Perched on the corner between Flora Street and Cathays Terrace, The Flora has been at the heart of Cardiff‘s student community, Cathays, for many years. It’s the kind of pub where I’d expect to find a mix of undergrads taking advantage of the cheap booze (possibly in fancy dress), and old men hunched over the bar, drinking pints and reading newspapers. It’s not somewhere I would expect to find elegantly presented, freshly cooked food that I just can’t wait to tell everyone all about. Not up until now, anyway.
Back last year, Ten Mill Lane cocktail bar and S.A. Brain teamed up to breathe new life into The Flora, transforming it from a traditional, cosy pub into a contemporary, eclectic meeting place for the local student community.
The bar is fashioned from intricately patterned tiles and rustic wooden doors – there’s even a letterbox at the centre – while funky abstract artwork hangs on the wooden panelled/partly-exposed brick walls.
Chef Gareth Davies has been with The Flora for around three months, assisted by another chef by the name of Hudson.
Throughout the week, the menu offers pub classics like fish and chips, chilli con carne, Hunter’s chicken, burgers and fries, and curry and rice, alongside more gourmet options like mussels, scallops and roasted cod with chorizo and cockle ragout.
The Sunday lunch menu offers a choice of beef, lamb or turkey; each priced at £9.95. Meanwhile, starters and desserts cost around £3-4 each.
Visiting The Flora for Sunday lunch, we kicked things off with the cod and chorizo fishcake (£3.95). Only too often, fishcakes can be boring and tasteless, but this couldn’t have been further from the truth as far as this fishcake was concerned. Mashed potato mixed with chunks of cod and chorizo lay encased in crunchy breadcrumbs, sitting atop thick butternut squash sauce and dressed with fresh greens, red amaranth, coriander, and finished with a piqant herb, chilli and tomato olive oil garnish.
For my main course, I tucked into medium-rare, juicy roast beef with tenderstem broccoli, roast parsnips, carrots, pickled red cabbage, roast potatoes, cauliflower cheese and a golden brown Yorkshire pudding.
Meanwhile, my guest got stuck into peppered roast lamb, cooked until pink and so tender, the knife slid through it with ease; this was teamed with the same tasty sides mentioned above, minus the Yorkshire pudding (that’s what also steers me towards ordering beef instead of lamb – love a decent Yorkshire pud!)
I enjoyed the Sunday lunch at The Flora so much, it would be one of the first places I’d think of going the next time I fancy a decent roast dinner in Cardiff. I still associate it with students – even more so now since its trendy refurb – but now, when I think of The Flora, I think of creative, fresh, gastro-pub style food. I fully intend to work my way through the regular weekday menu and roll on two months or so time, when the pub will be launching yet another new menu; I can’t wait to find out what else Gareth and Hudson have got up their sleeves!
The Flora
136 Cathays Terrace
Cathays
Cardiff
CF24 4HY
Where’s your favourite place to go for Sunday lunch?
Ooo that looks like a lovely place with delicious food. I do love fish cakes so they would definitely be a hit with me!
The fishcake was so elegantly presented, I’ve never seen anything like it; least of all from a pub.
The pub looks great , its nice to be able to pop in for a roast and enjoy it too.
Definitely! I was so very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food.
The food here looks great, and is really reasonably priced (especially the Sunday lunches). And the decor is perfect – id love to try this place out if I was in the area x
It’s really nice here since the recent revamp; sounds like it was a bit of an old man’s pub before! Hehe
I absolutely love Cardiff, and a Sunday roast! Will keep note of this place for next time I’m that way 🙂
Let me know what you think if you end up going here 🙂
Made the mistake of reading this before dinner. Now very hungry! Looks amazing and if I ever find myself in Cardiff, it’ll be on my list!
Hehe, I wrote it a couple of weeks ago and I always crave Sunday dinner when I read back over it – oops!
The food looks absolutely delicious- A hidden gem there. I also love the decor. Will definitely have to visit
I’m sure you’d love it. I can’t wait to go back!
I didn’t realise ten mill lane had joined forces there. I’m always looking for places to go for Sunday lunch. That starter looked yummy x
Yeah, I was surprised to hear it too. They’ve done a great job with the place.
I’ve been to Cardiff recently but didn’t spot this place. The food looks lovely. I don’t usually go for roast dinners but I would have chosen one of these ones!
It’s a fair walk from the city centre, based in Cathays – studentville, hehe! So you might have missed it as it’s a little out of the way if you’re just visiting Cardiff for a little while.
That pub looks so lovely and welcoming – I really want to visit Cardiff.
It is a great city to visit – friendly, multi-cultural and lots to see, do and eat!
That roast beed looks amazing and I could happily eat that right now!! I always love a roast dinner
Me too, it’s one of my alltime favourite meals.
That does look pretty good! I don’t really have a Sunday lunch favourite, but I ‘d go for that beef any day;)
It was delicious 🙂 I’d order the beef all over again too.
We went for a Sunday pub lunch at the weekend and it was amazing. This looks yummy!
Can’t beat decent pub grub on a Sunday 😀
These dishes look so tasty and I always love your food photography…It makes me hungry! We want to come to Wales so when we do, I will be searching this blog for places to go!
Aww thanks, I really appreciate that. Feel free to drop me a message if you ever need any suggestions of what to see, do and eat in Wales!
We love visiting new restaurants on Sundays, as long as they are serving good food, we are happy! 🙂
Me too, it’s what Sundays were made for!
I love when a much-loved but somewhat tatty pub gets a new lease of life from people who lavish care and attention and a great sense of design on the space. The food looks really fabulous, what a great place to have nearby.
It is nice to see new life breathed into such an old pub 🙂
That cod and chorizo pancake looks amazing. I come from the east coast where we have lots of cod cakes but it never occurred to me to put chorizo in them.
I loved how well presented it was. It was so perfectly done; never seen a fish cake looking so pretty! 🙂