Whacky cafe with a passion for affordable food and crazy design

Cardiff has no shortage of many things. Shops. One-way systems. Brains pubs. Girls in fluorescent pink tights. But what about somewhere decent to stop for a quick meal and a beer? At last, we may have the answer.

Gwdihw (goody-hoo) has entered the busy market of hip bars aiming high with the menu (think Buffalo, Ten Feet Tall and the like). And they've done it with cracking style. How many bars have you been to with a front room decked out like someone still lives there, complete with fading family photos, 60s leather armchairs and a curious collection of ornithological exhibits? It could almost be Bill Oddie's house with those stuffed owls (gwdihw=owl in Welsh) except the grumpy windbag would make everyone take their shoes off before going in.

The menu is spot-on. There's stew, cawl, chili con carne and a Greek salad for veggies, all at £6, and on today's special board the subject of our review: a pork sausage sandwich which was just the ticket for a quick pre-show snack. In rolled the mighty pig-based wheat-fest which appeared to be troubling the strength of the waitress, not least thanks to the sturdy retro plate knicked from Bill Oddie's pantry - he'll be bloody furious when he finds out. Check out those whopping slices of granary, the perfectly dressed salad, and the sweet-basted sausage. The onion chutney was the one detraction, horribly cloying. It seemed a pity to spoil the plate with a pile of crisps too - why HAVE we got into that stupid habit?

If you really want an experience, have a gander at the fridge. Inside rests a mysterious pile of unmarked brown bottles. Nowhere else will you find this elicit nectar: Barenaked beer, brewed in Pontcanna. It's a Bavarian, unfiltered lager (hence the sediment) with a beautifully balanced banana-y flavour. Beware though - your two kamikaze reviewers felt distinctly ill not too long afterwards. But it was worth it, and this is probably they only place you'll find it.

And somehow there's more to Gwdihw than the well-executed food and the well-executed owls (not a bullet hole in sight). There's a sense of imagination at play here, and a passion to set new standards. Buffalo beware. The tawny has landed.

p.s. don't Google Barenaked Beer. Especially at work.