A walk with Dick the dog aka Oscar, took we across Llandaff field and on to Pontcanna fields (life in the old dog and Oscar yet, with a 5+ mile walk for me and him) left me rather in need of sustainance and as I was cutted up Cathedral Road, circling back towards Llandaff field, I noticed a rather shiny new sign denoting this place.
Now I have to say the term “modern meat“
instills a fair amount of trepidation in me, being an ardent stick-in-the mud who tends to regard “modern” as a swear word and all to often a portent of incoming absolute wanky bollxckary. A modern take on a (culinary or otherwise) classic all too often means an infinitely inferior thing.
Would modern meat mean a “vegan butcher” (no such bloody thing) or could it denote an outlet for bioreactor vat grown frankenfood, insects (a case of “Let the proles eat crickets“) or even Soylent Green?
Thankfully the Oriel in Oriel’s Modern Meat Shop is Oriel Jones (as in the proper butcher) and thus is not some faddy establishment shamelessly jumping on the the next in vogue bandwagon (apparently kimchi is the new next big thing 🥱 – after it only having been around for 3000 years it is certainly about time!!). What you gratifyingly get at this place is a very welcome mix of fresh meats, cooked meat in pastry (i.e. pies, sausage rolls etc.) and a hot food offering (to eat in or take out), with a bit of deli thrown into the mix.
The menu for hot food has a nice uncomplicated feel to it. Carbs and meat in various combos (add an egg if you want to go real fancy).
On said first visit (happened to be their first day) it was mid morning so a bit of breakie was in order and despite the succinctness of the menu it was quite a difficult decision Do I go challah bun or tiger sub, do I add an egg, is it slab or back bacon etc, etc. Actually, the OJ breakfast bun lools like it covers most bases for those who can’t make a decision, being what a seemingly lovely amalgamation of their best breckie bits.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DIg-JU9M0ia/?igsh=MW1idDc2azYxdmw3ZQ==
I decided to keep it relatively simple, as was eating on the hoof with a beady eye being kept on me from below!
As such, I went for sausage and back bacon in a challah roll (I think, at the time, had I fully appreciated what the slab bacon was I would have probably gone for that).
Good back bacon (cooked so neither flabby nor nuked) and a nicely flavoured sausage
all sat in a squidgy bronzed bun.
Sauce is self applied from bottles in the shop and I applied (as any sane person would) brown sauce. If you apply the red filth to a sarnie with a sausage in it, you should be locked up (permanently) in a high security unit (and feed only cricket sausages).
A second visit was for lunch, with me rather liking the sound of the steak sarnie on the lunch board
and the Insta. image of it was certainly appealing.
Regrettably it wasn’t on on my second visit, so it was either the pork carvery roll or a faggots, gravy and chips special.
After a bit of humming and hawing, I decided on the pork carvery in a tiger sub (£8.50).
Good portion this, with plenty of tender, well flavoured and seasoned roast pork, a shard of crunchy crackling, a good pour of nicely meaty and sweet spot texture wise (not too watery or too gloppy) gravy, a pleasingly herby stuffing and a nicely balanced (between sweet and sharp) apple soauce. All in all very nice and I was a happy bunny notwithstanding my disappointment at the steak sarnie not being on.
I ate in (they are a few of stools and a window shelf inside and a couple tables outside), but had I been eating in the hoof I think the challah bun would be a more practical option than the tiger sub (the latter’s flexibility would make it a bit tricky to eat on the hoof) I think.
I didn’t have a drink, but I rather like the simplicity of the hot drinks offering here.
There is no swanky coffee machine, no 50 billion varieties of herbal tea (all muck if you ask me) nor any venti iced caramel macchiato/pumpkin latte with almond milk nonsense.
Supplies were also acquired from the shop element
in the form of a pork pie and a nice bit of flat iron steak (assume the latter goes into the steak sarnies, when they are on).
Verdict
Nice to see this unit back in use as both a hot food outlet and a shop.
Both visits garnered tasty, decent portioned, food and it will certainly be somewhere I will visit often with me utilising both Llandaff and Pontcanna Fields to walk Oscar.
The details
Address: 221 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna, Cardiff CF5
Website: Assume will be part of this when up
Opening hours are currently Thurs – Sun 9am – 3 pm.
Soliciting Flavours 