Royal Arcade opened in 1858 and is the oldest surviving
arcade in Cardiff. It was designed and built by James & Price, for the
Cardiff Arcade Company, and connects The Hayes to St Mary Street.
W
e enter the Royal Arcade from The Hayes, with Dr
Martens (boots) and Scribbler (greeting cards of dubious taste) on your left-hand
side and Rossiters (Bath-based designer department store) to your right. Second
on the left, though you’ll have to walk a few units to find the door:
Wally's Delicatessen and Wally's Kaffeehaus
38-46 Royal Arcade CF10 1AE (2022 9265)
This family-run delicatessen, currently owned by Steven
Salamon, has been a feature of the Royal Arcade since 1981. The deli has
expanded considerably since it first opened and stocks around 1,600 products
from around the world. It’s great for those unusual ingredients and foods
imported from continental Europe. In
2011, Wally’s Kaffeehaus opened upstairs. This Viennese-style coffee house
specializes in Open Sandwiches, such as the Tyrol (roast chicken breast,
chorizo, shaved manchego cheese, Piquillo peppers, garlic mayonnaise, rocket,
black olives and toasted sourdough) and the Baden (German smoked black ham,
Hereford Hop cheese, chutney, balsamic onions and sliced pear, on wholegrain
seeded bread). Vegetarian options include the Rohrbach (Grilled aubergine and
Caerphilly cheese). The Aufschnitt comprise sharing platters of cold meats or
cheeses. The menu draws on the deli produce downstairs, so if you particularly
like something chances are you can buy it on the way out.
Fresh
32 Royal Arcade CF10 1AE (2022 3158)
Fresh Baguette opened in 2000 and has established itself as
one of the most popular independent sandwich shops in Cardiff. Gareth Lawton
and his partner Samantha make good use of Twitter to promote the business, with
daily specials often posted in the morning (@freshbaguette1). Yesterday’s was Falafel
and Humous Baguette with salad and toasted cumin seeds. My most recent involved
chicken, bacon, mayo, rocket, red onion and salami cracking. Easily the most
creative sandwich-makers in the city; they are not afraid to be experimental, with
novel ingredient combinations and spicy sauces. Regulars can also work through
the 100-plus regular fillings for baguette and paninis on the menu. Service is
friendly and efficient. Expect to see a queue outside at lunchtimes.
The alley across the way, Tabernacle Lane, links Royal
Arcade with Morgan Arcade.
Vom Fass
28-30 Royal Arcade CF10 1AE (2022 9497)
Vom Fass Cardiff sells oils, vinegars and spirits from barrels.
The cupcake shop Velvet Ice (formerly 20 Royal Arcade),
which opened in 2011, has closed. Has the inexplicable (to me) fashion for
cupcakes peaked?
Further along this southern side of the arcade, there is a Health
with Herbs (24 Royal Arcade).
I intended to take lunch in Harleys Coffee Shop (8 Royal Arcade)
when my walking tour made it to the Royal Arcade. But, alas, this
long-established coffee shop closed earlier this year after 13 years of trading in the arcade.
This side of the arcade also has a new Oxfam book shop, with
vinyl records upstairs. At the entrance from St Mary Street, there’s a sign of
the times: an electronic cigarette shop.
Cross to the other side of the arcade, which currently
starts with a seasonal Christmas shop.
Royal Sweet Shop
7 Royal Arcade CF10 1AE (2038 7438)
Traditional newsagent with rows of those tall jars of old-fashioned
sweets.
There are no further food-related units in Royal Arcade.
However, of note along this side of the arcade is the very wonderful stationary
and art supply shop Pen and Paper (where our eldest daughter has a Saturday job).
Further along, by the entrance to Tabernacle Lane, is the Ian
Allen bookstore and model shop (31 Royal Arcade), specializing in books on
transport.
The display featuring muddy carrots is not
something you usually see in a hotel restaurant. Another clue as to what’s
occurring are the shelves of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall books. We are in Zest, the
restaurant at Cardiff Marriott, to sample the new menu created in partnership
with River Cottage.
People increasingly like to know where their food comes from
and how it is produced. In responding to diners’ interest in the provenance of
their food, Zest has teamed up with Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage: an
organization built around locally-sourced, ethically and
sustainably produced, seasonal food.
Cardiff is one of
only two Marriott Hotels to trial the partnership. If successful, it will be
rolled out to more of Marriott’s other 50 UK hotels. The goals the partnership has set are ambitious ones.
For the menu, Marriott is committing to increase the use of local food, produced within a 60 mile
radius of the hotel, to 80%. In Cardiff, Marriott is lucky. There is a wealth of Welsh food producers to
choose from. The produce sourced for the menu so far includes meat from Graig
Farm and Slade Farm, fish and shellfish from Gower Coast Seafood and E. Ashton,
eggs from Farmhouse Freedom Eggs, cheese and dairy products from Calon Wen and
Abergavenny Fine Foods, and vegetables from the Welsh Box Scheme and Ty Mawr Organic.
Because the menu is seasonal,
the menu will change frequently. Daily changes are expected, so even regulars
will find something different to order.
The amount of food
wastage in the catering industry generally can be pretty shocking. Marriott’s
are here committing to further reducing food wastage from their current low
level of 5%.
By improving sustainability
practices, Marriott’s hopes to improve its Sustainable Restaurant Association
(SRA) rating in the two hotels trialling the partnership with River Cottage.
All the meat and vegetables on the menu will be organic, with the chicken also being free-range, and the fish and shellfish sustainably-sourced.
The partnership has involved staff from Marriott Cardiff
taking part in training courses at River Cottage’s recently launched Chefs’ School, to
acquire new skills relating to sustainable food procurement and other areas
that complement their catering industry expertise.
On the table, the rosemary bread was very fresh, and there was a sprig of
rosemary on the table (impossible not to pinch and smell). We started with ‘Parsley
Salad’ and ‘Squash & Goat Cheese Salad’. Parsley was a feature of my salad,
but the main interest was the crab meat, accompanying soft-boiled egg, and the
intense anchovies hidden underneath. Crisp thin-sliced beetroot was the
unannounced star of the other colourful salad.
For Mains, I opted for ‘Slow Cooked Organic Graig Farm
Brisket’, served with anchovy and rosemary potato gratin and red wine sauce; the
meat melted in the mouth.
My partner had the ‘Slade Farm Lamb’, with mashed celeriac, chilli and thyme.
The lamb had a subtle barbeque flavour.
The other vegetables, ordered as sides,
were ‘Honey Glazed Carrots’ and ‘Kale, Chilli and Fennel Seeds’. The carrots
had a wonderful intense flavour and looked great – orange, white and purple.
The fennel on the kale produced a sensational effect, though the chilli was a
little heavy for our taste in this context.
With sides this was not ‘small plate’, but rather ‘three
good things on a plate’ (the title of one of Hugh’s books).
I’m afraid that for the ample puddings we opted for exotic
options, with some ingredients what were probably not grown around Cardiff. My ‘Sticky
Date Pudding’ came with homemade vanilla ice cream, and my partner’s ‘Almond
and Orange Pudding’ came with a slice of pear cooked in red wine as well as the
ice cream. However, a warm beetroot brownie, and apple and cherry crumble with
custard, were also on the menu.
Local wine and beers are available, although they were not
listed on the main wine and drinks menu. We had a bottle of Glyndwr 2012, a
medium dry white wine produced on a vineyard established in 1982 by the Norris
family in Llanbleddian, near Cowbridge, in the heart of the Vale of Glamorgan.
Generally, the local and seasonal approach can help produce
a coherent menu, where fresh food items are used in different ways throughout
to create a satisfying dining experience that also celebrates and supports
local growers and artisan producers.
Zest actively encourages locals to join hotel guests in
their dining room.
Marriott Cardiff:
http://www.marriott.co.uk
River Cottage:
http://www.rivercottage.net
All food and drink consumed was kindly provided by Marriott Cardiff.
