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.