Arguably one of Cardiff’s best kept secrets, we can’t believe Marco Pierre White’s Steakhouse Bar & Grill Cardiff has been serving up fine dining to customers for the past five years.
Located in one of Cardiff’s oldest arcades, Dominions Arcade, you wouldn’t necessarily know it’s there either. When you know, you know, but it’s the unique location what makes it one of the city’s best and most hidden restaurants. So let us tell you more about what makes it so unique.
Unique location
When walking along Cardiff’s Queen’s Street, you wouldn’t know that six floors up you’ll find the Marco Pierre White restaurant. You have to use an elevator to reach the floor, which gives it an air of exclusivity. Although, everyone is welcome and there are menus to cater for all, including children.
When you do reach the top, it’s well worth it, giving you an incredible vantage point across Cardiff where you can see Principality Stadium and Cardiff Castle.
There is a small, but perfectly accommodating balcony and one of the first restaurants in Cardiff to have one, and if it wasn’t for the sound of the buskers below, you wouldn’t know that you are slightly above the city’s most busy shopping streets.
In fact, this is exactly what makes this restaurant extra special. Not only is Marco Pierre White’s restaurant hidden away, quite literally, you feel it too. It feels like you’ve been whisked away from the hustle and bustle of the city centre, making it one of the quietness and calming restaurants that we’ve ever eaten in.
The restaurant
Everything about this place screams elegance, right from the moment you enter the lift and exit at the sixth floor.
When you arrive, you are greeted by a very friendly front of house team, who will check you in and show you to your seats. They will also make you aware of any seasonal dishes and set menus (see below for more details).
The restaurant decor is very inviting with its modern chic decor with Marco’s signature monochromatic styling. The chairs are some of the most comfortable that we’ve sat in, especially in a restaurant. They are soft, very plush and don’t sink at all. They are so far from what you might get elsewhere, it really stands out and makes for a very enjoyable and relaxing experience.
There is an array of seating options to choose from, depending on your part size. We were sat on a table of four, although there were booths and larger dining sets available depending on your party size.
Sadly, no live music on this occasion when we dined, but they do have their own piano and stage area for live music, which is a very nice addition.
The toilets are on a different floor (floor 5). However, you find this in most restaurants and it isn’t an issue with either the stairs or lif as an option. The elegance continues into the washrooms, including the very lovely fragranced hand wash and lotion.
The menu
It should come as no surprise, the famed chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White has worked wonders with the menu options available.
Marco’s own philosophy of what he describes as ‘affordable glamour’ is all part of this exciting and bright dining experience that includes signature steaks, alongside timeless English and French classics.
The core values of the Steakhouse revolve around classic dishes that are simply cooked and served in an aspiring yet glamorous environment. Steak is at the heart of the menu, but the menu caters for all tastes and budgets.
Marco Pierre White Restaurants’ group recently introduced a new offer which it hopes will encourage guests to continue to dine out. There is a new two for £15 offer, as well as a three-course option for £20.
Available across participating venues within its 40-strong, UK-based estate – including the Cardiff and Swansea Steakhouses – the two-fold strategy has been put in place to firstly help venues attract diners into the restaurants while giving guests a great deal which allows them to dine out without costing too much.
In addition to these new offers, there are also seasonal menus available, including the autumn menu that is currently offered.
What we ordered
Seeing as we’re not quite ready to leave the autumn season behind us, we decided to give the current seasonal menu a try, which includes a selection of house favourites, including British classics and French twists. The menu also comes with its own offer of two courses for £27.50 or three courses for £32.50.
Before we even looked at the starters, our server recommended either Martini Olives (£4.50) or the Warm Baked Sourdough (£4.25) to get things going, with us choosing the latter – as we’re partial to a bit of bread.
Starters
The Warm Baked Sourdough was just that, it arrived promptly and was gorgeously warm with six fingers of bread to devour. The salted English butter was a nice touch and spread easily across the dough.
For our actual starters, we opted for the Beetroot & Hen’s Egg Salad, which came with a mustard dressing and candied walnuts. The mixed flavours from the subtleness of the fresh beetroot, to the slight tanginess of the mustard was very well balanced.
Having not quite had enough of the sourdough, we also went with the Welsh Rarebit (a personal favourite) with grilled cheddar, English mustard, dark and green salad. If you’ve not tried Welsh Rarebit before then don’t let the name put you off. It can only be described as a rich, cheesy and lightly spiced cheese on toast – although I’m not doing it justice by calling it that. It was simply delicious.
From the children’s menu, we ordered the cheesy garlic bread, which was plentiful for any child. You will see from our photo that the portion was generous, which was lucky for us, as we all got to try some. Similar to the seasonal menu, the children’s menu offers 2 courses for £12.50 or 3 courses for £15, which we feel offers incredible value for money.
Main courses
Moving onto mains, we couldn’t resist ordering the Butcher’s Steak. After all, we are in a steakhouse and it would be rude of us not to.
Our steak was cooked to our liking, medium-well, and the chef did an excellent job of preserving the flavours of the steak whilst cooking it to ‘done’. The chargrilled flavour rolled off our tongue and left us wanting more. There is the option of upgrading to the 28-day aged 80z Sirloin for a £6 supplement, which is what we would recommend if that’s your preference.
The steak was accompanied by a creamy Béarnaise sauce, which was spot on and complimented the flavours of the steak really well. The Koffmann chips, the ones that are crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside were also full of flavour with its tasty beef dripped coating.
The Confit Duck Leg shared some of its sides with the steak, with that incredible béarnaise sauce and Koffmann chips. The duck was deliciously tender, moist and the skin was perfect with a subtly crisp to it.
From the children’s menu, we ordered the Fresh Tomato Pomodoro Linguine. There is the option to add chicken or cod for a £1 supplement, although our little one decided this wasn’t for her.
Dessert
We couldn’t help but go for a well loved classic, Chocolate Brownie with vanilla ice cream. The adult and child’s portions were the same, which is great as our little one loves dessert. The ice cream was so creamy and the added sprinkle on top had a nice crunch, the brownie is any chocolate lovers heaven.
Overall, what a wonderful variety they have available and at a price that might be more affordable than you think. With Marco’s name on the door it’s little wonder that even children will want to return again. Unfortunately, the Autumn menu won’t be staying around for too much longer and will no doubt be replaced by a winter menu with just as much elegance.
