I feel so bad to give this place such a poor rating, but I am basing it solely on my experience there, as well as the experience of those with me.
Never have I been so disappointed in a place as I have been with this one. The decor and sound of everything on the menu was just outstanding. I was visiting my boyfriend's family in Wales when they suggested us go here for a late lunch. They said that the customer service was a bit lousy as the place tries to be hipsterish (is bad customer service associated with hipsters!? I don't know but hellllllll naw if so), but that the food and atmosphere was pretty on point.
We arrived there with a fairly large group and found our way upstairs to sit. The decor of the place was quirky and rather cool, in my opinion. I also loved the large wooden tables.
The restaurant is swarming with children and super loud music. The children are obviously nothing to complain about (as I was with children at the time), but the music was soooo loud. We were sat in a corner near a speaker, but it was still unmanageable when we initially sat at another table initially. I couldn't even hear those around me speak.
We were told that Fino had great burgers. I opted for a falafel and butternut squash burger and my boyfriend opted for the Hero burger. The falafel burger (which comes on a brioche bun) also comes with a tomato and red pepper chutney, wood roasted peppers, red onions, a side of slaw, french fries, and halloumi and ruccola on the burger. Nothing was that tasty. The falafel itself was super dry and overly sweet. The chutney tasted way too sweet and almost more like a jam instead of a balanced out chutney. The halloumi was okay but not enough of it. The fries were alright, but I wish we had been given a menu option instead of fries. And the slaw was just terrible. Pickle that stuff guys! Or something! It was really lousy. The brioche bun (which, too, was dry) was too sweet for this sweet of a dish. My boyfriend will review his burger (which he thought was awful) on another review. His mother ordered a salmon fish cake and was extremely disappointed, as well. She said it was overly dry and the poached egg on top was way overdone.
One of my bigger complaints about this place is that it tries to be innovative and 'hip', yet has the crappiest beer selection of nearly any place I have ever been. Not many craft beers or even Welsh beers. I ordered a Cruiser Atlantic Pale Ale. It was alright, but more choices (AND NOT PERONI) would have been pretty amazing.
I'm certainly not going to be heading back here next time I'm in Cardiff. The menu and place has so much potential. And given the ratings on Yelp, it seems as though most people don't mind the food. It just wasn't my cup of tea. read more