Photos as promised

Beetroot and umeboshi, black sesame sushi balls and roasted tofu

 Carrot and Tarragon Soup

 Wild garlic and spinach crespelle with tomato sauce

Tomato, feta, pistachio and date b'stilla with watermelon salad, lentil tabbouleh, tzatziki and meshwiya

 Lemon grass and ginger risotto cake with vegetables in Thai Green curry sauce

Tumbet with white beans in roasted garlic and cashew cream with mixed vegetable salad with pomegranate and balsamic dressing

Ted Thai Chicken Curry

Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and toffee sauce

Banana baklava roll, sweetened labne and pomegranate sauce

Key lime pie with ginger sorbet

Food versus gobbledygook?

So my fellow dinner ladies have already voiced a fair few (and varied) opinions about the 'Canteen on Clifton Street', it was certainly an unusual opening gambit for dedicated Meat-a-phile 'Hostess with the Mostess' for our first gathering and an eye opening experience for the rest of us.

My task was to evaluate the food offerings and to try out the 'weirdest' things on the menu, mainly i think because, apart from a bizarre aversion to cherry tomatoes, there's not much i won't put in my mouth at least once.

I failed considerably in this with my first course, the carrot & tarragon soup (the other dinner ladies beat me to the umeboshi!). It was, however, a beautiful soup, thick and hearty and gentle flavoured with just the right amount of tarragon which can sometimes be a overpowering herb. Served with a slice of homemade bread it was a meal in itself and I had to leave half of it to avoid running out of space for mains.

Now I struggle with menus trying to be something other than what they are, whilst I will indeed 'try anything once' and love the challenge and experience of new and differing foods & tastes, I do like a menu to be honest, it should, to quote a familiar saying, "do what it says on the tin".

So for me to have to google 'meshwiya' 'b'stilla' & 'umeboshi' to find out what they were isn't necessarily going to stop me ordering or trying them, it is however going to annoy me at the pretension of the menu writer and frankly make me feel that the menu is just trying too hard.

Take this one dish for instance ~

Tomato, feta, pistachio and date b’stilla with watermelon salad,
lentil tabbouleh, tzatziki and meshwiya 

This was my choice for main course and for myself and anyone else who is the relatively uninitiated into the world of Vegetarian cuisine, the wording of this dish could easily put you off ordering what turned out to be a stunning meal with a depth of flavour and clean freshness to the salads and dish in whole.

The b'stilla is merely a filo wrapped parcel (posh pasty as my hubby put it) and the meshwiya, an excellent sweet red pepper salsa which had subtle hints of cumin and smoked paprika to it (I think, this caused a little debate but there was certainly something there with a gentle warming kick to it).

Had I looked at this menu online before hand or even at the door before going in, I would not have booked or stepped through the door. The menu wasn't worded to encourage those with little or no vegetarian knowledge to 'give veggies a go', there is certainly no way i would have got my hubby or kids through the door on the menu wording alone.

However the food when it arrived would have suited them all, they would happily eat a spinach & garlic pancake as a starter (where my 12 year old would have read 'crespelle', not known what it was and been put off immediately).

Maybe this is a deliberate ploy of the 'Canteen', maybe they wish to keep their restaurant full of certified card carrying lettuce lovers and leather haters but it would be a shame to not spread the knowledge around about this fabulous place to eat.

Why frighten away those more used to a chicken breast on top of their bed of lentils by using such unfamiliar wording. Now the salsa may indeed be called Meswiya but a sweet pepper salsa is much more recognisable to the masses and far less intimidating.

'Hostess with the Mostess' touched on the sweets menu and whilst delicious were not really what they claimed to be, again  trying to 'jazz' up or glorify the menu took anway from the fact they were 'darn scrummy'. If for nothing else, go to the 'Canteen' and have the sticky toffee pudding here, never will Vegan food ever seem dull again!

I urge you to go with an open mind, as the food was excellent, the atmosphere friendly and welcoming, just don't try and decpiher the menu and trust that the Chefs know what they're doing. Note to all though : Never order the ONE meat dish on a vegetarian menu!

'Try Anything Once'

I'll be back!

Those who know me know I am not very good at giving an opinion, at least not at the right time! So here I sit to write my first ever blog thing giving an opinion. The Canteen on Clifton Street? Loved it. What, you want more than that? Walking into the Canteen it was nice to find it was warm and smelt good! A reservation had been made by email, which was just as well as almost every table was full and not long after we sat down the rest quickly filled up. The decor was tongue and groove on the wall and tiles on the floor, Er....bit like a canteen! On the walls were original art work and photos which were good to look at! Even if not all to one's taste. We were shown to our table and very soon we had made our choices of what to eat. The menu was not overly extensive, which generally means freshly cooked rather than boil in the bag. Due to the fact that we wanted to try all that the menu offered we made sure at least one of everything was ordered. All the starters arrived and they were beautifully presented and looked appetising and we all had 'dipsies' into each of the different ones. (I will put photos up in another post as I am not sure how to do it right now!) The roasted tofu and sushi balls looked the best! I had the crespelle and I think I must have had all the seasoning the others found lacking because it tasted good to me. The main courses were also presented well, I know my blogger family found the salads blobbed down, but I loved the colours of the salads and even the green of the Thai curry and yellow of the rice cake together, this was my choice. The tumblet also looked good, although I understand the eater was less than impressed with her meal. The only one that had absolutely no presentation about it was the Thai chicken curry. Even the rice on that meal looked as if it wanted to be something or be somewhere else!! Dessert also looked pretty. Even the pastry covered banana was presented well, and tasted good. The combination of the lime cheesecake, ginger sorbet and coconut decoration (reminiscent of Nana's coconut pyramids) worked really well together, but the surprise for me was how lush the sticky toffee pudding was, although it was rich enough that even I would have had to share it! All in all the whole meal experience was enjoyable. It appealed to all my senses - the place was clean and welcoming, no sticky residue to touch the table, food looked good, smelt good, tasted good, and conversation flowed and was good on mine ears! I will go back. (Sorry, I thought I would have more trouble thinking what to write!)

BYO - WTF?

What's that you say? Vegetarian? BYO? What are these alien concepts? 

My first action as part of Dinner Ladies was to purchase a bottle of wine. Something I've never done before when going to a restaurant for a meal. As the menu is largely vegetarian, I chose white, which led to the challenge of keeping it cold. Challenge succeeded, we travelled to the restaurant, and I thought a little more about the BYO concept. Why do restaurants have BYO policies? Is it so that they stand out from their competition? Is it because drinking is frowned upon? Do they have limited storage space? To me, wine is central to any dining experience, and I enjoy trying new wines as much as I do new dishes. So why not incorporate it into your venue? Odd.

But I'd forgotten about the corkage. Ay, there's the rub. The restaurant is making £2.50 per bottle by doing nothing. They would probably make twice that if they sold wine themselves, but then there's the storage costs. The question is, should the cost be called "screwage" now that most bottles (even some of the good ones) have screw tops.

When I heard we were going to a vegetarian restaurant, I had visions of a hippy-styled, lentil infused, incense stick burning teepee, but I was pleasantly surprised. Now, I'm usually the kind of person that judges a pub/bar/restaurant/hotel on its styling alone. This has led to many argument filled trawls around towns and cities, usually ending up in a stylish but awful venue. The Canteen opened my eyes to look further than the gloss and glamour, and more for the substance of the place; atmosphere, service and of course the food. It was simple, a bit dated, and more greasy spoon than chic boite, but the atmosphere was electric. Crammed with groups of students this was clearly a popular place.

Living with a 50-something lorry driver originally from the North East of England, I'm wary of creating meals without some sort of meat.... I've heard divorces can be expensive. He once ordered Glamorgan Sausages, thinking they were made from pigs bred in the local area. Imagine his shock when he discovered they were made from vegetables.  We had to swap meals. Bye bye rare steak.

However, I'm a little different. I'm not averse to lentils and know that there's as much (if not more) flavour in vegetables and particularly fresh herbs, than in meat (as I was soon to discover). I stupidly ordered the only meat dish on the menu - a red Thai chicken curry.  Bland? Very. I've never tasted warm wallpaper paste before but I imagine that would have more flavour.  Add that to the bone found in my food, and a quick call over to the waitress was called for. She promptly (ish) brought me the Thai green vegetable curry instead, which was delightful. Just the kind of food I prepare and eat at home.

As well as trying new cuisine in unfamiliar surroundings, I felt that I was with unfamiliar dining companions. Although we all know each other very well, and have done for many years, the Dinner Ladies concept enabled us to learn new things about each other, which came from talking about food and cooking rather than the usual work/men/families discussions. It also allowed us to take more notice of the food than we would usually, sampling each other's dishes, and dissect the menu.

Would I eat at The Canteen again? Maybe. But probably only if I had a vegetarian visiting. Am I more open to new experiences? Definitely.

Canteen on Clifton Street - by Hostess with the Mostess

Canteen on Clifton Street
Visited Thursday 10th May 2012
http://canteenoncliftonstreet.com/
40 Clifton St, Cardiff, CF24 1LR
029 20454999

The Jet Lag Menu

Starters
Beetroot and umeboshi, black sesame sushi balls and roasted tofu (v, c)
Wild garlic and spinach crespelle with tomato sauce (v)
Carrot and tarragon soup (v, co)

Main Course (10.50)
Tomato, feta, pistachio and date b’stilla with watermelon salad,
lentil tabbouleh, tzatziki and meshwiya
Lemon grass and ginger risotto cake with vegetables in thai green curry sauce (v, c)
Tumbet with white beans in roasted garlic and cashew cream and
mixed vegetable salad with pomegranate and balsamic dressing (v,c)
Meat dish (c) - Thai red Curry

Dessert
Sticky toffee pudding with ice cream and toffee sauce (v, co)
Banana baklava roll with sweetened labne and pomegranate sauce (v)
Key lime pie with ginger sorbet (c)


Any two courses for £13.50, three courses £16.00

"a busy, sometimes noisy, lively, always welcoming restaurant for lovers of vegetarian and regular cuisine." is how the website introduces this restaurant and the first thing that did strike me was how busy it was for a Thursday evening. I'm the sort of person that would avoid an empty restaurant so it was an encouraging start!
I was the "chooser" for the first of our Dinner Lady outings. I am not a vegetarian/vegan nor do I have any allergies or intolerances - in fact, I am a firm believer in meat and 2 veg so the girls were a bit perplexed when I decided I wanted to eat here. I use trip advisor a lot and the Canteen on Clifton Street is ranked number 2 of many Cardiff restaurants. This, coupled with a want to expand my recipe collection up from one vege recipe, got me intrigued enough to convince the girls we should give it a go.

All of us Dinner Ladies are looking at each of the restaurants we visit from different perspectives but as the "chooser", I will give a brief overview of the evening before getting more specific.

After being seated straight away by a smiling waitress, we did wait a short while before being asked for drinks orders. This didn't really affect us as we had plenty of gossip to catch up on but as it was BYO, we did have to start drinking the wine from the water glasses already on the table. More on the drinks choices by No Solid Crew........
Overall the service was then swift and with a smile. One of the ladies had a problem with her dish and it was swapped with no fuss and an apology - more from Sweet Caroline on that one.......

The atmosphere was relaxed and we were at ease to be a little loud and giggly as there were quite a few other parties of 6 or more in - this is definitely a group friendly place and I may have felt a little less relaxed if I'd been trying to have a romantic meal for 2.
The original artwork for sale on the walls was quirky but it did lead to there being no real 'decor' as such to tie the theme of the place together. The wooden pub chairs also could have done with a cushion and I have plenty of padding!

To my food...... Considering I like meat with everything, I really did enjoy this vegetarian meal. I had the wild garlic and spinach pancake to start. I think it could have had more of a kick of something, garlic, black pepper, nutmeg or maybe herbs in the tomato sauce but overall it was tasty and there was plenty of it. It would be an easy starter to recreate using a simple recipe such as this Spinach and ricotta pancake recipe from BBC, adding spinach to the pancake batter before whizzing up to make them green. As a starter, this could be adapted many ways...some ideas I've put below.



Fresh wild mushrooms in a cream sauce with chicken or ham

Chicken breast, fresh spinach and sweet red peppers with basil and feta cheese

Roasted Mediterranean vegetables in a ratatouille
Chicken and smoked bacon in a creamy garlic Parmesan sauce with pesto instead of the tomato sauce topping

Chicken and/or potato/sweet potato curry with mango chutney & sour cream

Chorizo and prawns in a spicy Mexican sauce with guacamole and sour cream

Smoked with red onions in a tomato, dill, cream and caper sauce

I'd also quite like to adapt this idea to a "build your own meal" with friends with lots of bowls of fillings and freshly cooked pancakes, a little like a fajita night. This would also work as a good pudding idea.

Dinner Lady 'Try anything once' had a beautiful Carrot and Tarragon soup which was really thick and hearty - not necessarily perfect for a spring menu but really tasty none the less - Delia has a recipe but it's much smoother and less rustic. I also think the addition of orange would work well.

The beetroot and umeboshi (pickled fruits) with sesame sushi is far too complicated for me to explain how to recreate. However, it has inspired me to use my sushi molds, which I bought years back and have never taken out of the packet!

My main was the filo parcel with tomato, feta, pistachio's and dates. It tasted very good and I didn't miss the meat at all. Not one if you don't like sweet savoury food but I thought the side dishes really worked to balance this. The presentation wasn't refined but this was not expected and not missed.

I've never had lentils, hot or cold so the lentil tabbouleh was a pleasant surprise. This is something I'll definitely do at home with just tinned lentils, lemon juice and chopped fresh herbs. The rocket and cucumber salad was also brilliant - with the simple addition of a few water melon pieces, it really freshened up the dish and would be a great summer side dish. The tzatziki and tomato salsa which everyone has their own simple recipe for, worked equally well. (The salsa had a slightly smokey flavour and I there is a 'smoked paprika with sweet red pepper and thyme' seasoning from M+S that I will try next time I make one)

I have added links to some recipes for these salads and a couple more that would keep to the Greek theme.
A main course of filo pastry parcel with almost any filling and some bowls of fresh salads would make a great lunch with a chilled white sauvignon blanc or viogner.

Warm lentil salad

Feta tabbouleh with orange

Fattoush

Tomato and feta parcels - filling options are endless and I've also found this sweet version I fancy trying Honey and feta pillow

Classic Tzatziki

A couple of the ladies had the lemon grass and ginger risotto cake, which had a really stand out flavour. They can talk you through it's merits but if you've not tasted or made risotto balls (Arancini) before, they're definitely worth the effort and could be a starter, main course or canape. This recipe from Rick Stein is a simple risotto recipe, that explains the process of chilling and them forming into balls, covering in breadcrumbs and deep frying (you could oven them for a healthier version but I think frying works best). The filling and flavours could be anything - in this case it's Gruyere cheese, ham and peas or try the following ideas and serve with a tangy tomato chutney;

Mozzarella and sun dried tomatoes or mozzarella with a tomato risotto

Pesto risotto balls
Feta and olives

Prawns with dill risotto

Jamie Oliver has an interesting Sicilian recipe

Sweet Caroline will go into puds in more detail but my only criticism for a very tasty variety was that they described them as something they were not. The key lime pie was not this at all but was a delicious baked lime cheesecake with a refreshing ginger sorbet (I'm not sure what the decoration on top was and it didn't really add anything to the dish.) The banana baklava was a banana wrapped and baked in filo pastry - again really tasty but not a baklava as such.

I love sorbets as palette cleansers at a dinner party and this desert combines both. I like the idea of this mango and ginger sorbet after a spicy meal, especially as I always struggle with deserts after serving curries.

Overall, I did enjoy this restaurant and I, surprisingly, didn't miss my meat. They've definitely covered themselves by naming it a "canteen" but it's a long way from school dinners. I would highly recommend for groups of friends, especially if you like trying something different or have a selection of dietary requirements.

So this is us....

Hi all,

Formed from an interest in food blogs & supper clubs, the resolution to experience something new this year, a professional interest in the local restaurants & eateries and just a darn good reason to spend time with friends - the 'Dinner Ladies' was born.

A marketing manager, a hospitality manager, a training & quality manager, an estate agent, a full time working mum & a medical secretary will take it in turns to choose an unusual (to us) place to eat, restaurants & cafes that we know of but have never got round to trying.

We'll eat, drink, take in the atmosphere, check out the service & venue, and see if it could be recreated at home for those of you who'd like some new ideas when you entertain.

Our first restaurant has been picked and we'll report back next week.



Dinner Ladies