Browns Restaurant Cardiff Review
Browns Restaurant
Cardiff
Reviewed by Leah Roberts
Browns is a relatively new restaurant to Cardiff, it's always been busy when we've walked past and so we were eager to visit to see what all the fuss is about. It sits in a pedestrianised area of Cardiff near the train station and bus stops, and conveniently a short walk from a large multi-story car park which is open until midnight. The building is set on the corner of a popular thoroughfare lined with restaurants and wine bars. It definitely stands out as it is stylish and modern with some nice details which peak your interests. The décor was smart, well refurbished with great lighting and very spacious. It was a sunny Thursday evening and there were plenty of people enjoying a bite to eat and a drink on the ample patio area.
We entered and were greeted promptly by a friendly waitress who offered us a window seat. She gave us a few minutes to settle, browse the drinks menu and then returned to take our drinks orders. We took a while to browse the menu as we were absolutely spoilt for choice, our waitress, Aga, didn't rush us and came over when it was obvious that we'd made our decision. It's not often I enjoy making menu choices but every single description made my mouth water. After much debate between my husband and I over starters and mains we reluctantly made our final choices and even up until the last minute I dithered over what to order – it all sounded so delicious! Our drinks arrived promptly and our friendly waitress took our food order.
As we waited for our starters we browsed the cocktail menu, wow again spoilt for choice! Being a fan of gin I opted for the ragpur cooler which is easily the best cocktail I've ever had, ever! It wasn't too strong, the lychee liqueur gave it a lovely sweetness and the bitter lemon made it easy to drink. It was garnished with fresh mint tips – yum! My husband decided on a pint of pilsner and was very happy with it indeed.
Our starters arrived in good time and it's the first time I've ever been impressed with the presentation of food. I ordered the Crab and Avocado Stack, and it was exactly that! A beautifully presented stack of avocado, salsa, potato salad and crab with mustard crème fraiche. I didn't want to cut into it as it looked so good. My husband had the King Prawn Cocktail and to be honest we were both surprised because it was a fair sized portion. With king prawns you can find that the portion size is small due to their cost, but there were plenty of prawns and lots of lightly toasted wholemeal bread to help it go down. The sauce wasn't overpowering and altogether it was very enjoyable. Whenever we go out we always try each others dishes and decide who has "won" that round by ordering the nicest dish. I won, the crab and avocado stack was most definitely something to write home about.
The starters were cleared away quickly and Aga made sure we were happy, and returned with a delicious cold bottle of rose brought to us with an ice bucket, a nice touch that not many restaurants offer these days. Our mains arrived soon after and we settled down for part two of our meal. I ordered the 21 Day Aged Sirloin and my husband decided on the Belly of Pork. The steak was a good size with a bowl of chunky chips and two huge chargrilled mushrooms and was perfectly cooked to medium. The belly of pork was a little sparse looking on the plate but what it lacked in amount it made up in flavour, he definitely won this round. It was absolutely moreish and had two long pieces of crackling which added such a lovely touch. It was lacking in a side, it could have done with some mash or similar to bulk it up a bit. As it happens he stole the chunky chips that came with the steak, there were plenty of those to share.
We enjoyed the atmosphere and our drinks for a while after the plates were cleared. We were offered the dessert menu and after two excellent courses it would have been rude not to. If I thought making a decision for the starter and main was difficult, then choosing a dessert was near impossible. The choice was marvellous. After some umming and aaahing the husband decided on sticky toffee pudding and I reluctantly chose between the salted caramel cheesecake and the peach and cherry crumble – how do you make a decision like that? The cheesecake it was to be and our waitress said it was indeed one of the best dishes on the menu – she wasn't wrong.
I have a sweet tooth and so was very much looking forward to my dessert. It arrived and I think I may have died and gone to heaven. The salted caramel cheesecake was hands down the best dessert I've experienced. It looked good, the portion size was excellent and it came with a great big dollop of clotted cream. It was delicious, absolutely delicious. The sticky toffee pudding was very good but not a patch on the cheesecake. We both agreed that I won the dessert round.
After dessert we sat and had a few drinks while chatting and it was lovely to be left alone. Quite often after dessert you are offered coffee and then brought the bill, but we were offered coffee and left in peace to enjoy our evening, There was no rush to leave which is something we both commented on, it was nice just to let the food settle and spend a period of time together. As we sat we discussed our meal and what we enjoyed most. It won't come as a shock that my favourite part was the dessert closely followed by the starter. His was the pork belly main. Some points we both picked up on was the excellent service – it was so lovely to have a waitress who so obviously cared that we were enjoying ourselves yet gave us enough distance to have some privacy. There's nothing worse than staff hanging around waiting to pounce but we barely noticed her presence at all, and she was always smiling and happy to help her other diners. We both agreed that we'd both return just to experience her as a waitress let alone the marvellous food. The food is worth the higher prices, great value for money.
It was such a lovely evening, one of the first for us since the birth of our son 8 months ago. The bar has been set high now so Cardiff had better watch out, the food was outstanding, service was great and the venue was lovely. I'd highly recommend Browns Cardiff, I can't wait to go again!
Rating: 5/5 
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