Cardiff restaurants: Hiraeth review

For my birthday in July, I was surprised with a trip to Hiraeth, one of Cardiff’s top restaurants.

Located opposite the city’s Victoria Park, the restaurant, which opened in November 2022, moved to its current location last year after brief stints in nearby Cowbridge and Bridgend.

Fans of Great British Menu may recognise head chef Lewis Dwyer, who’s twice competed for Wales, most recently earlier this year.

The small, friendly restaurant, which is run by Dwyer and Andy Aston, serves a set tasting menu that changes each month.

Our gourmet odyssey began with two snacks: a duck liver parfait served with cherry sauce (above), and a yoghurt sorbet with pomegranate granita, curry leaves and dukkah.

The duck liver parfait was intense and shockingly cold. I don’t think my brain could quite compute eating what was essentially frozen paté.

It was a great way to kick off the meal and really awakened my taste buds. I liked the oats that accompanied it, too, as they added a nice crunch.

The yoghurt sorbet, meanwhile, was refreshing and quite the flavour bomb (above). I especially loved the moreish dukkah crumb.

We moved on to our starter, chicken tea (above). The dish consisted of Japanese-style fried chicken, a chicken consommé with dashi stock, and a mini loaf of bread served with a small quenelle of chicken skin-spiked butter.

The fried chicken, which was topped with sriracha, was the best I’ve ever had.

The bread was pillowy soft and the chicken-skin butter delightful, while the smoky broth had real depth of flavour.

This was followed by a refined pea, broad bean and poppy seed tart with ricotta (above). It was topped with a chilli dressing, Parmesan and a couple of Parmesan crisps.

I’m really fussy about pastry and am not a fan of restaurants that serve thick, insipid pastry. Thankfully, I didn’t have to worry at Hiraeth, the pastry was short, crisp and delicious.

The peas were fresh and light, the creamy ricotta boasted a hint of lemon and the chilli dressing gave it a nice warmth. It was very good.

Up next was my favourite dish of the evening: tuna carpaccio with mango, nam prik pao and puffed rice (above).

A light, delicate dish, the thinly-sliced oily fish was perfectly offset by the fruity, tangy sauce.

I liked the slight chilli heat, the crunch from the puffed rice, and the pop of freshness from the micro-coriander, too.

It was to die for and I could have eaten mounds of it.

We had the option of adding an extra dish to our meal for £15 – lobster corndog with thermidor emulsion and cheese (above).

As it was a special occasion, we decided to go all out and share it between us, and I’m so glad we did as it was amazing.

Sweet, succulent and meaty, it’s hard to put into words how good it was!

By now we’d reached the main course, which consisted of aged Cardiganshire duck in two parts.

The first part was a bao bun filled with leg meat, hoisin sauce and cucumber, topped with sesame seeds (above).

I often find baos hit and miss in the UK, but this one was delicious. The bun was perfectly soft and not at all claggy, while the filling was full of flavour.

The second part was two-week aged Cardiganshire duck breast with turnip and chard (above).

The pan-fried breast was excellent and I loved how crisp the skin was, while the super thin strips of turnip added a wonderful sharpness.

The restaurant has its own smallholding just a mile away where they grow some of the produce they serve, and we were told the chard had been picked that morning.

There’s something lovely about knowing the food you’re eating was grown not just locally, but picked that day.

After a string of savoury dishes, it was time to move on to the dessert part of the menu.

First up was white peach, momoshu and goat’s curd (above). The dish was made up of a white peach that had been marinated in momoshu (a peach sake) served alongside a quenelle of goat’s curd that had been whipped with cream and vanilla.

The dish was astonishing. Rich, creamy and decadent with just the slightest hint of tangy goat’s cheese, the white peach had begun to ferment so it fizzed on the tongue creating an extraordinary sensation in the mouth.

My only quibble was I’d have liked the peach to have a slightly firmer texture as it was ever so slightly mushy. But it was a very minor quibble.

The tasting menu’s final dish was a duck egg crème caramel (above). The classic French dessert is my mother’s favourite, so I’ve eaten (and made) quite a few in my time and this one was lovely.

The set cream wobbled perfectly, while the caramel had a slight smoky taste.

Alongside our food, we enjoyed a refreshing, low alcohol elderflower sparkling wine, which came from nearby Brecon.

At the end of the night, the restaurant surprised me with a celebratory macaron (above) for my birthday.

It was a thoughtful and unexpected touch, and a fantastic way to end a fabulous evening.

I really enjoyed our visit to Hiraeth, the food was excellent and so flavourful – the flavours throughout were intense – and the staff were lovely, friendly and welcoming.

It’s a great place for a special occasion and I’d happily go back again.

Info

Hiraeth, 587 Cowbridge Rd East, Cardiff CF5 1BE
Open Wednesday to Saturday
hiraethkitchen.com