Whilst shiny and new is nice (Istamaaaaazingram will tell you they are universally “insanely” good) it is easy to forget about the established restaurants out there and they need bums on seats as much as any newbie, with the hospitality  industry having taken a terrible battering for years (we appear to be governed by a political class, of all ilks, made up almost entirely of imbeciles who shouldn’t be trusted to run a bath). As such, I will over the next few weeks be revisiting and writing about some old favourites.  First up is (fittingly) probably my favourite restaurant (certainly in Cardiff) at the moment, Hiraeth.

I am a massive bar humbug at the best of times and this goes into overdrive in the Yuletide season (with my general response to decorations going up in November being to fuel up the flamethrower). 

When I was employed by a big law firm I absolutely loathed the enforced jollity of the Christmas party, with mass catered slop tending to be my idea of hell.  I was more often that not found to be washing (my very bald) head of hair/mourning the loss of my (35th) gerbil/definitely away that day – well I am now I know the date –  on the night it question.

Now that I work for myself, which is much more to my introvert tastes (although I still get fed up with the boss, who can be such a tx#t) I rather enjoy the office Christmas party. I can go out on the company dime (in effect mine, but importantly it is before the tax man takes his cut) and enjoy a really good meal at a good restaurant (of my choosing).

To ensure the company is not awful, in the case of my company, 

the rules allow a guest (and a generous budget of £150 a head to enjoy it tax free). As such Mrs. SF can come too, which is always nice.

The online menu for December very much sealed the deal.

On arrival we noted (on top of the tweaks to the online menu) that they have (wisely in my opinion) slightly changed the way the menu works, such that either or both of the two starred/extra dishes can be ordered as an add on to the base £70 menu (rather than having a straight £70/£90 split choice). We went with one add on in the form of the scallop dish (£12) rather than the home smoked duck ham bagel (£8).

Two amuse bouches kicked off proceeding,

with a rather delightful blue cheese (per wen) custard centred gougére (just a nice touch of heat from a blob of kimichi emusion on top) and a bit of roasted sourdough adorned with a top notch boquerones with flying fish roe complementing the salty sweetness. Both were very good, with Mr. SF favouring the boquerones and me the gougére.

Next up was what can probably be regarded as Hiraeth’s signature dish (I still miss the chip butty) in the form of their chicken tea

Little more I can say that I haven’t said before about this dish. Everything about it just works really well from the flecks of salted chicken skin amping up the butter to the lovely lightness to the shokupan, the depth of flavour to the chicken tea and last but by no means least the uber crispiness of the coating (with a zing of heat from the generous application of a gochugan based topping) and the beautifully juicy and well flavoured thigh meat. A triumph as always.

I forgot to take a picture of the mushroom porridge, but it was a million miles away for what most people regard as porridge.

Nice mix of mushroom and sprouts, mixed with the oats resulted in a sort of risotto type affair which all provided for a big umami hit tempered by the acidity from pickled shimeji

The first fish dish was stone bass, which came with heavy Indian sub continental influences

The fish was beautifully cooked with big meaty flakes and a satisfyingly crisp skin (nothing worse than flabby fish skin – if it ain’t going to be crispy just take it off I say).

This was complimented by a curried parsnip and “bombay mix” connoction which was heady with spice, with fresh curry leaf to the fore. A coconut foam added nutty sweetness that works as a pleasing counterpoint to the spice.

Our “extra” scallop dish was next up

and what a Bobby Dazzler it was.

Creamy sweet scallop slices, just cooked in the mild heat of a full on flavoured beef fat dashi. Anither type of heat came from horseradish, pepperiness from the nasturtium leaves and a pleasing nuttiness and a nice textural contrast crunch was provided by neat discs of celeriac. Well worth going the extra for this dish (it was very popular on the night and sold out well before we finished).

The duck dish had changed from a leg with rice to a breast without.

Cooked such that it was a blushing pink, but properly rested so it was nicely tender, this was a lovely bit of meat. The all important skin was charred to a pleasing crispness, with the fat properly rendered down (as with fish skin, an underdone bit of duck skin borders on the unpleasant) and it well seasoned.  A duck jus was glossy and rich without being over reduced, with a blob of Jerusalem artichoke adding a nutty earthiness. Mrs.SF (who can’t eat Jerusalem artichokes) had a substitute hazelnut number, with her duck, which was far from an inferior replacement (I actually preferred it to the choke number).

The duck came with a sausage roll each ,

which has a crisp pastry shell and shredded duck leg meat studded with morcilla (I think)/black pudding. The latter added a pleasing smokiness (from paprika in the mix, I would say) to proceedings 

Puds. can all to often let a good meal down, but the rather jolly Christmas themed deep fried mince pie with a egg nog icecream was far from a downer.

I am not that much of a mince pie fan, but the crispness of the deep fried pastry really worked with the mincemeat and the egg nog ice cream was a lovely mix of Christmas spice, with cinnimon, nutmeg and clove on a vanilla base.

A second dessert was referred to simply as “After 8“, which we knew was going to be more than the classic (but actually quite vile, being way too sweet with cheap shxte chocolate) wafer thin number.

What we got was a mint infused chocolate fondant,

with the requisite molten (minty) interior and a minty icecream. Infinitely superior to its namesake.

On the booze front, we were somewhat restrained by budgetary factors (you lose the tax benefit if you go even a penny over the £150 per head threshold).

The wine list here is not particularly long but it has the benefit of a decent mix of styles and an all by the glass offering (personally I think this should be the norm in restaurants).

It is perhaps lacking a couple of higher end number, as well as a gruner veltiner (a wine made for the divest flavours of a tasting menu) and maybe another riesling (from Clare Valley perhaps), but there is certainly enough of interest to make up your own pretty decent wine flight.

Mrs. SF is quite particular with her wines and is rather partial to the white rioja (£30) here (as the cheapest wine on the menu, but actually quite nice, it rather met my tax demands) so white rioja it was to start.

Not your big oaky number that some (more pricey) white riojas can be, this was an easy drinking number, with crisp orchard fruits and a back note of citrus. Work well with the courses up to the duck.

With the duck, I toyed with the pinots (classic duck pairing) on the list, but we both decided to maintain the rioja theme and had a small glass (£11) of the ever reliable Beronia reserva

With rich dark fruits and a decent hit of oaky spice (vanilla), it worked well with the duck.

As we had a bit of headroom, budget wise, we had a glass each of the Kopte Tawny (£7) port. This worked an absolute treat with the deep fried mince pie.

The verdict

Excellent as always, meals like this are one of the few perks of running your own business (the endless bureaucracy makes it mostly a ball ache) and I have to say my Christmas dos since going solo have been infinitely more pleasurable than the all to often dire corporate Christmas ones I had to go to/excuse myself from.

I made a New Years resolution last year to come to Hiraerth once a month and whilst I have missed a few months in all I have been at least 12 times this year. This seems to have got me my own table, which is nice.

I am back at Hiraeth today for a pre. Christmas Sunday lunch (which is wisely not a roast).

Sounds rather good doesn’t it.

As does the Six (Nations) by Hiraeth in Jan.

which I have also booked.

January is usually a shxte month, especially for hospitality with people going into hibernation after the excesses of Christmas and the hideous Dryanuary and Veguanary (or as I like to call them “Wellyoucanfxckrightoffwiththatanuary“). Money is thus tight, especially for those who have to submit their tax returns with the delightful “balancing sum” and half of next year’s estimated tax due at the end of Jan.

What better way to blow those January blues away than a bit of Six 😂.

The details

Address: 587 Cowbridge Road East, Victoria Park, Cardiff, CF5 1BE

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