I was rather sad when Bully’s suddenly closed as I had many a good meal there. The site has further fond memories for me from back when it was Le Cassoulet (got to know the owner of the latter through the Mystere Wine Club and he is a thoroughly good egg – slightly dismissive of Spanish wine, as a French man, but nobody’s perfect).

It briefly became a brunch and steak place (called Number 5),which I never got around to trying (I am not much of a brunch person) and which closed after little impact.

With what would seem a prime location  (bet rent is horrific) in “Pontcanna“, it never going to be empty for long.

I would argue it is the wrong side of Romily Crescent for it to be Pontcanna, but as town end of Cowbridge Road East is now regarded as Pontcanna I am happy to announce that Cardiff estate agents have indicated that my (surp)yurt (to requirements) in Ulaanbaatar is now regarded as being in Pontcanna should I wish to put it on the market.

Must say I was slightly surprised (with the location) to see Tommy Heaney being involved, bearing in mind its proximity to both Heaney’s and Uisce. Regardless, him along with (the ex head chef at the Heathcock) Dave Killick very much has the feel of a dynamic restaurant duo.

The main menu was full of the sort of stuff  that operates to make my stomach rumble.

You can clearly see the hand of Dave Killick here, with dishes like ox heart and squid, fennel and orange.

The tight arse in me was, however, drawn to what looked like a rather good value fixe prix lunch menu.

A catch up (between tastings – Burgundy one this week) with a couple of Mystere Wine Club members provided an ideal opportunity it give the place a go, with an Instagamaaaazing post suggesting some interesting wines too (an important consideration bearing in mind the company).

Nice looking space, I thought,

with it being a far cry from the rather random approach to decor when it was Bully’s.

As it was lunch, we all decided to stick to the seemingly rather good value set lunch menu.

We all started off with the confit pork belly terrine.

A thicket of greenery initially hid the terrine, which was more rillettes in nature to my mind.

Lovely flavour to the pork, with seasoning spot on and that richness of the pork fat tempered by both the apple puree is sat on and the crisp green apple slices adorning it.

The mustard and watercress leaves added a nice peppery hit to proceeding, which worked very well with the pork.

Dave Killick was always known for his pasta dishes at the Heathcock and his passion for pasta is equally evident here, with both mains a variation on a pasta theme.

Two of us went for the venison number, the other the veggie one.

In terms of the venison, with pasta (strozzapretti), this was a hearty portion for a fixe prix lunch (at this price point).

The pasta was cooked just the right side of al dente, with that welcome  just a touch of chewy without being chalky.

The chunky ragu had a deep rich flavour, with that hint of gaminess that comes with venison.

A nice textural contrast was provided by a generous covering of pangrattato, which was imbued with a pleasant thwack of anis.

Really satisfying dish, which was ideal for lunch, this.  My only slight criticism was the presence of some rather too robustly crunchy nuggets of something (of what I am not sure) in the mix.

The third in our party decided to break from the conformity of ordering and went for the veggie main.

Verdant ditali was imbued with crime de rapa (literal translation is turnip tops, with it is often known as rapini or broccoli rabe/raab to Americans)

and luxuriated in a sauce based on buffalo curd, with a panagratto added a nice crunch. I didn’t try this, but it looked a good option for veggies (believe it is i.e. the curd doesn’t require use of animal rennet in the production process).

For dessert, I had spied a choux (bless you) bun being delivered to the table next to us and this operated to reinforce my initial steer in that direction on seeing the menu.

Lovely light choux bun,

with the interior filled with that classic  mix of rhubarb and custard. Nice vanillary custard and the rhubarb innate sourness tempering all the richness.

The other two went for the other dessert on the fixe prix menu,

being another classic combo of chocolate and orange. I didn’t try it, but both who did enjoyed it with the chocolate mousse richness tempered by the citrus acidity of the blood orange. A bountiful supply of roasted hazelnuts added a nutty bonus in terms of both flavour and texture.

On the booze front, both my fellow dinners were Mystere Club Members (one South African expert and the other more a francophile). With no Saffer wines on the list and the Francophole driving, the task of choosing was delegated to me and, of course, I went Spanish

Bodegas Lanzaga is one of Telmo Rodriguez’s wineries in Rioja (he makes wine all over Spain) and, having never had a bad Telmo wine, I plumped for a wine from there.

This is pretty much the bodegas’ entry level wine, with the top wines from this estate much more spenny (Las Beatas, for instance, goes for well north of £200 a pop)

This one is a lot cheaper and is priced at £49 on the list (I inexplicably failed to get a picture of the list) with a retail price of around £18.50 (in the UK). As such, a pretty reasonable mark up for the UK.

Nice drop this, with a load of fleshy red fruit in the mix, nice acidity,  and (somewhat unusually for rioja) no oak. Light, refreshing and, ultimately, an easy drinking number that was ideal for the occasion.  What I would call  a “lunch time” wine.

As to the wine list, whilst no photo, I do recall only a couple of wines by the glass. As the place offers snacks throughout the day (outside of the main kitchen hours of 12.00 – 14 30 for lunch and 17.30 – 21.30 for dinner),

I think it rather a shame (with wine preservation technology certainly allowing it) that the “by the glass” offering is so limited.

The verdict

Inevitable the bill was somewhat inflated from the base £25 a head starting point,

but with the wine, water (rather steep at £4 – I tend to go tap, but it was ordered before I arrived by the other two) and service charge (hate it being automatically added, but services was very good) the bill was pretty reasonable for what we had food and drink wise.

The set price lunch combo here pulls off the hallowed holy trinity of a good price, good portion size and good flavours. Can’t ask for better than that really, can you.

Only quibble (as stated above) would be the lack of an expansive by the glass offering, but that really is a minor quibble.

Another excellent addition to Cardiff’s increasingly fulsome fixe prix lunch offering.

The details

Address:  Romily Crescent, Cardiff, CF11 9NP.

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