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Cardiff - Wally's Delicatessen

Posted by Unknown Monday, May 12, 2014 1 comment

Cardiff has some lovely arcades, and it's in the Royal Arcade that you'll find Wally's Deli.

Wally's Deli is named after it's founder - Walter Salamon. Walter's family originally were originally from Poland, and came to the UK in 1939 from Rohrbach (near Vienna) whilst fleeing from the Nazis.

Just looking through the windows, you can see this shop is like an Aladdin's cave for lovers of fine food:

I couldn't wait to go in:

Inside the shop:

there's all manner of continental products. There's a large cheese counter:

with cheeses like Gorwydd Caerphilly from Trethowans Dairy, and Perl Las from Caws Cenarth and Teifi with Seaweed (Welsh Laverbread) from Teifi Cheese.

There's a good charcuterie department:

with items from Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Spain.

They sell Belgium chocolates, and a good selection of local beers and wine:

I love the white chocolate sheep in the bottom of this cabinet!

If you go up the stairs (behind the olive bar):

there's a café, where I had some coffee and panettone:

Wally's is a lovely family business, which has now become a Cardiff institution!

Wally's Delicatessen
38-46 Royal Arcade
Cardiff
CF10 1AE

Tel: 029 2022 9265

Web: www.wallysdeli.co.uk

Cardiff - Allen's Bakery

Posted by Unknown Thursday, April 17, 2014 0 comments

Allen's Bakery is exactly the sort of place I like to feature in this blog! I think I first read about it in another blog (Gourmet Gorro), and after finding they're also one of Rick Stein’s Food Heroes, I knew I had to visit this traditional bakery.

A lot of local people aren't even aware of its existence, down an alley near Roath:

but it's well worth hunting out. Follow your nose!

Inside the bakery:

there's all sorts of traditional bread and cakes. By now a queue of locals had formed, and everyone was recommending different things to buy. My wife likes the chocolate shortbread and, as it's Good Friday, we can definitely recommend the hot cross buns:

Allen's Bakery

Arran Place
Cardiff
South Glamorgan
CF24 3SA

Tel: 029 2048 1219

Web: http://www.allensbakery.com

Cardiff - Madame Fromage

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, April 2, 2014 0 comments

Cardiff still has lots of Victorian and Edwardian arcades, especially in the Castle Quarter. It was in the Castle Arcade that I found Madame Fromage:

It's a café with a deli and cheese shop.

The cheese counter:

has a selection of Welsh cheeses:

and continental cheeses:

and there's bread to go with the cheese:

There's also cakes, like these banoffee cheesecake brownies:

or caramel shortbread

I'm more of a savoury person, so I bought a Welsh Oggie, from Edward's of Conwy.

I also wanted a gift to take home, and settled for some Wesh caviar (handpicked laver seaweed from the Pembrokeshire coast) from the Pembrokeshire Beach Food Company:

Madame Fromage

18 Castle Arcade
Cardiff
CF10 1BW

Tel: 029 2064 4888

Web www.madamefromage.co.uk

Cardiff - Cocorico Patisserie

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, March 26, 2014 0 comments

Every now and then I come across somewhere which is really exceptional, and Cocorico Patisserie is definitely one of those places. It's a café situated a couple of miles north of Cardiff city centre:

and well worth a detour. It's over a 140 mile from my house, so we're talking about a significant detour! It's run by a French man, Laurian Veaudour:

who came to Wales to watch the rugby world cup in 1999 - and is still here!

So you can expect good bread:

which is baked in the shop:

and nice croissants:

and amazing pâtisserie:

Laurian is a perfectionist, so he'll tell you about the farm where he gets his fruit from and all the other ingredients he uses. This cake is called a bit of Wales in the Alps:

because it's based on a Mont Blanc (a French cake), and has a sweet chestnut mousse with a dark chocolate mousse, but it's it’s laced with Penderyn Welsh whisky.

You'll need to allow extra time here, as choosing in this shop can be quite difficult with such a great choice! Do you go for an éclair or a lemon tart?

or a royal, special apple or tarte chibouste:

Our favourite was this religieuse:

choux buns filled with a lavender flavoured crème, which tasted divine! The Paris-Brest was also very good.

They do a stylish afternoon tea, and it's always nice to take some cakes back home:

Cocorico Patisserie

Niazs House
53-55 Whitchurch Road
Cardiff
South Glamorgan
CF14 3JP

Tel: 029 2132 8177

Web: www.cocoricopatisserie.co.uk

Cardiff Market

Posted by Unknown Monday, March 24, 2014 0 comments

If ever I visit a town/city that I don't know well, I always like to start with the market. The best places for food nearly always have good markets - and Cardiff has a wonderful market.

There's been a market here for a long time. As a sign above the entrance tells you, the current building was opened in 1891.

As you go through the doors, there's Sullivans, with a colourful display of fresh fruit and vegetables:

Opposite them, there's E Ashton Fishmongers:

who are Wales largest independent fishmongers, and have been in Cardiff Market since 1866!

When I called they had razor clams:

and also sea bream and Welsh sea bass on offer:

There are 6 different butchers in the market. Gary Anthony had this attractive display:

which included ribs of beef, rabbit and Welsh lamb chops.

J T Morgan have been trading since 1861:

They sell free range and organic meat and poultry to some of Cardiff's top restaurants.

Our Victorian ancestors knew how to build good markets - it's a nice light airy building.

Underneath the clock tower is Clancy's:

where vegetarians and vegans are very well catered for. They sell fresh food which is made by themselves, and also local chefs. They have an interesting range of herbs and exotic spices, including nine different sorts of dried chillies!

Another stall sells Mediterranean foods:

The Bread Stall sells fresh bread and cakes, including these Welsh cakes:

I'll finish off with another picture of Yeates Fruit and Veg:

I'm sure if more people used our markets, they would be happier (no BOGOFs to make you buy stuff to throw away), healthier, and richer (as prices are very reasonable)!

Cardiff Market
St Mary Street
Cardiff
CF10 1AU

Tel: 029 2087 1214

Web: www.cardiff-market.co.uk

RSPB Conwy Farmers' Market

Posted by Unknown Monday, September 24, 2012 0 comments

The RSPB reserve at Conwy is one of my favourite reserves, with spectacular views of Conwy Castle across the Conwy estuary (and oyster catchers if you look carefully at the above photo).

A Farmers' Market is held on the reserve on the last Wednesday of the month:

I normally miss this market, as I am at work, but managed to get there last month whilst on a walking holiday in North Wales.

Mrs Griffith, from Anglesey, was selling her honey and beeswax products:

There was a couple of stalls selling fresh vegetables

which was top quality.

Scilicorns Bakery, from Llanrwst were selling their bread:

I bought some bara brith (in Welsh this means "speckled bread"), I must go to Llanrwst to visit the bakery.

Simply Relish were selling their pickles and chutneys:

They're hand made in Flintshire. Their chilli jam, smoky chilli and tomato chutney and sweet chilli sauces have all won great taste awards.

Amarjit, from Nice & Spicy, was selling her range of vegetarian Indian foods including vegetable curries and sauces, bhagees:

and samosas:

and Punjabi savoury nibbles:

Crymlyn cakery were selling their cakes, made with local free range eggs and local honey.

I bought plenty, which were later enjoyed on the top of Conwy Mountain looking down at the reserve:

I've not done full justice to the market, as I arrived just as the market was opening and had to dash to join my friend walking up Conwy Mountain.

If you've not got a walikng party to join, it's worth spending time in reserve. there's a RSPB shop and a café:

with spectacular views. The staff are very friendly and helpful and helped me to identify this Adonis Blue butterfly:

It's a pleasant walk around the reserve, where you can also get a better look at those oyster catchers (and many other species besides):

RSPB Nature Reserve

Llandudno Junction

LL31 9XZ

Tel: 01492 584 091

Web: www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/c/conwy

Good Food For Life

Cardiff - Wally's Delicatessen

Cardiff - Allen's Bakery

Cardiff - Madame Fromage

Cardiff - Cocorico Patisserie

Cardiff Market

RSPB Conwy Farmers' Market

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