Open for just over a month as I write this, Clare Road’s Al-Madina is another unadorned, uncomplicated Grangetown find. It’s not just the plastic sheet-covered tables and it-would-be-an-upgrade-to-call-it-bare- bones decor: there’s no social media, no Google listing yet, no invitation evenings with prescribed hashtags and 13 identical captions. How utterly refreshing. The bilingual menu- Arabic Read More
The cutlery at Harafs doesn’t have elegant lines and reassuring weight: it’s a jumble of odds and sods in a canteen style plastic tray. There’s no written menu either, and you’ll probably end up eating with your fingers- there’s a basin by the kitchen if that bothers you- and drinking your soup straight from the Read More
Your starter for ten. No conferring, now. Do you know your ntaba from your nkwobi? Or your bobolo from your attiéké? If you do, you’re ahead of me. Not without a surreptitous under-table Google, anyway. And I’m still in two minds about the esi ewu. But in terms of an overdue education, a couple of Read More
I love watching a chef work the tandoor. It’s something about the calm, economical movements, I think: the minimal fuss. You appreciate their efficiency, especially knowing, from limited experience, how ferociously hot those ovens are; and how reaching in and slapping the dough-laden gaddi ‘pillow’ against the sides- and getting it to stick- is harder Read More
Matsudai’s is a very modern success story: it has been well rehearsed elsewhere, but ultimately it’s a tale of resilience, from owner James Chant’s refreshing willingness to talk about his mental health as his original impetus, to reimagining the business in the face of global trials. Clare Road in Grangetown sees this former bank repurposed Read More
Scuffed tabletops and vinyl banquettes: it’s basic in here. No designer has preened over this interior. It’s certainly Pakistani, rather than another of the typical Bangladeshi-run kitchens which are synonymous with ‘Indian’. There’s a clue in the wall-mounted picture of the Bab-e-Khyber (‘Khyber Gate’), built in 1964 to facilitate trade between Pakistan and Afghanistan. A mixed Read More