RWCMD, Cardiff

The recent extension of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) houses The Richard Burton Theatre and The Dora Stoutzker Hall. At the back of the central lobby, there is also The Café Bar, which does coffees and teas, sandwiches and jacket potatoes, along with a soup and a hot meal special (£6). It’s a good place to get a filling lunch, if you are happy eating the dish the chef happens to be cooking.

Today I picked up some tickets and stayed for lunch. The main meal was Pork Belly with Sweet Sage and Apple Sauce served with Potatoes and Seasonal Vegetables. This comprised a large chunk of succulent belly pork, slightly caramelized on top and topped with hot apple slices (good to see the skin still on) in a sweet and rich sagey gravy. It was served with steamed cauliflower and baby carrots, and roast potatoes (I probably didn’t need the potatoes). This was a hearty meal that sort of demanded a colder day. The lunchtime soup special was French Onion.

The café was busy with students, people attending the Electric Stage event, and community police officers (the station is nearby). As I was leaving, the main meal had changed for the afternoon. The chef was now cooking Spicy Aubergines filled with couscous served with garlic bread. On a previous occasion it was Swansea Mussels.

A walk around Bute Park on this balmy October afternoon was in order afterwards.

On a musical note, it’s good to see RWCMD programming modern jazz. Cardiff jazz fans have long been resigned to frequent trips to Bristol, which has a superior jazz scene, to hear the top modern jazz acts. Among the concerts I’ll be attending later this month at RWCMD is one by the jazz trio Meadow. With Cardiff setting great store on its music scene, jazz concerts to rival Bristol’s would be most welcome. Here’s a plug for Meadow's new album Blissful Ignorance on Edition Records.

RWCDM:
http://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/

A previous post on the RWCMD:
http://sfnottingham.blogspot.com/2011/06/penguin-cafe.html