Meal at popular pub gets nine-year-old’s approval
THE TASTE TEAM CHECKS OUT THE NINE GIANTS IN CARDIFF
NINE-YEAR-OLD boys are not ones to beat about the bush when it comes to their thoughts and feelings – they like to tell you how it is.
So when our youngest put his napkin down with a satisfied sigh at the end of a meal out and told us he had a great time and he was going to tell his friends all about it, you know he is telling the truth.
The fact that The Nine Giants in Llanishen, Cardiff, was completely full on a week night and we had to wait for a table proved that lots of others shared his opinion.
The popular pub has re-opened after a recent makeover and a new menu, which seems to be adding up to a successful recipe.
We hadn’t visited before so can’t compare with how it was, but had heard good things through word of mouth so thought we would give it a go as a family treat night out.
As mentioned previously, it was extremely busy but the waiting staff welcomed us straightaway and got us a table for four as quickly as they could.
The service continued to be really good throughout our visit and we didn’t have to wait long to have our order taken or for the food to arrive.
The menu was also varied and had plenty for us to choose from.
It features plenty of the pub grub staples like surf ’n’ turf, burger options including a tempting tandoori chicken burger along with an array of offers, making your choices slightly difficult to decipher but we found something for our varying tastes.
For starters we decided to share and had the breaded torpedo prawns (£4.29) and crispy coated halloumi fries (£3.99), both served with a sweet chilli sauce.
Our eldest opted for the two meals for £9 with house-fried corn nachos loaded with guacamole, salsa, sour cream, and American cheese sauce (£2.99) for his starter and hand-battered fish and chips for main.
The nachos were only supposed to be for one but the helping was so ample we all got to help him out with it. For his main, he had a hefty piece of fish as well as nicely cooked chips and a large portion of peas.
The main courses for us adults were 8oz rump steak and chips and a lasagne with salad (£5.79).
The steak was pretty standard and the lasagne was nice but cooked a little too much around the edges. The salad was fresh, crunchy and plentiful.
Son junior had a main, dessert and drink from the children’s menu for £4.99.
The chicken used in his nuggets was succulent and generous and after he’d helped us with our starters, his portion proved to be the perfect size.
He gave it a big thumbs up and that was before we got to the desserts.
There was still a tiny bit of room for dessert so we ordered caramel apple crumble and chocolate fudge cake.
The apple dessert was served piping hot with a nice serving of custard and the fudge cake defeated two growing boys, which is not something that happens very often.
All in all we had an enjoyable family meal at a reasonable price.
■ Nine Giants is on Thornhill Road, Cardiff CF14 6PE. Call 029 2061 8009.