Brains gastros up another of its pubs, but the food disappoints

So, here we go. Yet another gastro-pub arrives on the scene thanks to a floor-to-ceiling revamp of a Cardiff institution. I would have said Cardiff 'favourite', but not many would have put the old Maltsters in their top hundred city pubs. In fact, top thousand might even have been pushing it. The Black Lion over the road may look like one for the braver drinker from the outside, but it's still more friendly than the Maltsters ever was. It's come at a cost though, not just to the wallet of Mr Brain, but also the wonderful Bully's restaurant out back. Yes, I know you've never heard of it. That was the point. But the newly relocated Bully's is another story.....

Great things expected then, perhaps a few gourmet twists in the food department. Boy did we get it. Ladies and gentlemen, please stand aside for the Maltsters 'fish and chips'. Hope you're reading this Heston; bet you never thought of hiding some tiny fish heads in a bowl of chips. Trouble is, nobody at the Maltsters thought of it too. How on earth it happened we can only wonder - who knows what other crazy stuff this kitchen's going to come up with through sheer carelessness.

Had the cooking's accomplishment lived up to its serendipity the Maltsters would be quite a place. But it didn't. Aside from the fishy accompaniment, chips were both underdone and burned (some achievement nonetheless), burgers were served on a ludicrous tiny slab of wood which meant any enjoyment of the (reasonably wholesome) patties themselves was marred by a fear of spilling everything on the table, and a decent stab at salt beef sandwiches was let down by some woolliest of woolly white bread. A special mention for the Welsh rarebit too: cremated underneath and accomplishing the impossible of making cheese topping taste somewhere between mashed banana and chocolate fondant. A word of praise for the lemon and sultana cheesecake though: rich and zingy, even if it was sadly on the point of being frozen.

All of which is a pity. The interior has been done to a high standard, there's even a cosy wood stove burning in the corner, but unfortunately this is a pub which has no clue what it wants to be. The menu lurches between cheap burgers at £6 and Porterhouse steak at £25, while the music veers from salsa to techno-bollocks. Brains even put paid to any decent beer, with guest ales advertised outside but nothing on offer.

A gastro-pub without the gastro then. And not much of the pub anymore either. True, it's early days in the life of the new Maltsters, but sadly this youngster is still going through a tricky phase.