On fathers day we opted to visit The Clink resturant. Situated in the city centre right next door to cardiff prison. Recently reopened after being closed during the pandemic. Not having visited since pre pandemic times , it was time to return to see if it still had the same experience I did last time.
You have to book to go here and they do require a deposit as well. I had to pay £15 per head in advance, so it's something you want to know your definitely going to. We had booked at a peak time around 1pm.
When we arrived we were greated and seen to our table. Given menus and a chance to look over them. A lady then gave us a brief overview of the menu. She said not to worry if we did not know if we wanted dessert can always add it afterwards. For 2 courses it was £24.95 or for 3 course £31.95.
Our drinks orders were then taken by a gentleman. The drinks options are all non alcoholic, but have some mocktails on offer. I opted for the blueberry and ginger mojito , as so did my parents. The mocktail was very fruity, with the blueberry being the dominant flavour. They do sell the basic such a Coke and there is water on the table as well.
It then came time to ordering our food. This is where we got confused with what we were getting told. The gentleman who took our food order said that if we wanted dessert we would have to choose now. Yet the lady preivously had told us differently. None of us then wanted to order it as how could we tell if we could fit it in after the starters and main.
So the starters when reading the menu we had to look things up. The wording such as pork ritllets, is made fancy when it basically is pork pate. I opted for the tomato panzanella, which is basically a salad with croutons. The dish was pretty small for what you were paying for it. In hindsight the best dish on the menu was the soup of the day. My brother opted for this which was pea soup. You had a fair amount of soup and 2 slices of bread. Pictured below was the starter I wish I had gone for the leek tarlet.
Myself for main, I ordered the beef, I had asked how it was cooked and as it was medium that was fine for myself. For my boyfriend he was more looking for rare to medium. This meant he opted for the pork belly instead. My brother had the veggie option of summer vegtable and lentil nut roast. The other dish then on the table was the fish , the pan fried sea bream.
When the food came over it was pretty quickly and all at the same time. My beef actually looked more medium rare which I did not mind. It came with lots of gravy and a Yorkshire pudding. On the plate is also mashed potato , a carrot and a parsnip. There is then vegetables for the table consisting of cabbage sweede and brocoli. My parsnip was fine but my father in laws he said was not cooked very well.
I had ordered extras as well , cauliflower cheese for the table. This was beautifully cheesy and bubbling hot. I was pretty impressed with my meal but others on the table not so much. My boyfriend did not get his crackling that was stated should come with the meal. He also felt that all the roasts should come with a yorkshire pudding. There were sauces that we had seen on the side. We were not offered any, but I guess people could of asked if they desperately wanted some.
My brother enjoyed his nut roast and my dad and mother in law loved the fish. It came with samphire and was beautifully cooked. I'd say it was a 50/50 split with the food experience on our table.
Overall there were some kinks that needed ironing out. Not sure if because they had recently reopened that they were getting back into training. They may have been short staffed or the servers were just new. We were asked if our food was ok at the end , when most resturants will ask within about 5 to 10 minutes. With one guy serving and the other taking dishes out, meant one person was standing around for a while. Maybe a better system on busier days may help..
The food was generally delicious that I experienced. So the chefs in training did a good job. This resturant is a charity, teaching those a skill to get jobs in the future. There is a 12% service charge added, I paid it hoping it will help get more staff trained to a good standard.
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