Nestled in Cardiff’s Westgate Street, Bar 44 is a charming Spanish tapas bar known for its authentic small plates and delightful cocktails. We booked a table for an after-work dinner to join their 20th birthday celebrations this month. The team offered a few of their classic tapas dishes and cocktails at their 2003 prices – it’s not often you see a quality margarita for £4.95!
This was my first visit (I know, I’m sorry) so we had to order a decent selection of food to make up for it.
We had:
- Albondigas – Welsh lamb and sherry meatballs
- Sobrasada stuffed dates with piperada, wrapped in pancetta
- Deep fried manchego with a tomato and shallot relish and pickles
- Chiperones – baby cuttlefish with an orange and maple glaze, coriander and chilli
- Pedro Ximenéz braised ox cheek with caramelised cauliflower
- Roast celeriac carpaccio with sherry girolles and a walnut herb dressing
- Chocolate mousse with olive oil ice cream and a biscuit
- Valencian orange and almond cake with toasted almonds
- Margaritas and sangria, of course…
Whilst this reads like a lot of dishes, it was the perfect amount to share between two. The plates come out as soon as they are ready which forced us to pace ourselves. Top spot has to be given to the oh-so-tender ox cheek and the caramelised cauliflower that accompanied it, we were fighting over who would get the last spoonful. Special mention for the cuttlefish – I love to order something new whenever I can and this was a wildcard that paid off. J loved his chocolate mousse, he’s always been more of a dessert person than me but this was lush.
Bar 44 is one of those establishments that gets a lot of positive hype, and I can see why. It’s a stone’s throw away from Cardiff Central station, so there’s no excuse not to visit – especially if you nabbed yourself a Cardiff wine passport! Cardiff not nearby? You can visit them in Penarth and Bristol too!
Next stop for us? It’s got to be the famous breakfast from Parador 44… 🍳
Bar 44
15-23 Westgate Street, Cardiff CF10 1DD
Web: https://grupo44.co.uk/bar44/cardiff
Phone: 03333 44 40 49 – option 2 for Cardiff branch
