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Huge queues as new Cardiff restaurant Solina opens serving up fried lasagne and the 'best tiramisu'

by · Wales Online

The long-awaited restaurant opening on Cardiff's Westgate Street, Solina Pasta is finally here. A second site for the brand outside of Bath, it prides itself on freshly-handmade pasta daily and possibly a huge claim - 'the best tiramisu in town.'

Located in the former Zero Degrees bar, and before that it was a Grade II-listed garage building, and opposite the Principality Stadium - it's a perfect site to capture the crowds on event days and - thanks to the hast of its service, not a bad thing in my eyes, it's sure to be a new lunch or post-work dinner spot for many of the city's workers.

On opening day(September 28), hundreds queued for the new venue's promise of 3,000 free plates of pasta.

Like many others on the Sunday ahead of opening day, I took up an invite to go along and try out some of the menu and beg the question - posed by my Italian heritage friend 'why should I want to pay for a plate of pasta when I can make it at home?'

That valid query, for me, was more than answered by the menu - whatever good intentions I have of whipping up wonderful kitchen creations, I will not be pulling together a quick [sic] duck ragu, salt cod puttanesca or pistachio pesto with stracciatella of a weeknight when I fancy a bowl of pasta. Sun-dried tomato pesto from a jar is about as experiemental as it gets.

So, with dishes of various forms of pasta, including linguine, parpadalle, radiatori (named so because they look like radiators), ranging in price from £8 - £15 and coming with sauces and toppings that offer beyond your average Bolognese, I was impressed overall by the menu choice and the food itself was pretty good, too.

We chose duck ragu, pangrattato, Parmesan and had that with gluten free rigatoni. The second pasta dish was tagliatelle with Cornish crab, datterini tomatoes, chilli, garlic, parsley. Both were at the £15 end of the price range, but the plate was deceivingly full and the pastas came with lashings of the sauce.

The duck ragu was delicately rich with plenty of flecks of tender meat throughout. The gluten free rigatoni, ordered because too much wheat pasta puts me out of action for hours, was immense - it tasted like pasta and wasn't powdery or too chewy. That said it was al dente and was still good. The tagliatelle was regular pasta, it was soft and had the right level of chew.

It was also covered in a memorable mixture crab and chilli, the zingy tomatoes and herbs also left their mark. This was a tasty plate.

The homemade element of the pasta is hit home by the pasta-making area right as you come in through the door. I do think I would visit again just to try the other dishes and I really enjoyed the casual but modish and chic setting.

We also tried the wild mushroom arancini which came with a slick of pistachio pesto mayo, lasagne fritti and the prosciutto plate with roasted fig and baked ricotta. If you judge a restaurant by the standard of its picky bits - that's British for antipasti - then Solina's got it down pat. Crisp balls of rice that weren't too stodgy or flavourless - which arancini often can be - and that mayo was creamily delicious with a tart, nutty edge - smashing. The proscuitto plate was heaving with the cured ham that was a perfect trio with the baked ricotta and figs.

But the lasagne fritti are a must try, they are what they say on the tin, a wedge of crisp-covered lasagne with soft, pulled beef and lashings of bechamel and tomato. Dreamy.

The tiramisu was a big splodge of creamy, spongey plate of dessert - sadly there just wasn't enough coffee flavour in it, personal preference I guess. But the cream was light and heavenly and I had it with an espresso so there we go! Ideal.

There's a slight decadence to all courses at Solina, but fresh, homemade food is at its heart and I'd say if you're a pasta-lover it's definitely one to try. You can scrap the starters and share three plates of well done dishes and still walk away with a bill under £50.

Solina is at 27 Westgate Street, CF10 1DD. It does not take bookings and it's open now.

Solina is found in the former Zero Degrees site - and is the second only branch of the pasta restaurant owned by The Walcot Group, which owns several other types of restaurants and butchers across England's south west.
The antipasti includes classics done well, like wild mushroom arancini
You definitely will want to make room for some lasagne fritti
The duck ragu, which comes with parpadalle wheat pasta, but here served with a gluten free rigatoni
Tagliatelle with Cornish crab - one for the seafood lovers