Our experience here was bizarre. We were seated and waited a little while. A waitress came by for…read moreour drink order but couldn't answer even the simplest of questions about the menu (like: "What's the soup of the day?"). This wasn't a language problem, but a knowledge problem. After several failed attempts, a better waiter came by. We gave our order. A little while later, he came back and said the chef would not accept our order because it was "too confusing" for the cooks. We had asked for two chicken quesadillas and a shrimp quesadilla without the veggies. THAT was too confusing? The excuse was the restaurant was so busy -- yet not even 1/3 the tables were in use. The waiter was nice enough and said he'd understand if we left (which we did) but this has to be the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard.

This is a wonderful addition to the Red Dragon Centre. My partner loves milkshakes and we both love…read moresteak so we thought we'd give it a try. We were not disappointed! There's a great menu and the food is really good. You can make your own milkshake and they are much better than others I've tried from the many shake bars that have become trendy in the last few years. These are more than just a chocolate bar blended into a glass of milk; these are actually full of flavour and great value for money. If milkshakes aren't your thing, they do normal drinks and some lovely smoothies and mocktails. The food is good and there's so much of it! Really big portions and tonnes of chips - it's fantastic value. Because it was lunch time and it wasn't too busy, we sat out the front on some wonderfully funky seats. On further exploration of the restaurant, there's a much more intimate section towards the back. The whole restaurant is beautifully decorated and even the toilets are fancy! It's definitely going to become a regular part of our trips to the cinema. Highly recommended.

The chicken in this place is TERIBLE!!The chicken here is is bad that i…read moreI almost vomited!

They've moved from this location but they still deliver pretty fast. I have had a fried chicken…read moreaddiction for years and when I moved to Wales in 2016 I struggled to find something as good as the Favorite Chicken and Morley experiences I had in London...until I found Chicken House. I find KFC supply chicken that is tiny and dry but Chicken House give a generous size that's succulent every time. KFC give chips like they're having a supply issue and Chicken House give enough chips that could feed a family of four. But that isn't a complaint. The chips are amazing and I believe the chicken shops around never supply good in both chicken and chips - except this place. I have lost count how many times I have ordered from this place but every time they're quick to deliver and the food is always spot on. They once made an error with drinks and to apologise they came by with my correct drink and extras for free. Also if you love spicy their spicy wings are mega spicy. I hope they never go out of business.

What is it with stupid restaurant signs that feel the need to have classy hand written logos. I…read moreseriously thought this place was called Spice Riot until I looked it up online. It was probably way I went. Looking for surly spices going around burning people and collecting ASBO's sounded like a good night out if I'm being honest. Much to my dismay it was far more civilised than that and found it to be a Thai restaurant too. I like Thai as I'm newish to it and am still finding myself ordering whatever looks good rather than going for a usual dish I like. Beef with hot thai bean sauce was my weapon of choice and I wasn't disappointed. There was a small Spicy riot in my mouth, but nothing I couldn't handle and found it very tasty indeed. The staff were polite and served as well, nothing out of the blue though. It did take a little longer than I would of liked but that may of been due to the large number of bodies that were taking up my air and my time, so it was understandable.

Within a samosas throw of the Red Dragon Centre's other Asian all-you-can-eat buffet, the Spice…read moreRoute caters to those who prefer more Indian based cuisine. The interior is modern and very well furnished. Not a typical, authentic setting for this kind of cuisine, it's still pleasant enough and certainly kept clean and in good condition. The staff here are friendly enough, although given the nature of buffet dining, there's pretty much very little they have to do. Staff are keen to offer refills on drinks, but this isn't entirely innocent. With the quite cheap prices on buffet food, the drinks are a little bit more expensive and carry a bit of a premium. The food is pretty average. That's an honest opinion. Really don't think it's anything to write home about, and i'd hardly call it authentic and flavoursome. The poor quality of the food is detrimental to the whole experience quite significantly. After all, you do go out to eat the food, not take in the surroundings.

Granted you probably wouldn't think to visit an Indian Restaurant for breakfast yet the Fire Toast…read moreBacon Naan and Bombay Porridge at the Bombay Cafe is enough to make most question their Bran Flakes. First opened in 1953 and momentarily closed in the 1980's. The Bombay Cafe has since been (re-)opened by the descended family of the owner of Wales' first Indian restaurant. Located just a short walk from Mermaid Quay, The Bombay Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner - they also offer a rather unique Tiffin takeaway. (Served in a traditional Indian style Tupperware). On my first and last visit I opted to try something new and ordered the Shahi Thali, a mild Shahi chicken korma in a slow braised onion sauce, complemented with a (slightly random) egg. Now if like me you are fussy when it comes to chicken bones this probably wouldn't be the best dish to order. *Sadly the fact it's served on the bone isn't mentioned on the menu. I felt as though I spent the majority of my meal dissecting said chicken by which point the rest of my food had gone cold *sad music goes here* Would give The Bombay Cafe a second chance - probably for breakfast over dinner!

From the owner: The Bombay brings the true Indian café experience to Cardiff. A place where you can sip Chai, take…read moretime over breakfast, spend time with family or catch up with some work over coffee and a snack.

Medina Food Store is one of several convenience stores competing for the local business in the…read moreimmediate area. It stocks all of the usual staples like milk, bread, confection and soft drinks, as well as a good selection of inexpensive spices alongside the pulses and grains. And of course, there are the usual jars and cans, as well as an unfeasibly large selection of dates! More quirky items, not often seen in this kind of store, include large bags of BBQ charcoal stacked by the door, and a row of glittering shisha pipes racked up on the top shelf closest to the counter. They used to sell Halal meat from the chilled counter at the back of the shop. Sadly, these days this is filled with Arabian-style cakes and confection, as it wasn't feasible to continue stocking it. With the main serving counter at the front of the store, and the chilled counter at the rear, it meant that two people had to be consistently present, which just wasn't economically viable. There was insufficient trade to make this option workable. They tried operating both counters with only one member of staff, but shop-lifting became such a big issue they have been forced to suspend meat sales until they can find a Halal butcher to take the counter over as a separate concession. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the theft of meat is pretty common. It's a high-cost item that people have found increasingly difficult to afford as the recession grinds on. All meat retailers are suffering the same problem across they board; supermarkets and independent stores alike. Peshwan, who was serving when I called in recently, told me that things are looking up. The owner is talking to a butcher at the moment, and so the issue looks like it maybe resolved quite soon.

The Grange Fish Bar is the perfect place to grab a bag of lunchtime chips on a sunny day, you'll…read morethen want to cross the road to enjoy them at your leisure on a bench in Grange Gardens park. If you're not hungry, but the smell of chips calls you in like a siren to a sailor then their small chip butty, for only £1, may just offer a satisfying compromise. The menu has changed a bit in the two years since it was Mario's. Marios was run by an Italian family, but the new owners are just as lovely and the chips just as yummy. The Asian Glaswegian owner brothers also offer Halal pies and home made curry with chirpy chat thrown in for free.

I saw the glowing reviews and figured it must be good. The restaurant was crazy busy. We were…read moreseated very near our reservation time. I could tell it was a family establishment, and I enjoyed watching the family dynamics as we waited to order. There were several Middle Eastern families in the restaurant, so I knew the food must be good. It was nice watching families come together and eat. Some would go upstairs to the prayer room which I found to be a nice touch to the restaurant. We ordered Baba Ghanoush, Hummus with shawarma, and falafel as starters. They were all excellently made. For mains, we ordered the mixed grill for three and the chicken biryani. For dessert, we had coffee and baklava. I have eaten middle eastern food in many places: LA, New York, Dublin, London, and Dubai. This was the best I have ever had. Period. Bar none. Even though the wait to order may have initially caused me to rate the restaurant five stars, the food and the subsequent service made me rethink that. I did something I rarely do...I pulled the owner and head chef out of the back to give them my compliments. We will return every time we are in Cardiff. P.S. Cash only! But there is an ATM outside the door.

SO good! loved the atmosphere and the chicken was flavored really well. their secret sauce is also…read moreextremely good, be sure to ask for it.

A place of sheer opulence in comparison to the other businesses along this stretch of city road…read more This Middle eastern dining experience has to be one of my favorites, the complete atmosphere of the place transports you to the middle east with the lavish décor and traditional cooking. Stylish sophisticated design has gone into this renovated building with all the care and attention spent in transforming it into a masterful piece of interior design. The private seating gives your table a secluded feel and the service is pleasant and well worth the experience, additionally they are generous with the serving and extras. There is no service charge added, which makes the whole dining that more worth the trip. Food served in what I would imagine is Moroccan style tangine dishes makes the authenticity that more delightfully exciting, especially if you have never experienced this style of cuisine. I would recommend Burj Al Arab to anyone; I look forward to many repeat visits in the future.

Burj Al Arab, when literally translated from Arabic, reads 'Tower of the Arabs', and, somewhat…read moreunsurprisingly, has become a favoured name for businesses around the globe, (particularly hotels... with perhaps the most impressive of these being the Burj Al Arab in Dubai). It is fitting that there is a business of the same name on City Road. This area of Cardiff has a large Middle Eastern community, with Kurdish traders on the street outnumbering any other nationality. The Burj Al Arab on City Road is not a hotel however. It is a very elegant restaurant and coffee lounge that occupies a large property that looks like it used to be a pub. Unlike so many of the pubs in Cardiff today, this building is beautifully decorated in cream and brick red, with individual black canopies fanning out over the doors and windows. National flags of many of the Arab nations line a lintel that spans the width of the building beneath the upstairs windows. Pride of place is nevertheless reserved for the Welsh national flag that sits alongside a green ensign with an Arabic inscription. The food served here is clearly of Arabic origin, with tagines and couscous being the most dominantly featured items on the menu. Delicious!

Pretty good. The…read moredude working the night was pretty much ready to put his life down to make sure I got what I wanted. I was just hungry really late and this place was pretty close to where I was staying so I went for it.

like many others, i usually don't have the best things to say about westernized, panda express…read morestyle chinese food. but this place is actually way better than panda express -- they prepare the meal on a wok in front of you, so you know what you're getting is piping hot and fresh. i got the duck breast which was so tender, juicy, and actually had A LOT of substance. the selection of vegetables is pretty standard for "chinese" cuisine, but still really good. that being said, i think there's a bit too much sauce - pretty salty and needed a lot of water lol

There's few things I like more than a glass of mulled wine. And so it was with a considerable…read moredegree of regret that I left town last December with a bottle of the cheapest plonk money can buy, an orange, some nutmeg but no cinnamon. Fortunately, I decided to quickly check out this food store on my way back. I can now say with confidence that this is the place to get your herbs and spices, for it only stocks the most flavoursome seasonings at prices far more realistic than your average supermarket's. My cinnamon was big and uneven. With some huge sticks and some tiny and all ranging from a woody brown to a powdery orange, this looked like it had come from a real plant. The spice was reasonably priced, too, with a large bag of this rustic looking stuff for just under two quid. Since then, I've been back to Al-Sheemal for various products. The parsley I asked for at the back of the store was given to me in a generous bunch, and the place is excellent both for food cupboard stables and middle-Eastern specialities. The staff certainly know what they're selling and are always more than happy to help so there is no need to be shy if you haven't the foggiest what anything is or does. What they didn't tell me, though, is no not rely exclusively on colour when choosing which spices to use. For the record, girls and boys, NEVER put cumin in wine. URBAN CHALLENGE: Try a new seasoning