What do you do to celebrate a 40-year friendship to quell those fearful thoughts of “where the hell did that time go?” Perhaps by trying somewhere that’s not even 40 days old! The Sultan, down the docks, or Cardiff Bay as it’s corporately known these days, may provide that solution.

They seem to have discovered an interesting way of wooing customers in these early days. Free Turkish bread sets the tone, and while they seek a license to sell alcohol complementary glasses of house red and white wine are more than welcome.

Sampling the wine meant we didn’t hear the option of starters first, so we ended up with that Mediterranean meze experience of everything at the same time!

The fried halloumi with fig jam was perfectly textured. The babaganoush was perfectly balanced to allow the aubergine taste not to be overwhelmed. The Lokum was a perfect blend of slices of fillet steak and mashed potato with a Cafe de Paris sauce… what a sublime dish it was to, topped off with red kapia pepper. As for the asparagus, it was perfectly crunchy. Such was the delightfully presented array of tasty temptations the Veg Pide ended up as a perfect doggy bag takeaway!

The freebies hadn’t finished either with a complementary glass of Turkish tea to help the digesting of a real treat of a meal.

Until we speak again, this was a meal 40 years in the waiting. Don’t copy us, go now while they are bookending your meal with the complementaries!