The bars and restaurants that have opened in the past year
Wingstack
Promising “Wings & Tings with Stacks of Flavour”, this independent fried chicken shop specialises in chicken wings and burgers. With a wide menu, including eight different flavours of chicken wings – with flavours of the month – three different chicken burgers (that you can swap out for vegan cauliflower burgers) and various loaded chips to choose from you are sure to find something you like.
■ Where: 86 Whitchurch Rd, Cardiff CF14 3LY
Reaper
Spice lovers of Cardiff need to visit Reaper’s new HQ in Canton, which is open on weekends. Housing 12 unique hot sauces, such as coffee and habanero and pineapple and jalapeno along with 12 new seasonings to try with their dirty dining menu, which features a deep-fried mac’n’cheese patty and their signature vegan Kentucky fried Cauliflower burger, this is a unique food offering Cardiff is proud to have. The menu also includes items like mix’n’match chicken wings. If you can’t handle spice, fear not – their range of sauces also cater for the fainthearted, with non-spicy sauces too.
■ Where: Unit 6 Paper Mill Rd, Cardiff CF11 8DH
Rosa Thai
You may have visited this Thai restaurant in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. But earlier this year, Rosa’s Thai opened its first restaurant in Wales – on the busy Church Street, which is home to many beloved independent and chain restaurants. The company was set up by chef Saiphin, who grew up on a mountain farm in Khao Kho, northern Thailand. When she and her husband moved to the UK, Saiphin started selling homecooked meals at offices and markets. They set up a permanent stall on London’s Brick Lane in 2007 before starting up their restaurant in 2008 on Hanbury Street. The menu offers a
From coffee shops and cocktail bars to burger joints and brunch spots, Cardiff has welcomed, with open arms and hungry stomachs, a vast array of delicious new dining and drinking spots this year. With chain restaurants, such as Fat Hippo and indie joints like hot sauce bar Reaper open and many more opening in the city in the first half of the year alone, it’s safe to say our capital city is one well-fed foodie city. Here, Eve Rowlands rounds up a list of the restaurants and bars that have graced the capital city since the new year – and the exciting new food havens yet to come
range of options, including curries, noodles, and stir fry dishes. Around 30% of the menu is also vegetarian and vegan. It also offers seasonal specials, which currently include a tom yum noodle soup, salt and pepper crispy tofu, oyster mushroom tempura, and stir fry chilli tofu and green beans.
■ Where: 5-10 Church St, Cardiff CF10 1BG
Par 59
Brought to you by Wales football legend Gareth Bale – who already owns popular bar Eleven’s – this isn’t just any old bar. It’s a bar, restaurant and mini-golf venue which stemmed from a partnership between the famous footballer and the popular events organisers Depot. Only accepting those who are age 18 and above, the site comprises of two nine-hole minigolf courses – one named ‘The Gambler’ and the other ‘The Valentine.’ You can even drink while you putt as each golf hole has a drinks station. Keeping in with the golf theme, caddies go around and take your orders while on the course if you’re peckish. Par 59 houses street food vendors Dirty Bird, which provides a dine-in menu.
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Where : Imperial Gate, Basement Unit, St Mary St, Cardiff CF10 1FE
Heidi’s Bar
Taking over what used to be the much-loved bar and nightclub Soda,
Heidi’s Bier Bar – which has locations in Norway, Finland and Denmark – brings an “authentic apres ski atmosphere” to the Welsh capital. Being the first UK branch of the popular beer hall, it offers a selection of draft beers served in traditional one-pint dimpled glasses and four-pint drink towers. For those looking for something stronger, Jagertrains are available with shots served in a pair of skis – naturally. At the time of opening, the Bier Hall’s Head of Marketing & Partner, Dennis Kastbjerg, said: “”We promise there is nothing like Heidi’s in Wales.
It will be just the tonic people need to forget the challenges of the past couple of years. In a Heidi’s, the spirits are always high, the party is wild, and everywhere you look, you see happy people. You can’t help but have a good time!”
■ Where: 4-6 Mill Ln, Cardiff CF10 1FL
Cora
This is the first restaurant by renowned chef Lee Skeet, who trained under Gordon Ramsay and Marcus Wareing and also became a head chef in his own right at the Michelinstarred Hedone in London. The restaurant is situated in Pontcanna above the equally as delicious cafe, Milkwood, and exclusively seats just 12 people. It opened in January 2022 following a sell-out run of pop-ups and supper clubs at his flat in Cardiff Bay, which he named 40 Days, 40 Nights, which sold out 650 tickets in a matter of days and was met with rave reviews. The restaurant serves a single tasting menu of seasonal British produce, focusing on seafood, cooked singlehandedly by him.
■ Where: 83 Pontcanna Street, Pontcanna, Cardiff CF11 9HS
Tonight Josephine
This bubblegum pink cocktail bar is quite possibly the most flamboyant bar to hit the city. With a backdrop making for the most fabulous Instagram post, Tonight Josephine currently has three bars in London and one in Birmingham and is known for its lavish cocktail menu and extravagant bottomless brunches. Describing itself as a ‘sassy’ cocktail bar, it was named after Empress Josephine Bonaparte, the first wife of Napoleon, and hosts themed brunches (Mamma Mia, Moulin Rouge, Pop Icons – to name a few) in a glittery, neon-filled bar, which serves a large selection of cocktails, alongside wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks.
■ Where: 46 Caroline St, Cardiff CF10 1FF
Kafe Makasih
Husband and wife team Ruth and
Roger Hanson who hail from Blackwood, started Kafe Makasih as a street food venture some years ago and won the title of People’s Choice winners at the British Street Food Awards in 2019 and 2020. Earlier this year, it took up a permanent residence at the old site of The Early Bird Cafe on Woodville road, serving Malaysian fusion cooking – for breakfast, lunch and dinner – inspired by the couple’s travels around Malaysia. This is Makasih’s first permanent home, after serving their delicious food over the years at venues and events across South Wales including Corporation Yard, Sticky Fingers and the Abergavenny Food Festival.
■ Where: 38 Woodville Rd, Cardiff CF24 4EB
Fat Hippo
If you’re a burger lover, you need to visit Fat Hippo – who claim to have the best burgers in Cardiff. It opened in May, taking over the former site of Bub’s Bar and Kitchen, and serves a vast selection of impressive burgers – whose fillings are creative (for example the PB+JJ, which has peanut butter and jam in it) and deliciously dirty. “Good old fashioned, roll up your sleeves + get it all over your face” food, their starters are equally as extravagant as their mains: frickles – fried pickles topped with sour cream and Hellacious Hippo Hot sauce, trash browns – deep-fried tater tots, liquid cheese and Cajun onion strings, and wachos – waffle fries, smashed beef, liquid cheese, guacamole, sour cream, Hellacious Hippo Hot sauce and jalapenos. ■ Where: 17 Church St, Cardiff CF10 1BG
The Underdog
Brought to you by the team behind Kongs – a much loved bar which not only houses booze but ping pong and old-school arcade games – The Underdog serves simple cocktails, New York style pizza and selection of beer and has a striking interior filled with neon lights and pool tables. Set on the second level, above Kongs, it serves 80s nostalgia and has a happy hour every day between 4pm and 7pm.
■ Where: Hodge House, Guildhall Pl, Cardiff CF10 1EB
Little Kochi
The idea for this Indian restaurant was borne after Little Kochi’s founder Albin Sunny, whose family hails from Kerala, cooked south Indian food for a friend of his, who’d never tried dishes from the region. His feedback, Albin told us (read more on it here ), was so incredible that it gave the 25-year-old graduate the idea of opening his very own restaurant in Cardiff specialising in south Indian cuisine. Opening in late May, the restaurant oozes authenticity with delicious food and drink from the south Indian region being served – the food is cooked by Keralan chefs (one of whom came from the kitchens that cook for the Indian Pre
mier League), who use spices that have come directly from Keralan farmers – and its interior is just as marvellous.
■ Where: 78 Albany Rd, Cardiff CF24 3RS
Slamburger
Slamburger opened its sixth restaurant in the UK on City Road at the start of the year, and is known for creating halal versions of burgers that are close to popular burgers from McDonald’s and Burger King as well as making their own. Its impressive menu boasts nine different grilled burgers from the Beef Whooper to the Piri Double Chicken Wooper and 15 gourmet and classic burgers. There are also chicken doner kebab options, kid’s meals including the choice of chicken nuggets, and a wide range of sides available,
giving customers plenty of choice.
Where: 149-151 City Rd, Cardiff CF24 3BQ
Karak Chaii
Selling luxury high-quality chai tea, Karak Chaii also serves all-day breakfasts, smaller desi-style streetfood dishes – such as the Bombay Sandwich, Chilli Paneer and Keema Matar and Masala Chip – four types of Rotis, as well as a variety of desserts. Speaking at the time of the opening, Franchise Training Manager Maryam Hassan said: “Karak Chaii means strong tea, we really place emphasis on our tea being the best in the industry. So because it is in our name we really pride ourselves on the quality of our tea.”
Where: 228 City Rd, Cardiff CF24 3JH