Cora
Cardiff, Glamorgan
Lee Skeet (formerly head chef at now closed Hedone in London) started a supper club during lockdown to get back into cooking after a serious accident forced a four-year break from the kitchen. It was a big hit and he subsequently launched Cora – a buzzy, relaxed first-floor restaurant, named after his daughter and located above Milkwood in Pontcanna. You ring a bell to enter and are led up a workaday flight of stairs, past the kitchen, into a white-walled, wood-floored room with suburban views and just 10 covers per service. It’s simple rather than slick but there’s plenty of polish in the kitchen, where Skeet cooks a six-course no-choice menu based on excellent Welsh ingredients. Classically rooted excellence is evident throughout, with 'vibrant, technicolour flavours' in abundance and each dish 'leaving you hungry for more'. A summer inspection began with crisp, light-as-air Roquefort pommes soufflé and dainty, smoky morsels of torched mackerel sashimi topped with glistening dabs of rhubarb purée. Skeet excels at seafood – from a supersized, caramelised Orkney scallop paired with a feisty soy and ginger broth to Cornish spider crab teamed with juicy marinated tomatoes and tomato consommé dotted with emerald basil oil. To follow, a pearlescent slice of turbot came topped with a mosaic of Persian courgettes plus a mélange of peas, chives, pea shoots, sweet-sharp morsels of Granny Smith apple and a luxurious Crémant butter sauce. It’s not all seafood however – another highlight was meltingly tender rack of Abergavenny lamb brightened with plump cherries and enriched with a dark, assertive seaweed sauce. A dessert of yoghurt panna cotta with marinated strawberries, strawberry sorbet and pieces of meringue was nicely judged, delivering welcome lightness after such a substantial meal, while skull-shaped chocolates filled with smooth salted caramel provided a charming finale. The wine list is short but well-judged, avoiding the predictable and offering something for all palates, with prices hovering around the £30 mark.
