Sadly, Base & Barley has now permanently closed.
Lately, it seems like wherever you go in Cardiff, the sourdough pizza trend has taken over. From Locke and Remedy (now closed) and The Stable (both in the city centre) to pizza pop-up recently turned permanent restaurant, Dusty Knuckle Pizza Co (sadly now closed), sourdough pizza has taken the Welsh capital by storm.
Base and Barley opened back in March on the former site of coffee shop and wine bar, Artigiano opposite Capitol Shopping Centre on Queen Street, Cardiff. With a focus on casual dining, the restaurant is owned by managing director and founder, Joe Hill, who also owns Artigiano, a sister store of which can still be found on Working Street in Cardiff.
The decision to re-brand the Queen Street branch of Artigiano as Base and Barley was informed by customer feedback which indicated that guests wanted to to enjoy a laid-back lunch or dinner whilst enjoying a cup of tea , coffee, or something stronger.
Specialising in sourdough pizza, gourmet burgers and craft beer, the restaurant menu is straight-forward and reasonably priced. None of the pizzas have any fancy names – instead, they are simply numbered 1-8 – and they are all priced at £7.95 or under (although you’ll pay more to ‘build your own’).
Alongside sourdough pizza and burgers, the menu features a range of salads and stone-baked dishes like maple salmon and piri-piri chicken, not to mention a breakfast menu worth getting out of bed for.
To start, we shared a vibrant salad of juicy heirloom tomatoes and creamy mozzarella, drizzled with pesto and topped with fresh basil (£4.95). This was delicious and refreshing – just the thing to indulge in on a hot, sunny day like the ones we’ve been having lately (touch wood!) However, it could’ve done with a touch more mozzarella and a glug of olive oil.
We also tucked into a portion of garlic and rosemary pizza dough (£4.95). Served hot, this had a soft, cushiony texture with a subtle hint of garlic and rosemary.
For my main course, I built my own pizza from a range of toppings including chicken, prosciutto ham, salami, sweet roquito peppers, spinach, mozzarella, ricotta and rocket. Thin and crispy but with doughy bite, the sourdough base was divine. However, I would’ve preferred it if it had been cut into slices before being brought to the table; I was given a knife to cut it with, upon request, but this was a bit of a faff. It was a delicious pizza, although I did go a little overboard on the toppings. They could definitely have gone a little easier on the rocket, though.
Meanwhile, my guest tucked into one of Base and Barley’s artisan burgers. The Fully Loaded burger (£7.95) consisted of a thick, meaty beef patty flavoured with spicy sweet roquito pppers and topped with crispy bacon, emmental cheese, iceberg lettuce, tomato, red oion and house relish in a brioche bun, served with homemade coleslaw. Fries are served as an extra to the burger, with a choice of skin-on (£2.95) or sweet potato fries (£3.50). Pictured below, the sweet potato fries were cooked to perfection, with a slightly crunchy coating and a fluffy interior.
After polishing off our main courses, we were feeling fit to burst and so decided to give dessert a miss, as tempting as the menu looked, with tantalising choices like creme brulee, chocolate fondant and vanilla pannacotta.
We had a great time at Base and Barley and I’ll definitely be returning in future; the food is top notch and you can’t fault the prices either. At the moment, you can get 50% off food if you visit Base and Barley on Monday – so, that’s dinner tomorrow night sorted! 😉
Base and Barley (now permanently closed)
115 Queen Street
Cardiff
CF10 2BH
What a delicious sounding place to pop into – I totally fancy trying the garlic and rosemary bread that sounds so good! x
It sounds lovely in there. I visited cardiff a few years ago and i really enjoyed it.
Cardiff is a lovely city and there are lots of decent restaurants here 😀
The food looks amazing, I always hate reading your reviews (meant in the nicest possible way), as you live so far away from me I don’t think I will ever be able to visit these restaurants x
This looks so yummy. I would love to try this.
Ooh, I think I’d like this place a lot. I would definitely have to go with a personalized pizza!
It was nice to be able to choose what I wanted to have on my pizza 🙂
Now that burger looks absolutely amazing. Whenever we try a new restaurant, burgers are always the first thing I want to try x
I love a good burger… has to be done properly though – this one was great!
I think I remember passing this last time I was in Cardiff, so wish we had eaten there. The dough bread, pizza and burgers all look amazing. Making me so hungry now x
I love how fresh and tasty the food looks. I could do with one of those burgers right about now! xxx
The burger looked so meaty and juicy. I think I could do with one right now too 😀
The food sounds so amazing and the pizza you created sounds like one I definitely would have made myself, although after seeing the burger I would have definitely been jealous that I didn’t order that! xx
I must admit, I did get a slight case of food envy when I caught sight of my friend’s burger. I know what to order next time I visit Base and Barley!
Ooh that certainly does look tasty! I’m not surprised you didn’t get dessert, that looks like a very filling meal!
It was lovely, although I am keen to go back and try out their dessert menu. Any excuse to return 🙂
I really want to try sourbread pizza dough, not sure where they have it but it must be everywhere here in London.
Oh, it’s bound to be everywhere in London as there’s a few places in Cardiff serving it now. It’s worth hunting down – tasty stuff!
Oh my gosh, I don’t know what looks better – the pizza or the burger! Even the salad looks delicious! x
It was all so good. I’m looking forward to trying out one of the burgers for myself next time I visit 🙂
Now that’s what I call a burger! Cardiff has so many fantastic eating places. We were their last year to watch the Wales/Italy rugby friendly and indulged in quite a few delicious restaurants
Oh lovely, where did you go? Cardiff is definitely blessed with plenty of great places to dine out 🙂
I’ve not tried (or heard of) sour dough pizza bases before. I’ll keep an eye out for it. That burger though, looks perfect.
Oh wow, it’s everywhere in Cardiff lately! Which is fine by me, as it tastes bloody amazing 😀