sauce was silky and rich with butter and begged to be mopped up by the parker roll. Once the supply of that was exhausted, I resorted to using my finger before getting told off for doing so by Mrs. SF.

Fish cookery of the highest order here, in my humble opinion.

The sole meat course was up next, with a gorgeous, cooked á point, bit of venison in the form of fallow deer (like a fillet of beef in texture, but actually tasting of something).

This came with a silky smooth celeriac puree, but what really lifted it from just good to bloody hell this is great was the elderberry sauce. Sweet, tart and fruity, with an florality and almost earthiness. We all loved this dish.

Pudding was another triumph, with an Italian meringue hiding a chewy toffee like miso concoction in its depths.

Nice sharpness from the topaz apple acted as a counterpoint to all the sweetness here. Good ice-cream and a quality wafer affair also.

Petit fours followed, with the interesting addition of coriander seeds to some little cakey things .

Nice crust to these and I enjoyed the wild blueberry (wonder what keeps the captive ones from breaking out) jam, but I felt the mix inside was just a little loose/underdone (J and Mrs. SF disagreed).

The sugared jellies I very much enjoyed,

with me having J’s as she is a jelliphobic. The woodruff gave it all a rather spicey (as in spices, cardamom and a touch of cinnamon to my palate, rather than heat) flavour.

On the drinks front, they have a wine pairing option to go with the tasting menus,

which is nicely judged with some interesting (in a good way) pairings.

I, however, decided on just one wine (two bottles of it) to see us through to the desserts from the list (I did toy with a glass of red for the venison).

The list had some nice options, both reds

and whites.

With the preponderance of non meat dishes, I decided on a white (also working on getting J away from just drinking red, so thought it a good opportunity to drive home the message) was probably the way to go and thus went for the Izadi white rioja (£48 – retails at around £18.50).

Vanilla (but not too heavily so) on the nose, with stone fruits and a touch of honey on the palate.

Nice wine this, which had enough oomph to cope with pretty much all of the savory elements of the meal.

For the sweet stuff, I noticed a seemingly very reasonable ice wine on the list.

I love a nice ice wine (here a riesling), but have never come across one from Bulgaria before.

Interesting punkish hue to this, which I think may have been the lighting in the place as was expecting a golden colour

with aromas of quince and apricot.

On the palate it wasn’t overly sweet with a  nice line of refreshing, almost lemoney, acidity running thought it and a honeyed finish. Very pleasant with the dessert and petit fours and, as this wine retails at £21+ for a half bottle, at £7 for a decent pour, very reasonably priced.

J had a red wine (my wine work with that one is far from done).

The verdict

Lovely meal this, with Tom Water’s and his team running a serene operation

putting out consistently excellent dishes.

Front of house was charming (attentive, but not unduly so) and well briefed and informed on both the food and drink  offering. The pace of the meal was also  nicely judged, which all made for a very pleasant evening.

Is it deserving of a fabled star? I think so, but who knows what goes through the  minds of the Tyre people. Maybe it is better (for us punters, at least) if they don’t as it is pretty darn good without one or is that me just being selfish?

Regardless, Gorse is certainly the antithesis of the crock of shxte 2 star Paris place I had the misfortune to eat in in the pre – blog days and I consider myself lucky to have it here in Cardiff.

The details

Address: 186-188 Kings Rd,  Pontcanna, Cardiff, CF11 9DF

Website: https://www.gorserestaurant.co.uk/