A Quick Lunch At Zizzi's, Cardiff Bay

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon today so we extracted the Husband from his working quarters (our loft) for a lunch at one of our favourite family eateries, Zizzi's italian restaurant at Mermaid Quay in Cardiff.

Now, hands up, I did intend to do a more thorough review than this but we were, in all honesty, hungry  and anyway, it will be no hardship at all to return.  

Anyway, this should give you a flavour of the place and because it seems to be a little quieter in the day than neighbouring Pizza Express, it's well worth having Zizzi's as what I like to think of as a reserve in your "will put up with your offspring" restaurant arsenal.

Zizzi's in Mermaid Quay is bright and airy and has a fabulous view over the Bay.  I love it when the sun sparkles on the sea.  It makes the Bay feel quite continental.  

With his usual quest to sit somewhere with the most risk to his personal safety, Ieuan decided we'd sit on the high backed, blue pastel chairs but they were surprising comfortable and, happily, he didn't fall off.

The children's menu came on a printed sheet with colouring and puzzles to keep them occupied.

I think the barman may be coveting Ieuan's Power Ranger.

 The kids' menu is £6.75 for three courses and both our two opted for the mini pizza.

Caitlin's latest masterpiece.  Ieuan did his customary Incredible Hulk green angry scribble.

The children's starter, dough sticks, come with carrot and cucumber batons.  Yes.  That really is Ieuan eating carrot.

The Husband chose the bruschetta as his starter and had polished it off before I had a chance to wield the camera!  I can tell you it was light and fresh with sweet baby tomatoes and a generous helping of cheese.

My main course was the Skinny Pizza Pollo Roquito - chicken, roquito chillies, Fior di Latte Mozzarella, sliced asparagus, baby watercress and fresh oregano.  Under 550 calories (still quite high but still...) plus 25p of the cost of the pizza (£10.25) goes to Cancer Research UK.

It came with a lovely fresh side salad with spiralized beetroot and radishes.

One slight oddity about the online menus is that you have to click to bring up the prices and select your local restaurant.  I'm not quite sure why the prices just aren't displayed next to the dish, unless there is considerable regional variation in prices across the country, which I can't imagine a chain such as this doing.

The Husband chose Strozzapretti Pesto Rosso (£9.95) - spicy piccante chicken, red pesto, creme fraiche and spring onions which was creamy and delicious with just the right amount of 'bite'.

Caitlin had great fun decorating her mini pizza with her chosen toppings of olives and ham.

 This is where the cunning plan went a bit wrong.  Just as I was about to reach for the dessert menu (and the kids could have chosen ice cream or a Zizzi Bambini Cone), the pair of them vanished out of the door, having spotted the Cardiff Bay Beach with its fairground rides.

This left me to pay the bill whilst the Husband legged it after the miscreants.  We have just invested in a Tastecard which gives 50% off the bill or, here in Zizzi's 2 for 1 on main courses.  The total bill came to £44.40 which included one large glass of rose wine, a small beer, a glass of milk and a diet coke.

Now you see them,  now they've legged it to the fair.

Oh well, never mind.  I will just have to go back to check out the desserts.  All in the name of research of course.

Further information: Zizzi's in Cardiff Bay is based in Unit 8, Mermaid Quay, CF10 5BZ.  Tel: 02920 462232. You can tweet Zizzi @WeAreZizzi and they are on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wearezizzi.

This is a completely independent review.

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Review: Ed's Easy Diner, Cardiff

Ed's Easy Diner in St. David's Shopping Centre, Cardiff.  A little bit of Americana here in the UK, although Ed's started in Soho, London over 25 years ago.  Its interior lures you with shiny chrome and a red and white colour scheme.

There are neon lights a plenty, a retro jukebox from which you can select your favourite 50's classic (and the money goes to charity) and the chance to blow the diet and indulge in comfort food as pleasing to families as I suspect it is to students suffering from the night before.

Leaving aside the risk that listening to "Tell Laura I Love Her" might dampen your enthusiasm for giant portions burgers and steaming hot fries, the atmosphere when we went (a Saturday lunchtime) was buzzing. Incidentally why do so many of the 1950's classic love songs involve dying horribly in accidents?  Just a thought.

I may be hiding in this picture somewhere

What I love about Ed's is that is does not pretend to be something it is not.  Aside from a nod to 'gluten free' and a small selection of salads,  this is food to expand the waistband and reassure you that ice cream does indeed solve many of life's little problems.

The staff (clearly unaffected by the more mournful ballads) were cheerful and upbeat.  There was a queue outside and a fast turnover.

Drinks arrived swiftly (diet coke, sparkling water, lemonade and milk) in generous sized glasses, whilst the kids were kept occupied by the obligatory kids menu / puzzle sheet.

The kids menu differs from the others we have tried (for example, Prezzo and Carluccio's) in that menu choices are priced individually.  A Junior Burger, Puppy Dog (junior hotdog) or Chicken Tenders are £4.45 and come served with a choice of Fries or Salad.  Desserts are Junior Sundaes (two scoops of ice cream with a choice of sauce) at £1.95 or there are junior milkshakes (£2.05) or a choice of soft drink and milk.  This is slightly more expensive in that drinks are not included but the main and dessert comes to a pretty average £6.40.

Caitlin had the Chicken Tenders and Ieuan chose the Puppy Dog.  Both dishes arrived piping hot with generous portions.

Ignoring the fact that Dr. Ranj would probably have palpitations if such a meal were a regular occurrence, the kids dug in.

The Husband chose the monthly special burger - a Cajun Burger (regular at 5oz) at £6.95 with an extra order of classic fries - £2.95, onion rings at £3.45 and coleslaw - £1.

In his usual style, this was made short work of.  The quality of the burger was perfectly acceptable and a step above the standard burgers served by other well known fast food restaurants. The salad garnish was fresh and the cajun mayo was well spiced.

I had the Pulled Pork Sub Plate - £10.95 - BBQ pulled pork in a large sub roll, chunky fries, BBQ sauce and coleslaw.  The roll was smothered in cheese sauce.

This was absolutely delicious.  The pulled pork melted in the mouth and the onion rings are deliciously sweet.  I could have done with marginally less cheese sauce but the BBQ sauce was tangy and the coleslaw fresh.

On to desserts.  Ieuan has a passion for chocolate brownies so he had an adult size portion of Brownie Points (chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and Hershey's Chocolate Sauce) - £4.65, whilst Caitlin and I had a strawberry Junior Sundae each (£1.95) and the Husband had his favourite, pancakes with maple syrup and ice cream at £4.95.

Obviously I couldn't leave Ieuan to eat all this unsupervised and I can report that the brownie was moist and gooey and just the right temperature.

The ice cream and strawberry sauce were good quality and did not have a synthetic taste.

The Husband reports that his pancakes were hot, tasty and went down a treat.

We had a great time at Ed's Easy Diner.  It's a fun dining experience, ideal to give the kids an occasional treat.  The place was clean and the staff were lovely.  One small comment, there are no toilets (you know me by now!) on the premises, however, a quick scoot back out into the shopping centre and round the corner brings you to the public toilets which were, on this occasion, full of young girls preparing themselves to see One Direction later in the evening.  Ieuan was most impressed by this.  We would certainly visit Ed's again although I really hope someone has told Laura he loves her by then.

Further information can be found at www.edseasydiner.com.  We visited as guests of Ed but the opinions in this review are our own.

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Review: Carluccio's in Cardiff Bay

Scene of the now vanished Cafe Rouge and the location for much eating of Ieuan's unique combo of chicken goujons and Bon Maman strawberry jam (listen - anything to get them to eat), we ventured to the newest addition to the Carluccio's chain in Cardiff Bay.

The restaurant is light and airy and benefits from a lovely view over the Bay.  Seating has now been laid out both outside and to the side of the restaurant, abutting the equally new Bills Restaurant.

The Hobbis Family

We were seated in a bright corner of the restaurant where we could admire the new bar area and retro artwork on the walls. Behind us was a gorgeous photographic print of a Mediterranean scene with a azure blue sea. Not quite the colour of Cardiff Bay but it was my birthday and I was prepared to pretend it was!

The kids were given a menu / colouring / puzzle sheet and some pencils to keep them quiet and starters were duly ordered.  The children's menu is £6.60 per head (in line with Prezzo and Pizza Express).  It was Grissini and a soft drink (rather oddly a mixed berry smoothie) for the kids and Mat and I had the Savoury Bread Tin (freshly baked Focaccia, Ligurian Crispbread, Grissini and sliced Tuscan Breads with olive oil - £3.95) and Sicillian Giant Green Olives (£3.75).

The breads were delicious including one rather unusual inclusion of a bread with sultanas and Rosemary. I felt this was more suited to breakfast but the kids weren't complaining.

The kids chose spaghetti with meatballs and tomato sauce for their main course.  I chose Asparagus Risotto (£10.95) from the Specials Board and Mat chose Ravioli filled with Ricotta and Spinach from the main menu (£8.95) and the Verde side salad of little Gem lettuce, Rocket and Parmesan shavings (£3.95).

The risotto was hot and tasty with the asparagus being nicely al dente.  The portion size was generous, however, I felt the dish had been over seasoned and was slightly too salty for my taste. This is just a matter of personal preference though.

Both Mat's dishes were fresh, well presented and duly enjoyed.

The kids' meatballs were made of coarse ground beef and made on the premises giving them a home-made feel.  The portion size was very generous.  The children's menu offers kids the choice between a variety of sauces, two pasta shapes (penne and spaghetti) and five sauces (one of which is meatballs).

Desserts were ice cream and a pot of fresh fruit for the kids (as part of their menu). I chose the Crostata Al Limone (Lemon Tart - £4.75) and Mat had the Crostata di Fragola (Strawberry and Mascarpone Tart and Vanilla Ice Cream - £5.50). Caitlin's ice cream was strawberry in a standard cardboard pot, obviously straight from the freezer and Ieuan's fruit pot was entirely strawberries.  A mix of fruit would have been a more exciting dessert.  I think a little creativity is needed with the desserts offered on the children's menu.

My lemon tart, which I suspect had been sitting in one of the glass display containers in the front window was tasty but slightly warmed by the sun, and I would have preferred a more solid consistency and a cooler dessert. Mat had no such issues with his strawberry tart!

Coffees followed and there was a choice of a smooth or a rich roast.  We chose the latter and the coffee had a satisfying bite, so much so that I added some sugar (rare for me).  The bill for four of us came in at around the £70 mark, including one beer and a glass of Montepulciano red wine (a pretty standard, but easy drinking restaurant red offered by quite a few restaurants near us).

Carluccio's seems to have a slightly lower price point than its main rival, Jamie's Italian, and we enjoyed our meal  Our server, Cassidy, was charming, brilliant with the kids and couldn't do enough to make sure we had a great time.

Carluccio's Cardiff Bay is at Mermaid Quay.  Tables can be booked online at www.carluccios.com or by phoning 02920460201 and is open from 8 am to 11 pm Monday to Saturdays and from 9 am to 10:30 pm on Sundays.

This is a completely independent review.

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