A touch of luxury on a Wednesday afternoon
The cold snap of weather in August left us here at Local Link Magazine wanting a much-needed pick-me-up. We headed down to Grey restaurant in the Hilton Hotel in Cardiff city centre to experience a taste of their lunch time menu.
Those who have already visited will understand the relaxing atmosphere. As soon as we arrived, we noticed how calm the restaurant was, a far cry from the stress and chaos of finding a parking space in the city centre!
Then came the menus. I was expecting a small collection of deli-style dishes for the lunch menu but I was mistaken. The lunch menu was extensive, consisting of everything from prawn cocktail starters to chocolate fondu desserts.
To start I had the grilled flatbread with Pant-Ysgawn goat’s cheese and white bean purée. It was delightfully simple. The flatbread was perfectly grilled and seasoned and went perfectly with the goat’s cheese purée. It was the perfect start to the meal. The girls had Crushed Avocado and Chilli on Toast with a poached free-range hen’s egg and a Prawn Cocktail with rye bread. From the constant ‘mmm’ sounds and the occasional ‘this is so good’ with a mouth full of food, I could tell the other dishes were a hit!
We moved swiftly on to the main courses of which the girls both chose steak. Alice opted for Sirloin and Gemma chose Rib Eye. Both were cooked to perfection and served on a Himalayan pink salt stone! Along with a small basket of some chips of their choice, both looked – and tasted – absolutely stunning. I opted for the Cefn Mawr Farm Beef Burger, served in a toasted brioche bun with smoked chilli jam and an extra topping of Caerphilly cheese. As a Grey Signature Dish, it did not disappoint! The beef was cooked perfectly and the side of sweet potato chips rounded the main off well. The chilli jam was perfection. I could happily have eaten more of it by the spoonful!
We were already so full after the starter and main – the steaks alone looked big enough to feed two or three! But we couldn’t leave without trying their “Guilty Pleasures”. We all had something different. Gemma quickly chose the Vanilla Crème Brûlée with shortbread, I settled on the Warm Apple Crumble with locally made gingerbread ice cream and Alice chose the Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding with locally made sea salted caramel ice cream. My apple crumble was heavenly and reminded me of autumn, the gingerbread ice cream topped it all off nicely!
Overall, our experience at Grey was brilliant. The ambience of the restaurant was just as perfect as the food. They call their food: Chic. Simple. Inspired. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
Check out their menus for yourself here