With so many restaurants in Cardiff, it’s difficult to pick one for those all important work meals out this festive session. The question is what’s on the Christmas menu this year at Cosy Club?
For those of you yet to dine at Cosy Club, the Cardiff Bay restaurant flung open its doors over 3 years ago, and has become a great addition to the foodie scene in Mermaid Quay. The new opening was the second in Cardiff, the first city to boast two Cosy Club restaurants.
Cosy Club doesn’t just boast delicious food, they’ve created an initiative that aims to combat loneliness in people across the UK in a partnership with charity Independent Age. Something which is particularly close to our hearts every Christmas, so good on them!
If you’re looking for something a little quirky but with a familiar setting, the Cosy Club Mermaid Quay should definitely make your shortlist. The chain is renowned for its relaxed dining atmosphere with its lounge seating that creates that all welcoming setting: think aristocratic abundance with a dash of local village cricket pavilion pottiness.
Its magnificent menus veer happily from light salads to comfort food classics, from coffees and smoothies to some of the finest cocktails around! If that’s not enough, there are comprehensive brunch, gluten free and vegan menus so there’s something for everyone.
So let’s take a closer look at what you can expect…
Getting there and arrival
If you’re new to Cosy Club dining and fancy trying their new menu, we highly recommend that you book as it’s a popular place to eat in Cardiff Bay. As with many restaurants the festive season sees a jump in bookings.
Cosy Club Cardiff Bay is located along the waterfront making for some picturesque dining, and a terrace for the warmer weather. Although it’s in a prominent position on the ground floor, it does feel a little hidden away. You may have even walked past it and not known it was there or what it has to offer.
So whether you’re there to see a show nearby at the Wales Millennium Centre, or looking to avoid the hustle and bustle of town, you’ll be able to relax and feel festive as the restaurant is decked out with garlands and lights.
Christmas Dining
You can tell the Christmas menu has been carefully chosen. There aren’t too many choices to leave you overwhelmed, but enough variety to cater for a wide range of tastes.
We’ve started to see a new trend this Christmas, the e-cracker, an eco-friendly way to have some fun that won’t impact the environment. We think this is a wonderful idea and it’s great to see Cosy include this in their line up.
With the scan of a QR code, you’re soon enraptured in trying to win the digital cracker pull you can play with your friends to win prizes.
Drinks
With a cocktail menu filled to the brim with some enticing flavours, they took longer to choose than our food. Our waitress recommended the English Garden (£9.25) and we also tried the Salted Maple Old Fashioned (£9.95), along with some jam doughnut shots.
The category the English Garden is listed under on the menu really says it all, Long and Refreshing. Made with Hendrick’s Gin, elderflower, cucumber and cloudy apple juice, it’s reminiscent of a cool breeze on one of those rare warm summer days we get in Wales. In fact it was so nice that we both had one.
A stark contrast to the first, the vintage or adventurous Salted Maple Old Fashioned, sure did pack a punch. A playful balance of maple and salt brought to life with Woodford Reserve Bourbon, finished off with a skewered piece of fudge.
Cosy Club also offer a great deal on cocktails Sunday to Thursday 4pm – 8pm, with any two cocktails for £11.95, so bear that in mind.
Starters
Unbeknownst to us our starters arrived quite different to what we expected. Although the menu does advise “all of the below dishes are served to share”, we incorrectly believed this meant the portions were for two people.
What arrived was a platter of starters containing:
- Asian Fried chicken served with soy, chili, ginger and pickled slaw
- Pigs in blankets in a mulled cider and wholegrain mustard glaze
- Fried halloumi panto crumb, spiced Christmas chutney and smoked red pepper aioli
- Charred broccoli tahini and lemon, harissa, cranberry pearls, toasted with winter seeds
- Sourdough sharing loaf with salted butter for spreading
With a platter of flavours on offer, choosing a favourite is difficult. The halloumi was cooked perfectly without the rubber texture that can often occur, and the smoked red pepper aioli dip that came with was most definitely a winner.
The Asian Fried Chicken was tender and fell apart in your mouth, all the flavours that accompanied it blended so well and was a personal favourite.
I don’t think we’ve ever tried broccoli that was bursting with as much flavour as this dish, each dish complimented the next and you really can’t go wrong with warm sourdough bread smothered in butter.
Mains
For mains, it’s difficult not to go for the turkey dish, especially when it sounds so delicious and is a twist on the traditional cooked dinner. We tried the roast turkey & smoked bacon pie and the slow-roasted pork belly.
The roast turkey & smoked bacon pie came served with creamy mash, maple roast carrot & parsnip, buttered sprouts & chestnuts, pig in blanket, sage & onion stuffing, red wine gravy. The filling was generous and creamy, when eaten with the maple roast carrots and parsnips has the perfect blend of flavours. We thought it was an interesting choice to go with sprouts, the veg that everyone loves to hate but there will certainly be some diners that enjoy them.
The slow-roasted pork belly was accompanied by dauphinoise potatoes, spiced red cabbage, caramelised apple, and red wine gravy. Dauphinois potatoes are not always an easy dish to get right, but when cooked to perfection like these are mouth watering.
The pork belly itself was extremely tender and simply pulled apart. The crackling boasted rich pork flavours and was soft enough to eat whilst keeping its textured coating. One of the most enjoyable versions of the dish that I’ve had.
Desserts
It’s always so difficult to make sure there’s enough space for dessert, especially with such a generous starter platter included, but we did manage to squeeze a little something in. When trying a festive menu, how could we not opt for traditional Christmas pudding, we also tried the salted caramel cheesecake.
Served piping hot with plenty of brandy sauce, the traditional Christmas pudding certainly put us in the Christmas mood. Soft and filled with flavour, we were left warmed from the inside. Although a dessert you would usually associate with Christmas, it is something we rarely see on festive menus.
Always a great choice, the rich chocolate cheesecake salted caramel, honeycomb crumb was divine. We’ve yet to try a cheesecake that we didn’t enjoy and this combination was a great balance of sweetness, without being too sweet if you know what I mean…
To sum up, the Cosy Club is one of those places that people have heard of but are yet to visit. So if that’s you, it’s worth checking out this year’s festive menu as you might be surprised at what you find – it’s different, without being too different and caters for a range of tastes, which makes it a good choice for parties. It is truly the home of relaxed dining and comfort food.
The Christmas menu is available as either two courses starting from £23.95 per person or for the full three courses starting from £31.95 per person.
Full details of costs and dates can be found here on the Cosy Club website. Prices may vary depending on which restaurant you visit.
