Cafe Citta is a TINY little restaurant tucked away and is very inconspicuous. If you didn't do…read moreextensive foodie research, you might end up missing it because from the outside it looks unimpressive. However, I highly recommend you make an effort to go because if you're looking for authentic Italian food in Cardiff, Cafe Citta should definitely be on your to-do list! ~ Atmosphere: It's a VERY TINY little restaurant with barely any walking space. The tables are small and cramped so if you are coming with any more than 3 people I highly recommend you make a booking well in advance. However, despite being small the decor is really charming. It felt more like going into someone's living room than an actual restaurant! There were flowers are each table with lovely wooden tables whose table legs were decorated in a very ornate style, and cool paintings on the wall as well! ~ Customer Service: Excellent, couldn't get any better. Not only were the staff friendly, but they were extremely attentive as well and kept ensuring that our table was nicely cleared without us even having to say anything! ~ Food: The food was excellent. As a starter we had the Caprese which was fresh buffalo mozzarella with a lovely sauce and fresh tomatoes. The mozzarella was terrific and really tasted very fresh. We also ordered the Polenta al Ragu and the bolognese sauce that accompanied the polenta was fantastic! For a main, I ordered the Pollo alla Romana which was a whole chicken breast cooked with sage, parma ham, and a side of potatoes and salad. We also had a garlic pizza to share. They gave us chilli oil and parmesan on the side for extra seasoning. Everything was great! I'm normally not too enthusiastic about ordering chicken breast at a restaurant but it was extremely juicy - I didn't know chicken breast could be that tender! There were great flavours all around. The only negative is that I recommend you pass on the garlic pizza. It was pretty bland and needed a heft amount of chilli oil and parmesan to save it. --- Overall, I highly recommend Cafe Citta. Next time, I would try one of their pasta dishes as my partner raved about his Tagliatelle Carbonara!

First time in Cardiff. Discovered Cafe Citta, but there are only 16 Yelp reviews for Cafe Citta,…read moreshocking. It's a fabulously popular and busy place that serves fantastic food! The place was packed and bustling. It's a small place full of lively diners. WOW, the four of us ordered different things and we loved all of it! I chose the seafood pasta, hubby ordered the carbonara and our friends ordered the lasagna. For starters we had a garlic pizza and the polenta with bolognese. Oh, every bite of dinner was delicious and I wanted it to be a never-ending meal. We love finding fantastic Italian food when we travel and we succeeded! Service from the entire staff was genuinely kind and caring! Kudos to Cafe Citta and the entire staff and chefs! Highly recommend!

La Boheme is my favourite restaurant in Cardiff, it's a place that's easily missed if you didn't…read moreknow it was there. I recently returned to the restaurant after a 4 year hiatus relieved that the big redevelopment in town had not put it out of business. The value for money on the lunch menu is outstanding at £9.95 for a two course meal. I had the bruschetta for the starter and the pork main course after which I was completely stuffed. The staff are always very friendly and help make one of the best places to eat in Cardiff.

I lied when I said to myself I'm going to avoid Italian places for while. Having visited what feels…read morelike the a hundred different ones in the last year I really wasn't looking forward to being dragged here by the lovely. The decor of the place felt very old fashioned and traditional, I mean that positively by the way. We were led to our table and treated very well through out our evening in the restaurant. In fact, I have to say it's one of the better places I have visited for customer service and was very impressed. Food was good, not great. I had a sirloin steak with Garlic, it was a bit overly strong and overwhelming. It also stopped my lovely from kissing me for the next three days. Not cool. Prices generally are the same as any other Italian I've been too. Mains starting at around a tenner and then raising to not much more than £16. All in all I have to say it put my faith back into Italian places a little bit, good work.

I visited recently with a friend looking for a quick bite to eat near Cardiff Central railway…read morestation, as we were both arriving and leaving by train. It's in the same block as John Lewis and opposite the Marriott Hotel. The décor is done pretty well: one side has a wall of glass (as do all the premises here) but they've softened it with their shop, selling pasta, meringues etc at the entrance area, which is all prettily done in pastels. Inside, the main restaurant is spacious, with high ceilings, and the overall minimalist effect is softened with wood. So far so good. We both had mushroom bruschetta to start, followed by Penne Gardiniera and Spaghetti Carbonara, and we went for soft drinks as it was a bit early in the evening to be drinking (I'm getting to that sort of age). The bruschetta was fine - toasted bread, with a mixture of sautéed mushrooms, spinach, garlic, and quite a lot of chilli. This was quite tasty, and not too heavy, but some might find it a bit spicy. I've had their Penne Giardiniera in other branches before, which has finely sliced courgettes, chilli flakes, garlic, cheese and fried spinach balls. The latter taste quite salty, but remind me of my Mum's stuffing balls (which is why I'm fond of it). They'd overcooked the courgettes a bit, but the taste was nice. My friend's Carbonara was less successful. This version lacks the creamy sauce one normally associates with carbonara, and is made simply with eggs, Grana Padano cheese, guanciale (pork cheek lardons), and seasoned with black pepper. Arguably, this makes it more authentic, which would be fine, except the guanciale were cooked to a dark brown colour and were so hard, my friend struggled to eat them. He also found it rather tasteless - hence losing a star. Service was fine - efficient rather than friendly - and the bill came to £43 including a tip. I don't think I'd rush back on that experience, as there are other places in the area to try next time.

As someone who has been a massive fan of Carluccio's, I was horrified to discover yesterday that…read moreCarluccio's had already been open for three weeks without my knowledge (I'm meant to be the Cardiff insider after all)! The Cardiff Carluccio's is located by the new library on the Hayes, and together with its neighbours Gourmet Burger kitchen and Wagamama, turns a once downtrodden area of Cardiff into a buzzing metropolitan spot. The moment I entered Carluccios I was greeted by a friendly Italian waitress who was more than happy to answer my many questions about the restaurant, and seemed as excited as me that Cardiff finally has a Carluccio's. For those unfamiliar with this Café, Carluccio's specialies in good Italian food such as pasta, Panini's, salads, and seafood at not too high a price. The atmosphere is relaxed but still retains a touch of class, and I was pleased to see that the Cardiff branch already appears to be quite popular. I had Pasta Con Funghi, and was surprised to find it to be even more delicious than when I last ate it at their South Kensington café (Cardiff obviously has a very good chef). The cafe isn't particularly large, but neither is it too small, and there are tables outside which I imagine will become increasingly popular as summer approaches. If you unfortunately don't have time to sit and eat, there is a takeaway option for Panini's, cakes, coffee and croissants (these in particular are very yummy). What's more there is a small shop, where you can purchase cookbooks, oils, Italian biscuits, and the most incredible pasta (I usually mass buy it when in London, so this is very handy for me). In addition to this you can also buy fresh cheeses, oils, fish, breads and many other deli items (does this place get better?).

Agree completely with WRU; Casanova is a true hidden gem that delights. Me and two friends went on…read morea whim one night around nine o clock and had a blast. The food was incredible. I had Tuna Carpaccio to start (delicious) followed by the steak dish (medium rare steak & celeriac on one side of the plate with a little tower of melt-in-the-mouth braised beef stacked on sweet red cabbage on the other side of the plate - really, reeeeeeeally good). My friends opted for some of the vegetarian dishes and said that they were delicious (especially the mushroom risotto with truffle oil). Usually, after two courses, dessert would be out of the question, but the food was too good to resist, so we shared profiteroles, chocolate fondant and tiramisu with even sampled the dessert wines. All were superb. The bottle of red that we chose (after some very helpful advice from our waiter; a wonderfully funny guy who spoke seven languages!) was fantastic. Smooth and mellow; exactly what we were after. And then, towards the end of the night, our charming waiter brought round the other bottle of wine we were fancying and gave everyone upstairs a free glass to try! What a lovely touch. The food was fantastic, the staff were friendly and professional and very helpful, the wine was great and the bill didn't break the bank. All three of us had a starter, main and dessert and shared a bottle of wine and it cost us £35 each. I'd gladly pay that again (and will, for I intend to visit Casanova again and again and again until i've exhausted the menu!).

Absolutely wonderful in every aspect: initial greeting to a great red wine list at realistic costs…read more Our first visit to Wales and Cardiff and Yelp helped us find this hidden treasure. It is certainly well worth finding. An Italian restaurant with amazing Welch lamb dishes as well as Italian prepared fish and exquisitely prepared pasta. We truly loved this small cuisine. Very happy!

Beautifully located on the Penarth seafront, this restaurant is also surrounded by lovely gardens,…read moreproviding an almost perfect setting. With both indoor and outdoor seating, this is recommendable all year round, despite poor weather likely to dampen the views and opportunity to sit outside. The interior is designed very nicely, with a lovely atmosphere embracing diners upon entry. Once seated at the very well presented tables, the menu provides a mouth-watering selection of variations on British classics. Almost just from reading the menu, the expectation of high quality food is hard to play down. Eating at either breakfast, lunch or during the evening, the menu should provide something for everyone. The starters are presented beautifully, as are the main meals. The food is definitely freshly prepared and cooked, which makes a real difference to the quality of ones meal. In the evening there are also a nice selection of desserts, as well as a well-stocked bar providing alcoholic and non-alocholic drinks.

Nice location and menu choice. Food didn't 100% match the description on the menu but was still…read morefresh and good tasting. Would have been 4 stars if the food was a bit cheaper.

Wonderful food and service. Great decor…read more The plain pasta with tomato spice sauce was excellent. My vegetarian daughter loved it. Everything we had was very very good and fresh.

I came here based on the other Yelp reviews and I was not disappointed. I was dining alone this…read moreevening as was given a nice table by the friendly waitress who was just the right level of attentive. I ordered from the pre-theatre menu which is an absolute bargain. I had the Italian sausage to start, which came fairly quickly and was not only very pretty on the plate but also delicious! For my main I had the pork loin with a mushroom cream sauce - again delicious and perfectly seasoned. It was thin slices of loin as expected, with plenty of mushrooms in the sauce. My only regret is that I didn't come here last time I was in Cardiff!

Zio Peppino is yet another Italian restaurant in Cardiff. There must be hundreds of them all told!…read moreOkay, so that's an exaggeration... but I bet they are not far off numbering somewhere near the triple figure mark! This one is a good one. It is reasonably priced, with specials at around £8.00, and the food is authentic, made with fresh ingredients and care. Lunches are even cheaper, and will cost you about the same, but with a starter included. All the Italian favourites are available including pasta and pizza, and of course, Peroni beer, but there a quite a few items on their extensive menu that you won't see at too many other restaurants, making the place that little bit more special. Unfortunately they share the same penchant for poor quality mosaics, just like Puccini a little further down the road, but as with their competitor, all is forgiven! I would much rather this individual flair and attention to detail than the mass produced mediocrity, that is banal in the extreme, and, replicated with tedious regularity at all of the restaurant chain outlets across the globe! Ten points for trying!

An overlooked Italian restaurant for to long, the blown up images outside over do the exact…read morecharacter of the place. While there are a lot of Italian restaurants in the city Zio Peppino is certainly the most reasonable on price. Where else can you get a starter and main course for £7.95 and a main for £5.95 the a la carte menu offers a dizzying choice of other traditional meals that are still thrifty. Although the styling outside makes it look like a casino this authentic Italian will fill you for less with tasty bites. Check out the albany gallery next door before your meal and feel slightly more cultured for the experience.

I seem to be the only person whose had a bad experience at the Bellini's in Cardiff Bay so I was…read morereally hoping I'd be able to be possessive about this one. Unfortunately adding the word Express to the name doesn't mean the food will come any faster, in fact mine took ages!

Went there again this Sunday and I want to say a big thank you to Marcello our waiter. He really…read moremade us all laugh and made the meal even more enjoyable. This is how service should be.