Restaurant review round-up: July

It's been a busy month on the blog, much busier than usual, and things can easily slip by us. That thought has nagged at you, I know: like a stone in your shoe, it has plagued you, haunted you: the suspicion you might have missed something on the blog.

I am here to help. To lend you succour. Yes indeed. In the words of Shirley Ghostman: "I feel your pain, I feel your shame. But you're not to blame."

Read this-links to the originals are in bold- and the yawning chasm in your life (and chasm it surely is) will be healed.

Face it: you don't need that pain or guilt in your life. 

I Giardini di Sorrento is where we come in: a recent opening on City Road, and simple Italian home cooking is the game here. 

Bleecker St  have been doing their thing for a few years now and have recently expanded to several locations. The South Bank was where we tracked them down again. Their aged beef patties, left a hearty pink, are superb: add their sriracha and blue cheese-laced 'angry fries' and you have a contender for best burger in town.

Kumar's is another little star on Cardiff's City Road: South Indian food is the thing here, deeply-spiced curries, the flakiest of flatbreads and some surprising little starters, fantasy pub bar snack Gobi 65 among them:

 A bit of relaxed posh does everyone good and this month's instalment came courtesy of Martyn Watkins, new chef (with a new menu) at Tempus at Tides, St David's Spa Hotel. There are few views to compare in the city and the menu keeps it simple, with excellent service to boot.

A trip around Street Feast London's Hawker House setup in Canada Water includes crab meat and smoked paprika French fries and lovely bao. I found the best fried chicken I've ever tasted, thanks to Breddo's; but the King of the grill is Smokestak's USDA short rib. 

Next- not on the blog itself, but a piece I did for Olive mag- a review of The Classroom/ Y Dosbarth on Dumballs Road; an elegant restaurant where students learn their trade alongside established professionals. Watch out for the pork bon bons.

On to Mezza Luna, on City Road, where an experimental dish of duck shawarma takes top billing and is an instant success.

Best of all? It's now on the regular menu...

Then on to Mr Villa's, at Cold Knap Barry, is a little gem: beautiful fish and shellfish, beautifully cooked. It's as simple as that. Superb chip shop style chips, too: this is a locals' favourite but this deserves more than that.

...which brings us to back to City Road, and to Saray's Turkish menu. The pide is a topped oval bread and is ludicrously cheap at only £4.50: you can eat well here for not very much.