Food In The Capital …

No not that capital, the capital of Wales. Cardiff.

We don’t live too far from Cardiff really, about an hours drive but we rarely visit. After being around the Cardiff food scene last week I feel that has to change.

There are some amazing restaurants and cafés hidden away, from big chains to independents and I just want to delve in and explore them all.

As my explorations have only just begun I will tell you about three places we visited recently on a trip to Cardiff with just the one child and what we think about them.

First up..

Dabbawalla Club

We received an invite to the launch event of the Dabbawalla Club on City rd and we were pretty excited as it sounded a little bit different. We were served a glass of mango lassi on arrival – which was drool worthy. So much so I’m experimenting at home and making my own so look out for a recipe soon. There were tables set up around the beautiful restaurant with an exciting array of food to try and it would have been rude not to partake so we dug in. The food was crisp,full of favour and just delightful.

We will definitely be returning to Dabbawallas and I urge you all to visit for a unique Indian dining experience.

Secondly we visited Pieminister. Pieminister recently opened their St.Marys street branch and to much success it seems. The restaurant was packed out when we arrived and although we had a little wait for our food due to a large party downstairs it was worth it. I chose Funghi Chicken And my OH chose Chicken of Arragon. Both really good although mine just edged it I think. He went for mash and pea sides and I opted for sweet potato fries and salad.

The staff were a little flustered due to it being so busy and they forgot my salad so I had to ask for it but they were extremely apologetic and everything else went very smoothly.

My favourite part: The Sweet Potato Fries, the pies are great but the fries.. Wow.

And what is a pie without cider hey? There is a great selection to try.

We all love pie 😉 I should point out there are great baby changing facilities and high chairs so ideal for a family meal.

Thirdly on a wander around the streets of Cardiff we found an amazing little cafe called Barkers Coffee nestled inside Castle Arcade.. It is a world apart from the chain cafés you find everywhere and anywhere and we LOVED it. The layout and humongous sofas scream relax in me. So we did.

Normally I wouldn’t be overly excited about a simple panini for lunch but sometimes the simplest things when done right can be just perfect. I had a Ham and Brie with chutney on the side and my OH had a Hunters Chicken – both were incredibly tasty. To drink we didn’t fancy a hot drink we chose from their great selection of soft drinks and had a San Pellegrino and a Fentimans Orange- have you tasted Fentimans drinks? They are a bit dreamy. The staff were incredibly nice, moving sofas and chairs for our huge buggy and cooing over our beautiful baby girl. I wouldn’t normally write a review on here of a simple cafe lunch but we were so impressed that I felt I had to share.

Loved Barkers. Will definitely return.

Do you visit Cardiff often? What else does it have to offer a curious foodie?

* we were invited to Dabbawallas as part of their launch and Pieminister provided a voucher for us to sample their goods.