The Sultan Grill House, Cardiff Bay review

You may have had those lamb chops gracing your Instagram feed this week, and if so The Sultan down Cardiff Bay will be a familiar name to you by now. If not though, here’s why you should consider it for your next fancy meal out.

I can’t say I’ve been to many Turkish restaurants – Longa was the last and that’s a high bar indeed. The Sultan advertises a traditional Turkish breakfast, I plan to try this the next time I visit. Dinner-wise, it’s not a cuisine I have regularly, so I was excited to try some new dishes and flavours.

We visited during their soft launch, the restaurant was quiet whilst the staff were learning the ropes. The service was great – the team seemed to really know the menu and were ready to make any suggestions as needed. This was the case for the starters, as I couldn’t decide between the beetroot salmon gravlax and the stuffed chicken balls – the manager recommended the latter as they were the chef’s own creation.

It was a good shout – I loved them. Whilst I was expecting them to be a tad crispier, the chicken and melted cheese were a good pairing and the bang bang sauce was flavoursome, even if I might have liked it a little spicier. James had the octopus dish and thoroughly enjoyed it – ‘nice and meaty’ apparently!

We had lavas to enjoy whilst perusing the menu – this ‘balloon bread’ was a surprising highlight! The bread was cooked well and had a strong sesame taste, and the walnut cheese butter was the perfect partner. I liked how light the bread was, no chance of ruining our appetites! We opted for mocktails since alcohol wasn’t available yet, both my raspberry daiquiri and James’ pina colada were fruity and refreshing – better than many alcoholic versions we’ve tried.

The pistachio lamb chops were easily the star of the meal for us. Inside the thick pistachio crust, the lamb was wonderfully tender and practically falling off the bone. The asparagus was al dente and the mash was creamy and seasoned well. Cracking stuff. I had lokum from the Sultan’s specials section – this was fillet steak in a ‘café de Paris’ sauce with grilled red peppers and mashed potato. If you’re a fan of hollandaise or rich sauces you’ll love this. The steaks were cooked medium (chef’s choice) and were also tender – they know what they’re doing with their grilling here clearly!

For dessert we were planning to order kunefe or baklava, but before seeing the menu we were brought out a blueberry cheesecake to share instead. No complaints here – it was super light and an enjoyable end to the meal. I’ll have to get my phyllo fix another time, baklava and Turkish coffee sounds like a winning afternoon to me.

Is it on the pricier side? Yes, but we felt this was reflected in the quality of the food. This is a great place to visit for a celebratory meal, date night or heck, even ‘just because’. Go for the lamb chops. And have baklava for me, please!