The two amazing Welsh restaurants stunning TV stars and celebrity chefs
Two amazing Welsh restaurants have been making waves on primetime TV recently. Chefs from Matsudai Ramen and Asador 44, renowned eateries both based in Cardiff, have been receiving heaps of praises both on and off the screen.
Asador 44, located on Quay Street in the city centre, has been a recognised establishment in the Welsh capital for nearly a decade. While Matsudai Rame, based on Clare Road in Grangetown, is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Both restaurants have built quite the reputation within those years, not only showcasing the best our Welsh chefs can offer, but the vibrancy of our culinary scene.
We have taken a look at what makes these restaurants so special, who has been raving about them, and why you should go check them out. For the latest restaurant news and reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here.
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In 2001, the Morgan siblings - Tom, Owen and Natalie kicked off their hospitality journey in south Wales when they opened Bar 44. Since then, their business has grown with Bar 44 restaurants in Cardiff, Penarth and Clifton Village in Bristol, a cookbook as well as a handful of other products, and another restaurant called Asador 44, which was opened on Quay Street in Cardiff in 2017.
The Spanish grill and wine house has its custom-built wood-fired grill, which creates all kinds of delicious dishes that can consist of the freshest fish and seafood, dry aged steaks, sucking pigs, whole legs of lamb and vegetables, which are all cooked over charcoal in an open kitchen. Situated only a stone throw away from the mighty Principality Stadium, and only a few yards away from its sister restaurant - Bar 44, it's hard to believe you are in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the city centre once you're inside Asador 44.
You can sit back, relax and enjoy in this cosy yet classy and intimate restaurant. Housed in a historic, warm, red bricked building, you can see meat hanging in cool fridges, a partially open kitchen and the daily changing specials written on a chalkboard. Over recent years, Asador 44 has been highly praised by experts.
In August 2024, renowned food critic Giles Coren sung the praises of the Cardiff restaurant, but one thing stood out for him. "There are all sorts of good signs when you walk into Asador 44 in central Cardiff, just across from the Arms Park', he wrote in his review for the Times. "And I don't just mean metaphorical ones, like the friendly welcome, confident design and shelves of battered cookbooks. I mean actual signs.
"Really good signs. Like, for example, the one that says, 'Suckling Pig Shoulder w/ cider sauce — £90'. Excellent sign, that. An even better sign says, '1 KG Welsh Ex-Dairy Rib — £110'. You ask me what is the sign of a great restaurant? I say a sign like that."
A year prior, in 2023, First Dates star Fred Sirieix and chef and Wahaca co-founder, Thomasina Miers, paid the restaurant a visit during their tour of south Wales in their More4 series - Remarkable Places to Eat. The duo were served with Asador's prawn croquetas, which Fred marveled: "Oh my God, the flavour, it's beautiful! As far as croquetas are concerned, these are amongst the best I've had, maybe the best. These guys are not even Spanish!"
He added his disbelief at the high quality of Spanish cooking in the middle of the Welsh capital after their mains of Spanish rice with clams and pork belly. And it wasn't just Giles, Fred and Thomasina who loved Asador 44, in April 2023, The Telegraph's top restaurant reviewer William Sitwell called the place "magnificent" and "tremendous".
The siblings have made quite the name for themselves on TV as well, with Owen Morgan often appearing on Saturday Morning Kitchen alongside friend and fellow chef Matt Tebbutt. Owen appeared on the BBC cooking show in December of last year. If you want to try out this restaurant yourself, you can find out more about booking here.
This restaurant has a big following. In 2019, James Chant began the business as a pop-up, dishing out tasty ramen kits during the coronavirus pandemic before opening the restaurant on Clare Road in Grangetown in August 2022. Matsudai, which means "all generations" in Japanese, has drawn praise from the likes of Tom Parker-Bowles and Jay Rayner.
The latter critic gave the restaurant a glowing review, not long after the restaurant opened in Cardiff in 2022, and described it as "inventive, geeky, and superb". Having tried the ramen through a kit during lockdown, trying the noodle dish at the restaurant was "so much more beautiful, so much more organised, having been plated by the man who knows what he is doing", according to the critic.
Rayner went on to heap praise on the signature tonkotsu, saying it had an "almost Dulux gloss to it, speckled with jewels of molten fat" with "generous slices of pork belly". Following this stellar review, the restaurant enjoyed a surge in its popularity, with photos showing people queuing outside the Grangetown eatery to get a table.
Matsudai Ramen is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. Recently, the founder amazed guests with his flavours when he appeared on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch. While on the show, he brought three dishes along for hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer to try, who then shared the dishes with guests including Strictly professional dancers Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez, and comedian Dave Gorman.
One of the noodle dishes he brought along was Chippy Lane Mazesoba, which he based on Cardiff's infamous Caroline Street with its flavours of chicken, ginger and curry. Chant also brought lamb and leek wontons, a Welshified take on an oriental dumpling which are on the menu in the restaurant, and he also brought the classic ramen dish pork tonkotsu, which he said was one of their most popular home kits. Dancers Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez were taken aback by how nice the dishes were.
If you ever find yourself visiting this corner of Cardiff, Matusdai Ramen has got to be on your list. Try out their amazing karaage chicken, or alternatively their karaage mushroom, which is just as tender and delicious as their meaty counterpart. Take a sip out of their vibrant selection of sake and shochu drinks, before delving into their carefully curated ramens. To find out more about their bookings, head over to their website here.
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