...you just have to be prepared to find it/drive to it and then pay (a lot) for it. Eliot's parents' visit gave us the perfect excuse/chance to try the best of the best of Cardiff and Cornwall (southwest England), so here goes...
Sept. 22: Woods Bar & Brasserie (Cardiff Bay): This is generally considered to be one of Cardiff's best restaurants. The restaurant itself is beautiful and in a great location. It differs from the other popular upscale Cardiff joints in that the main courses come with actual garnishes -- like vegetables! and sauces!! -- which was nice. Excluding The Thai House, which I put in a separate "ethnic cuisine" category, this is now my favorite restaurant in Cardiff. Favorite dish: the hake, which Eliot's mom ordered.
Sept. 25: Tides Grill at the St. David's Hotel (Cardiff Bay): Located in the not-so-poor-man's version of Dubai's 7-star Burj Al Arab, Tides turned out to be a tasty little surprise. We had intended on eating in town, but the rain and our somber post-A Mighty Heart mood led us to a restaurant with parking. The fixed price menu looked great and the two lovely bottles of red washed the rain right away. Favorite dish: although the salmon was good, the lamb the Abel men ordered was delicious!
Sept. 27: The Old Post Office (St. Fagans): This restaurant came highly recommended from Eliot's coworkers and it couldn't have been any more adorable. Situated in a tiny "hotel," I felt like we were in a movie (Clue? but in a non-murder-mystery way?), but it might also have been our Cyprus-born server, the only employee we saw, who added to the charm/mystique. Favorite dish: I loved my tagliatelle with ribbons of butternut squash and 'girolle' (yellow chanterelle mushroom).
Sept. 28: St. Petroc's Bistro (Padstow, England): Rick Stein is a big celebrity chef here, so we attempted to make a reservation at The Seafood Restaurant. Well, three months in advance was not enough time apparently, so we 'settled' for the Bistro at 6:30pm (with a warning that we were to finish by 8:15pm). Now, this all seemed a *little* much for me, but it turns out that there was a reason for all that jazz: the restaurant was fantastic! Casual but classy, great food, adorable town. Favorite dishes: all of our main courses were worth getting again (the cod, the lemon sole, the Moroccan fish tagine) and the special cod fritter starter was great too.
Sept. 29: Restaurant at the Tresanton Hotel (St. Mawes, England): First it should be noted that the Tresanton Hotel is completely amazing -- charming and serene and wonderful. So, despite our late arrival (which would have been later had we not coaxed the ferry driver to make one more trip across the river that we were not expecting until the GPS said "in 0.5 miles, board ferry"), we knew the restaurant would be fantastic. We had breakfast on the balcony joining our rooms, followed by lunch on the terrace, then dinner in the restaurant. Favorite dishes and drinks: the Pimm's jug (basically British sangria -- in an awesome way), the salads (with avocado!), the various crab dishes...I can't even really remember because Saturday was such a haze of Dionysian ecstasy/gluttony.
Sept. 30: Porthminster Cafe (St. Ives, England): For our last day in Cornwall, we drove to the Porthminster Cafe in St. Ives at the recommendation of the Tresanton staff. It was the perfect beach cafe on one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen. It was a windy, misty day, so the beach was empty save a lone kite surfer and a bride and groom taking wedding photos, but the cafe was stuffed to the gills (ha! a fish joke!). Eliot loved this restaurant, so I'm sure we will make the 4-hour drive sooner rather than later. Favorite dish: the fish and chips which Eliot and I both ordered. The chips weren't the best, but the fish was.
And now we are fasting.
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