My intention with this blog was most about food - but then I found it easier to write about exercise. There are already some awesome and well established food bloggers in Cardiff - Nicky at
Your Last Mouthful, Nicki at the now disbanded
Cardiff Bites, Lifestyle award winner Ed from
Gourmet Gorro, and Stephen from The Aptly named
Stephen Nottingham's Food Blog to name a few. All of them are great, all of them make me hungry, but as Ravenous Rachel I figured I may as well lend my few cents to the world of people writing about the food they eat.
My first review is of Fire Island Cardiff - the new venture from Beatbox Bars - the guys behind Buffalo and Ten Feet Tall. Fire Island is a new cask ale and craft beer bar in Cardiff specializing in BBQ food.
I love BBQ. I love Beer.
I hoped I would love Fire Island.
We went as part of a group booking and tried the Christmas menu. Unfortunately one of our group couldn't come - and the food was pre-ordered. Fortunately, this meant I got to try loads more than I initially ordered.
For starter I pinched someone's basked of ribs. It was, in one word, delicious. I'm not sure if I've ever had ribs before, mostly because they seemed so messy (I know, I lose loads of food blogger cred for this) but this messy was good. This messy was tender and tasty and succulent and a bit crunchy in bits and soft in others... perfect. I wouldn't say it was the best BBQ ever, or even whether I know exactly what sauce they used, but I would say that it was well done BBQ food and if someone served it to me at a BBQ I would try to be their friend. It was served with a nice pot of dipping sauce - and I do love a good sauce.
I know my photo isn't great, but to take a photo before eating it all was success enough for me!
With an Anchor Steam to wash it down my night was off to a good start.
More Food! Pulled Pork sandwich!
Pork was soft and delicious. Melt in your mouth good! Well flavoured - not too spicy but with a taste that lingers. The jar of pickle(?) that accompanied it went so well with the pork - balanced the bbq flavour without overpowering it. I'm not a fan of mayonaise so didn't try the potato salad, but all in all I was very pleased with the order. At £8.50 I would definitely order it again.
At this point I tried the Flying Dog beers. From Maryland, I never drank them when I lived in DC but I jumped at the oppertunity to drink them here! Raging Bitch was probably my favourite, an 8.2% Belgium Style IPA went down like it was way less strong. Same with the 7.1% snake dog. Easy drinking with an ABV to keep the night rolling!
Okay, so I'm only 75% through this post and I already want to go back. I want to eat BBQ and I want to drink beer. But anyways...
Dessert!
Chcolate-y. Decadent. I was only going to have one bite. then I had all the bites. I don't think I needed dessert after all the delicious meats, but it's nice to have something on offer different from the standard brownie or ice cream. Some others in the group ordered a crumble with custard, the custard came in an adorable pot and was creamy and scrumptious, the crumble just the right amount of crunchy and sweet.
All in all a lovely place to eat and share a few beers - different than what Cardiff already offers. Even thought I didn't write about them here Fire Island specializes in fine and local craft ales - I'll be doing a beer post sometime soon with the help of my brewer half. This would be a nice place for a casual evening, food before a film, or a date with an awesome girl (or guy) who likes good beer. I just hope it stays about the food and the cask ales, It's found quite a niche separate from the sometimes cookie-cutter city-centre offerings. Well Done Fire Island!
Details:
Fire Island Cardiff
http://fireislandcardiff.co.uk/
02920 236091
8 Westgate Street,
Cardiff