He's a 100% right about it too!
When you hear that a national food critic has reviewed your restaurant it must be a pretty nervous run to the newspaper stand.
While The Classroom restaurant has had a glowing review, the rest of the Cardiff gets a bit of a panning from food writer Jay Rayner
For The Classroom/Y Dosbarth, though there are no such worries this morning, when theObserver food columnist Jay Rayner visited the restaurant earlier this summer he had a meal that has led to a pretty glowing report saying: "The Classroom really is worth knowing about."
He credits the way it is teaching chefs on the job, the pate for being smooth and rich, and says the coq au vin has been "assembled bloody well".
The restaurant is on the fifth floor of Cardiff and Vale College and is a training ground for chefs and hospitality staff.
But when it comes to the rest of our fair capital city, it's not so glowing.
"I could claim it’s a useful addition to Cardiff’s burgeoning culinary scene but this would be a lie because, while the city has many good things to recommend it, the eating opportunities are not among them. So no, it’s not just a useful addition. It’s more than that.
'The choices are limited'
"Cardiff is a greedy person’s nirvana, they insist. Or perhaps not.
"Given the city’s size and its population of 340,000 – more than a million in the wider metropolitan area – the choices are limited. On the upside it appears to have a number of interesting kebab places.
"Last year when Wales Online published its list of Cardiff’s 50 best restaurants, it included burger joints, a couple of chains and a cheese shop with a café that actually boasted on its website of the appalling service. Oh, and quite a number of interesting kebab places.
"I should also point out that at 10.30pm on a Thursday night in the city centre, desperate for something to eat, I had to resort to a bacon double cheeseburger from Burger King, because literally nothing else was open. Some of you will doubtless tell me I wasn’t trying hard enough because there are quite a number of interesting kebab places.
'Worth knowing about'
"But the truth is I rather liked it. Remember, inside every restaurant critic picking at their plate of roast swan, is a filthy dirty food slut fighting to get out.
"Still, it does mean that alongside bankers like the Potted Pig and Purple Poppadom – if it begins with a P in Cardiff it’s a winner – the Classroom really is worth knowing about."
Since the article was published, he's taken to Twitter to defend his comments and respond to some of the criticism.
I think I've eaten in enough cities across the uk to have formed an accurate view. Perhaps I should have lied.twitter.com/tandark/status…
Ah everyone's a critic. I look forward to their writing tips. There's always space to learn twitter.com/cardifffoodclu…
But he's further stoked the fire of outraged foodies by saying:
This week's review: The Classroom, the teaching restaurant of Cardiff's city centre college. Worth knowing about.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2…
@jayrayner1 pretty unnecessarily snobby article there Jay, Cardiff genuinely has more interesting options than your narrow vision allows.
Butcher Martin Player responded saying: "We have plenty of good burger joints, curry houses, street food but not many places that celebrates Welsh produce!"
Others have given him tips about where he should have gone.
@jayrayner1 You really should have gone 2 minutes down the road to @TheGrazingShed for a fantastic burger - open to 11pm!
@Tandark clearly too lazy to research. There maybe too many chains, but @bar44cardiff and @CafeCitta amongst many others are a delight!
And some have been pretty pragmatic.
@ArbennigCardiff I quite like the guy but I think he's being massively reductive about what's on offer here. Definite gaps but so much good.
@ArbennigCardiff I quite like the guy but I think he's being massively reductive about what's on offer here. Definite gaps but so much good.
see- http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/while-city-many-good-thingsthe-11811058@jayrayner1 @CardiffFoodClub not provocative at all, just truthful. There's a reason any Welsh chef with ambition moves away!
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