Potted pig with toast and pickles (£6) is
a signature starter at The Potted Pig
(located on the pedestrianized High Street near Cardiff Castle ).
Although served in a small preserving jar with accompanying toast, this is not
pate. The jar is stuffed with shredded pork shoulder lightly spiced with
cayenne pepper. The pickles are halved gherkins and cubed beetroot. The toast,
and the bread served generally, is chunky granary.
My partner had the Smoked trout with poached egg and béarnaise
sauce on a potato blini (£5). This starter had wonderfully complimentary
flavours, with the fish being richly smoked, and the tight plating bought them all
together in every sense.
For main course, I chose Barnsley lamb chop with kidneys, roast onion and
parsnips (£15). A Barnsley Chop is a double lamb chop, taken from across
the loin of the animal; so named because the cut originated in Barnsley . Here it was served with two lamb’s kidneys (one
either side), and topped with bright green peas. Underneath the chop were
roasted vegetables in flavoursome gravy.
The other main was Slow roast Hereford pork belly with baked carrots and
greens (£13). I find belly pork a bit fatty for my taste, but my partner
rated this dish very highly. The crackling was perfect.
You might think that in a restaurant
specializing in “nose-to-tail” meat eating that the vegetables might be a bit
of an after-thought. However, we found the vegetables at The Potted Pig to be
abundant and cooked with the same care as the meat. There are a couple of starters and a couple of
main courses for vegetarians, which sound interesting and incorporate seasonal
vegetables (e.g., Jerusalem artichoke,
purple sprouting broccoli and Welsh cheddar pie). However, this is not a place to bring the kids or
anyone who wants puddings to be a big part of their dining experience.
We drank a bottle of splendid red
wine from the Languedoc (£16) and rounded the
meal off with a couple of liqueur coffees (Frangelico: hazelnut liqueur from
northern Italy ).
The service was first-rate throughout.
The Potted Pig was
opened in 2011, in a former Lloyd's Bank vault, by The Chameleon Group (who
also own The Meating Place, The North Star and The Vulcan Lounge in Cardiff ). There are dark
corners, candlelight, brick walls and no over-decoration, so it has atmosphere
and retains a feel for the building’s history. Larger groups are put in the
former strong room (whole suckling pig being a popular party choice). Don’t be
alarmed if the waiter walks off towards the stairs with your credit card: because of the thick walls it’s necessary for the card-reading machine to get a
signal!
This was my choice for a birthday
meal, and it turned out to be a good choice. The Potted Pig has been one of the
most talked about (and blogged about) restaurants in Cardiff since it opened last summer . We
found nothing to contradict its generally excellent reviews.
The Potted Pig
Tel: 029 2022 4817