food&drink reviews


KUMARI Corporation Yard, Canton, Cardiff 07954 331379 / kumarifood.com


Kumari, recently opened at Corporation Yard, marks the return of chef Pramod Nair. You might remember Pramod’s work at Spiceberry in Caroline Street seven or eight years ago, when it was one of Cardiff’s best southern Indian restaurants. Perhaps you ate his food at Roath’s Chai, where he won Welsh Curry Chef of the Year. He has worked all over the world, from Iceland to Oman – and now he is in Canton’s street food market.


Open from 4-10pm on Thursdays and Fridays, and midday until late on Saturday and Sunday, there’s something for everyone on Kumari’s contemporary Indian street food menu, like the ‘Desi Chole’ paneer burger with masala fries and achari mayonnaise. Another meat-free option – and a standout – is the sweetcorn and potato fritter with curry leaf and sesame seeds, laced with mango and tart tamarind. The ran burger is popular: a favourite from Chai days, starring a slow-cooked leg of lamb, pulled and tossed with a sauce heady with a slew of spices including mace, black cardamom, star anise, cinnamon, ginger and garlic, all piled into a bun. There’s nothing else quite like it around.


There’s less of a focus on curries than street food at Kumari, but if you’re craving something saucy, the Cochin chicken will hit the spot nicely. Truck Stop hicken ry’ is served on a aky parotta, but it’s the little details which count. It comes with a pot of compellingly smoky-sour tomato gravy which will nag at your memory in every good way. Don’t embarrass yourself by asking for a straw. Or do: I’m not here to judge. But I will if you don’t order that tangy achari.


These are intriguing avours. umari is a welcome return for Pramod’s skilful cooking, and anton’s food continues to go from strength to strength.


JONATHAN SWAIN


LA PANTERA  uay Street, ardiff. 029 2022 3158 / lapantera.co.uk


Authenticity is overrated. Sure, classic recipes made with a handful of quality ingredients by someone who knows what they’re doing can be and often are great – but give me culinary maximalism over austere, prissy purism pretty much every time. A welcome antidote to the Taco Bell pandemic, La Pantera proudly proclaims to be the “home of the unauthentic taco”, and while it might upset the odd Mexican, who cares when the results are this imaginative, vibrant and avoursome


The menu is regularly refreshed, shaped by what’s in season, but at any one time you’re guaranteed to have a meat, a fish and a vegan option to choose from, the ingredients sourced from Cardiff Market a mere stone’s throw away. Given our party of three, it’s a no-brainer to simply sample the lot – especially as there are three tacos in a portion, conveniently avoiding any unseemly squabbles. Chorizo arancinis, encased in a tortilla chip crumb, are lent a good lick of heat by some accompanying pepperonata. Crunchy cubes of celeriac bravas, by contrast, are cooled by coconut yoghurt. Best of all, though, is the sea bass, ambed in mezcal and served with the zingy freshness of lime curd and pickled mango.


A side of knobbly sweetcorn fritters comes with a satisfyingly rich satay paste, while the pot of dipping gravy provided with a pair of cheesy chicken tinga birrias is both entirely unnecessary and enthusiastically received. And, of course, we have to throw in a portion of nachos to test the guacamole and refried beans both duly approved.


La Pantera began life upstairs in the same venue in February 2020, and in light of the sector’s struggles, it’s heartening that the edgling business has not only survived the turbulence caused by COVID-19 but actively thrived, taking over the downstairs of the premises in August of that year. Besides tacos, the other speciality is mezcal – founders Joe Rapson and Mark Holmes having met while working at the Dead Canary bar – but, it being a weekday lunchtime, we abstain. Next time, we’ll know to take the afternoon off, don our metaphorical Mexican wrestler masks and go a few rounds with the cocktail list.


BEN WOOLHEAD 46


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