Review: The North Star
There's a steady rise in the number of pubs in suburban Cardiff being given serious makeovers.
Former bikers' hangout (and subsequent Chinese/Indian buffet house) The Cross Inn by the flyover is to reopen as a Wetherspoon in November, while a bit closer to town the establishment formally known as The Maindy is unrecognisable in its new guise as The North Star.
The interior is pure boudoir, with candlelight throughout and grand picture frames and lampshades aplenty. There's a private area for hire that sits in close proximity to the bar, while one of two dining areas (formally the skittle alley) doubles up as a long table at which to celebrate with friends and family.
There's also an outdoor seating and smoking area, friendly security and a retro table arcade game where you can play Phoenix, Pac Man or Donkey Kong. Entertainment comes in the form of a weekly quiz night, open mic session, live bands and DJs.
The menu, although not the biggest, is 100% freshly prepared on site and includes some nice surprises. For starters we shared the dough balls (£2.90 and which came with a blue cheese sauce so good that we held onto it for all dipping purposes), olive ascolana (£3.90) and salsiccie spinacci (£3.90). The freshness promised was evident, as was the quality in the cuts of meat.
For mains the canneloni (£7.50 individually or less when sharing) and quattro formaggi pizza (£7.50) had us silently savouring the perfectly cooked pasta and generous combination of cheeses, and all crusts were dunked in the blue cheese sauce.
The home made chocolate ice cream (£3.95) was unique, almost sorbet-like but maintaning a rich creaminess and deep flavour not unlike fresh brownies.
Visiting on a Thursday meant our meal was enjoyed with a live local acoustic artist, but you won't go far wrong on any night of the week. We're hoping to encourage some of our creative writers to read aloud at their open mic night one Wednesday, so watch this space.
Well worth the break from town and bubbling with character, The North Star is one of our favourite new locals.
Thinking of becoming a chef or getting into catering to prepare food as good as The North Star's? You'll need your food hygeine certificate.
