Where to have lunch in Cardiff?

October 21, 2005 4:41 AM

Where should me and my quasi-grandparents go for lunch in Cardiff?

We'll be meeting at the Sherman theatre. Mode of transportation from there will probably be taxi as they won't want to walk too far. Any type of cuisine is acceptable, but preferably more upmarket cafe than greasy spoon.

posted by Lotto to food & drink (6 answers total)

What kind of food do they like?

Cardiff Bay has quite a few upmarket (in theory) restaurants in a nice location, but the food itself isn't all that much to write home about. Although you won't be sending anything back either. I've eaten at Cafe Naz (acceptable Indian food), Ba Orient (cool stylish dim sum bar but not that authentic), and am keen to try Scallops one of these days. Alternatively, for a bit of glam, you could take them to Bosphorous and say it was used in Doctor Who 2005!

Outside of Cardiff Bay (which is a taxi ride from the Sherman), I've had good meals at La Fosse, Riverside Cantonese (Chinese), Casablanca and Zushi.

I've heard good things about The Cinnamon Tree. and Le Gallois.

There's comprehensive contributor-led reviews of restaurants in Cardiff courtesy of the BBC and at bigcardiff.co.uk
posted by badlydubbedboy at 6:04 AM on October 21, 2005

agree with badlydubbed boy, but most of the places mentioned are quite "young-ish". heard not very nice things about bosphorous and zushi, ba orient is very good. nice thai fusion joint at tiger bay, some decent stuff in the brewery quarter which is closer to the theatre, eg thai edge, which is pretty good, and some other higher end chain type places. also happy gathering in canton is pretty good. usually worth checking out chowhound.com, but cardiff is not a place noted for it's food.... going further afield there are a couple of gastropubs, bunch of grapes towards pontypridd, and the maenchllywd towards bedwas, caerphilly way.
posted by spyke23 at 6:49 AM on October 21, 2005

Cinnamon Tree is excellent if they like Indian. I very highly recommend Patagonia in Canton- definitely an upmarket cafe type place. Very good food and nice, mixed (not all young people) atmosphere.
I also hear Le Gallois is good but very pricey.
Bali is very good (near the Brewery Quarter) if you don't mind Caroline Street outside the door (I don't).
posted by cushie at 6:59 AM on October 21, 2005

If you're planning on going to the main shopping area from the Sherman, you might like the Park Hotel on Park Place, just off Queen Street (it's just around the corner from the circle on that map).

Service can be a little slow but that's almost an advantage since it's an absolute joy to sink into one of their big soft armchairs or sofas while ordering a pot of tea and cakes (served on an old-fashioned cake stand). They also serve sandwiches and light cooked lunches.

Best of all, it's quiet and you can actually hear each other speak.
posted by ceri richard at 7:17 AM on October 21, 2005

What are quasi-grandparents? Friendly old people?
posted by slimslowslider at 8:44 AM on October 21, 2005

It's a long story.. basically they're my grandparents' best friends, and the 4 of them share a house split into two. I spent a lot of time there as a child and consequently they are basically an extra set of grandparents, their children are like extra aunts and uncles, etc. It's a cool setup.
posted by Lotto at 10:53 AM on October 21, 2005