Moo Moos (Thai Tapas?), Cardiff.

Before I get into this post, let’s just take a minute to talk about City Road. I love it; it’s fucking ace. It just is. I can happily admit that it’s not without its issues. If you’re driving, you can spend a good portion of your Saturday evening trying to navigate its chaotic main road or running the gauntlet of its narrow side streets, where if you’re not weaving around pavement-shy punters from the Mackintosh who are 17 Carling’s deep and fresh off the back of a rowdy game of Bowls, you’re almost certainly going to find yourself playing a game of chicken with a ‘20 plate hatchback with blacked-out windows parked up in the middle of the road, hazards on, probably dropping off 2 for 60 or whatever the going rate is these days. All of this in the desperate hope of finding some non-residential parking, though the shards of glass decorating the pavement every hundred meters or so will tell you that there’s a 50/50 chance that you’ll end up coming back to a missing window anyway. I’ve lived on two of those side streets, and I’ve had to replace more wing mirrors than I’d care to acknowledge.

Despite all of that, and at the risk of over romanticizing it, it’s still deserving of being shouted about as loudly as whichever opening is the flavour of the week over in Instagram land. God knows I’m guilty of neglecting it since I moved to the other side of the river, but our visit last week has reminded me of everything there is to love about it. It’s a veritable smorgasbord of differing cultures and cuisines that is impossible to ignore. There are brightly lit, colourful shop signs in various languages selling all sorts, from Middle Eastern and Asian groceries to jewellery to odds and sods and obviously a phone repair shop or three. Then there’s the food—you'll notice the maillard-induced aromas permeating your nostrils from the many highly thought-of grill houses dotted up the road, all of which are typically packed out and feeding families and couples alike, tempting you to forego your own reservations for the evening. There are dessert shops throwing out various iterations of Middle Eastern pastries and sweets—think Baklava, Kataifi, and the like. You’ve got Chinese, Japanese, Lebanese, Pakistani, Indian, South African, Syrian, Italian and Greek, to name a few more off the top of my head. It’s an iconic Cardiff road, one that we should be proud of, and one that I expect to be writing more about over the next few months.

We’re here today to sit in at Moo Moos, a Thai restaurant and takeaway that can be found nestled towards the top end of City Road near its junction with Albany Road. The food features your usual Thai fare of red and green curries, Pad Thai, Tom Yum, and massaman alongside a good selection of starters (is this the tapas element?!) and a smattering of chef specialities, including a lamb shank massaman, beef with crispy basil and various duck based dishes amongst others.

I don’t think it would be fair to describe this post as a review as such; to be completely honest, I’ve eaten at Moo Moos either in the restaurant or via takeaway probably over a dozen times, and I’ve written this post knowing exactly what I was going to eat and probably what I was going to say about it too because this post is really about one dish, a dish that is at the epicenter of almost all of the aforementioned orders prior.

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though, eh? There are some starters to get through first. Satay Chicken is a Thai classic and is as good as they come. The chicken is almost certainly velvetized before being heavily marinated; big flavours of lemongrass shine through here, with an accompanying satay dipping sauce adding that layer of richness that is so synonymous with the dish. Separately, three baguette slices come layered with a generously portioned mixture of shrimp and coriander root and are speckled with white and black sesame seeds before being deep fried. This is sold as prawn toast but is clearly a step up from what you’d find at your local Chinese. An accompanying sweet chilli dipping sauce is nicely sweet and sour, though I wouldn't have minded if the heat levels were dialed up a notch or two.

We also order a Tofu Pad Thai. We all know what Pad Thai should taste like, so I’m not going to bore you too much with the details but this is as good as any I had in a restaurant or roadside while I was in Thailand. A hefty dose of Wok Hei sets the stage immediately to carry the sweet, savory, and sour noodles and launch you to food heaven.

If you’re going to eat at Moo Moos and you’re unsure of what you should get, then let me guide you. Unless you’re allergic to shellfish, you’re going to want the Panang Pbed. What is it? Well, think of a Thai red curry... Now imagine it’s thicker, more intensely flavoured and more complex to the point where anything other than the absolute balance of some seriously massive flavours (shrimp paste, Chinese chilli, lemongrass and ground peanuts to name a few) would compromise everything. Are you with me? Good. Now imagine that curry with a huge portion of roasted duck breast, deep fried just before serving to beef up the crispness of the skin, offering additional texture and just a touch of additional decadence, which is just about retained right up to the last bite. You’ll want a carbohydrate to help bring it all together too. Keep it simple; just get yourself some boiled rice; that’s all this dish needs. Oh, and that balance of flavour I mentioned up there? Just so you know, it’s bang on the money every time.

This is the sort of food where it’s hard not to eat with a smile on your face or your head in your hands lamenting the fact that one more bite brings you closer to the end. It’s the sort of food that’ll stick to your ribs and send you into a food coma and let me tell you, you're going to fucking love it. If you don’t believe me then maybe the fact that I saw four of the same dish brought out during my hour-long sitting will back up my claims of how good it is. Have I gone over the top here? Maybe, but that was intentional because this dish is the whole reason why I wanted to write this post. It’s my favourite thing to eat in Cardiff so I want to shout about it and I want you to go and eat it.

As for Moo Moos itself, well, I can’t say for certain it’s my favourite restaurant in Cardiff, not yet anyway. I still have to make my way around a bit more of their menu to be able to do so with resolute conviction but it’s never just about the food though is it? The reason I love Moo Moos and their Panang Pbed as vociferously as I do is because it reminds me of happy times in my life. Everything about the restaurant takes me back to holidaying in the likes of Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, from its blue velvet seating to their somewhat battered menus to the fact the owner greets her customers like they're family with a hug and a genuine joy to see them, and even the standalone fan valiantly but ultimately hopelessly blowing about a load of humid air in an attempt to keep the restaurant cool. It takes me back to times when I was far less depressed than the world makes me these days. When I was eating food that was made with the same amount of joy and love as Moo Moos has consistently offered me over the years. The ability of food to evoke these feelings is second-to-none and if you find a place that makes you feel that way then you should tell everybody about it because ultimately that's what it's all about.