The Baker's Dozen is a really large bakery on Splott Road, and like so many of the businesses in…read morethis area, it has been around a long time, (over twenty years). It started its life at the indoor market, where they still have a stall to this day, before branching out to a shop on the bridge, a little further up the road, and then ultimately taking up residence at No. 17. The business was started by John Griffiths, who also owns fisheries in Monmouthshire, but was bought out by Mike Morris some years ago. Mike had worked at the bakery for many years and had proved himself to be of the right calibre to take on the business. Not only was he more than capable of taking on the logistical and administrative elements of the bakery, he was also committed to maintaining the high standards that formed the basis of the reputation that The Baker's Dozen had earned itself. This meant continuing to buy the best quality ingredients, producing high quality food at incredibly affordable prices and offering the customer really high standards of service, a winning combination since its inception. The Baker's Dozen sells all of the usually baked items including Clarks pies and pasties, and also offers freshly made sandwiches and homemade meals at lunchtime. Large joints of meat wait to be sliced in the display counters alongside the specials of the day. Chicken curry with a large portion of chips will only set you back a mere £2.40 and a minced beef and onion pie and chips costs £1.60. Hot Dogs and burgers cost £1.20. This is incredible value!

The Baker's Dozen is a large bakery/deli/eatery/assorted food place settled on Splott Road. I could…read moredescribe the exterior for you, to make it easier to find, but really, it's the only large bakery on Splott Road and chances are you're going to find it by smell alone so any directions I give you are going to be pretty much superfluous. Understand that when I say large, I don't mean bigger than the average Greggs. I mean lower-floor-of-a-three-bedroom-house-converted-into-a-Willy-Wonka-esque-boutique-of-sensory-delights large. The place is massive, with a long display counter containing a positively decadent amount of delicious pastry treats to assault the eyes, nose and eventually the tastebuds. Now, I have a problem when confronted with a new place of this magnitude; I never, ever know what to choose. Everything looks so good anyone faced with the realisation that they can only have one is instantly hit by an existential crisis. Luckily, I went with a group of about 15 people during a lunch break, so we were able to try most things in the shop. I can recommend sandwiches, which we bought a huge amount of and of which I sampled pretty much all of them (much to my cast-mate's annoyance). I can recommend the doughnuts, which were lovely and soft; almost gooey, which is always a good thing and, finally, I can recommend the chicken curry and chips. Not normal fare for a bakery, but ohhhh so good.

You would be hard pressed to find better bread than this, especially at such a good price. It's not…read morejust boring bread, but you've got a much better choice than any of the local supermarkets, and some of the bigger ones too, give you. Loads of different types of loaves, scrummy rolls, delicious pastries (sweet AND savoury!) and delicious cakes, all at a price that puts Tesco to absolute shame. This is possibly the best thing I've discovered in Cardiff - it's a pretty poorly-kept secret. If you like your bread, you'd better incorporate this place into your routine. The only problem is.... you won't be able to go back to dry, tasteless supermarket or packaged bread, even in an emergency.....

City Bakery is a great shop, and is steeped in the time honoured tradition of the multi-cultural…read moreconvenience store, that of trying to cram as many products within its four walls as is feasibly possible, and blow the need for order! I love it! This shop is chock-a-block with goodies. Being a bakery it has a great selection of eastern sweet pastries and breads, but it also stocks a huge amount of exotic dry foods, tins and fresh veg. It's got everything, including household cleaning products, toiletries and perfumes, and even an attempt at proving the kitchen sink... they sell a small number of sundry stainless steel storage items! And, of course, they have the obligatory hookah pipes and associated paraphernalia. Basically, if you can't get what you want from this shop, you would be hard pushed to find it anywhere else. There's always a queue at the counter, which is heart-warmingly comprised of people of all cultures and ethnic origins. The people who work behind the counter could be accused of being a little sombre, but who wouldn't be when working such long hours every day of the week? These guys work hard with little reprieve, and there's no crime in being subdued... they are never rude, which would be a different matter entirely! This is definitely one of the better stores of this type on the City Road.

Not a bakery at all, as far as I could work out. More of a corner shop, really, which - as it…read moreshould - provides all of those things that you forgot to pick up at Tesco. And, not that you should really admit this, but I think I would normally go back to Tesco rather than to here. I don't know why this is because the prices are pretty good and there's all the basics that you need. I guess I was just put off because I was in a bad mood at the time and the service that I received wasn't great. Looking back on it, I'm unsure if this was my own foulness colouring all I did, or if the service actually was sub-par. In any case, as it provides all you need at pretty low prices it's become lodged in my head as one of those 'Oh, yes, I need to get some rice... oh, here's a shop'-type places.

I had to make a very important decision at Muffin Break recently. Nothing life changing, but God…read moreknows it needed a cup of tea whilst I mulled over my thoughts. Located in an area that if you did a knee slide you'd easily pass 5 cafes by the time you stopped (If you were wearing long trousers. You'd stop very quickly if you were silly enough to try this with shorts...) However besides the normal price of tea etc as anywhere round here, what did attract me to it, was the sweets on offer. What I'm particularly talking about is there rocky road cake. Dark chocolate with marshmallows sat in and around it. Think the pair came to just under £5 and which isn't a lot when you've been propelled to heaven thanks to such a Godly desert.

Muffin Break is basically a bakery-cafe where they prepare a range of savoury and sweet products…read moresuch as pies, quiches, sandwiches, flans, muffins and cakes. The individual quiches are delicious, with fillings such as roasted vegetables or chicken & asparagus. The decor is fairly plain but it's the baking smells that will draw you in. If you have a sweet tooth, there's obviously a whole array of muffins on offer, with the selection changing each day. They have classics such as blueberry and chocolate chip, plus a high fibre muffin, which you can wolf down while pretending you're doing your body a favour. They also have low fat and gluten-free options. Oh, and if you buy five, you get the sixth free. Personally, I'd prefer some of the other cakes on offer, such as their moist carrot cake or the incredibly rich mud cake. Apparently, they do decent coffees here as well - but I'd rather just grab take away because there are more pleasant cafes around if you want to sit down for a longer break...