Travel - food and wine reviews

The Park Plaza Hotel in Cardiff.

Near to the New Theatre in the centre of Cardiff, this is a great option for Afternoon Tea in their Laguna Bar. You do need to book ahead if possible, but this savoury version is beautifully presented and we prefer it to a traditional sweet afternoon tea. 

We love eating at Y Seler! This is just one of the choices on the menu - tomato and red pepper velute - but the menu does change regularly. You have a choice of eating in the restaurant or enjoying the tasty smaller plates from the Tapas menu.

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Congratulations to the team for being recognized as the best in Ceredigion and in Wales - well done!

A fascinating 3-day tour of the major wineries and vineyards in the Bordeaux region, there is a detailed report later.

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This is a wonderful fish soup from Pauillace, rich and tasty, especially with a wonderful white wine and fresh crusty bread! Followed by a perfect creme brulee, it was a superb experience. 

Very pleasantly decorated, centrally located in Cardiff city centre so always busy – booking is essential, but easily done online. A little early for our booking, we had a drink at the bar while waiting for the table. Hmm, drinks a bit pricey but we didn’t have too long to wait.

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We shared a starter of calamari £7.95. What a great choice, excellent taste and texture, and next time will have one each! The 7oz rump was perfectly cooked ‘medium’ as recommended on the menu, with a choice of sauce for the steak and a dressing for the lettuce wedge (the blue cheese dressing was lovely). There was an ‘onion loaf’ included in the serving – not sure that it really added anything to the meal. Too full for a dessert but we are happy to repeat next time we are in Cardiff.

There is a detailed review of our visit to 3 of the Luna Hotels in the Algarve, Portugal on the where to go page, but I couldn't resist including this example of the food they serve.

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Chicken and Ratatouille was delicious, tasty ratatouille and succulent chicken breast. Perfect.

The trip across the Canadian Rockies by train was definitely the trip of a lifetime (see later full report). 

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The luxurious Rocky Mountaineer from Banff to Vancouver is a treat. Apart from the bar onboard "opening" from 9.30am (!) the food in the restaurant was indeed first class. As you can see, beautifully prepared and presented and everything you could wish for on this fabulous train.