Best restaurants in Cardiff

Asador 44

One of the pioneers of auténtico Spanish food in the UK, 44 Group opened its first Cardiff venue, Bar 44, opposite the Principality Stadium, a decade ago. Its Iberian aesthetics dovetail with vaulted brick ceilings to create a delicious tapas spot. Nearby, Asador 44 delves into Spanish live-fire cooking traditions in dishes of charcoal grilled hake with jamón, beans and herbs or sharing steaks of older Spanish ex-dairy cattle beef – much prized in the Basque Country. grupo44.co.uk

Dusty's

Up in suburban north Cardiff, scene legend Dusty’s is using its wood-fired oven to not just ace pork and fennel or ’nduja pizzas but to roast, smoke and then fry its Kindle potatoes, served with garlic, BBQ or spicy mayo dips. Worth a detour. dustyspizza.co.uk

Heaneys

Stylish Pontcanna address – which includes the wine bar, Uisce – where chef Tommy Heaney serves well-executed food in several modes, from Sunday lunch to cutting-edge tasting menus. Seasonally driven (and using herbs, edible flowers and vegetables from its on-site garden), Heaneys’ tasting menu dishes might range from beef fat cooked scallop, ginger dashi, brown butter and truffle, to barbecued Welsh lamb with goat’s curd and asparagus. heaneyscardiff.co.uk

Purple Poppadom

Kerala-born chef Anand George is a Cardiff legend. For almost two decades his food has wowed fans with its deft, confident spicing and vivid flavours. Head to the modish Purple Poppadom for strong takes on the classics (rogan josh, Alleppey prawn curry) or, perhaps, Anand’s signature sea bass served on curry leaf mash in a mango, ginger and coconut sauce. purplepoppadom.com

Brother Thai

Andrew Chongsathien’s buzzy Brother Thai is much-loved for its Thai fried chicken, crispy mushroom laab and, in particular, its Thai-style rotis, served with various toppings. Try the sticky beef version, in which the beef is wok-fried with a secret combo of zippy sauces. Plenty of meatfree dishes, too. brotherthai.co.uk

Lahmacun

Seasonal supper club where married couple, chef Lucas and Sophie Wootten, combine their connections to the Middle East and Lucas’s restaurant experience (Café Murano, Quality Chophouse) to create modern dishes inspired by that region. Smoke-kissed, live-fire slow roasting of, say, baby aubergines, merguez-stuffed Welsh lamb or Pembrokeshire oysters with zhoug, is prominent. Lahmacun also serves its eponymous topped flatbreads and baking at Cardiff Farmers’ Markets. Other roving pop-ups to look out for include Keralan Karavan, Hench Burger and steak specialist, Fire & Flank. The latter can be found at street food hubs, Tiger Yard and, until March 2025, Sticky Fingers. @lahmacuncardiff

Matsudai Ramen

Early in 2018, self-taught chef James Chant, then working in the music industry, set off on a journey into the complexities of ramen that would see him emerge as an acclaimed custodian of the dish. His Matsudai restaurant is manna for devotees seeking deeply flavoured, soul-stirring bowls of tonkotsu pork or shoyu (meaning soy sauce flavoured) chicken and seafood broth. matsudai.co.uk

Ember at No 5

This Pontcanna collab by chefs Tommy Heaney (see Heaneys) and Dave Killick, previously head chef at acclaimed dining pub, The Heathcock, has Cardiff foodies abuzz. Purposeful simplicity is Ember’s vibe, in the interior’s stylish, neutral tones, its focus on artisan skills (homemade breads, charcuterie, pastas) and across a menu which, broadly, applies an Italian sensibility to British produce in dishes of lemon sole, fennel and sobrasada or Penclawdd cockle linguine, anchovy and chilli. embercardiff.co.uk

Cardiff Market

There are food businesses within Cardiff’s historic indoor market (E Ashton fishmonger, butcher JT Morgan) that have been trading since the 19th century. Equally, this Grade II listed building platforms exciting new talent, its precincts punctuated by street food kitchens including The Bearded Taco, The Real Ting, Pierogi, Bao Selecta and Tukka Tuk, an Indian street food project by Anand George of Purple Poppadom. @cardiffmarket1891

Foodie experiences in Cardiff

Cardiff Farmers’ Markets

Across three weekly markets around Cardiff – plus a term-time monthly at Cardiff Met’s Llandaff Campus – over 100 growers, farmers and artisans retail via CFM. Some familiar Cardiff names (Pettigrew Bakeries, British cheese shop Ty Caws) are interspersed with visiting producers of, for example, organic vegetables or rare-breed meats. There is plenty to eat as you browse, from Greek baking at Sofia’s Pastries to Mami Maggie’s West African dishes. riversidemarket.org.uk

Vale Food Trail, Vale of Glamorgan

Between May 26-June 4, the third annual Vale Food Trail will explore farming and sustainability in events with food producers in the Vale of Glamorgan, a rural and coastal area south-west of Cardiff. But you can get a taste of the Vale at other times, too. For example, Slade Farm offers various bookable tours and experience days, while Lucy George’s Peterston Tea, an estate growing and making fine teas, runs bush-to-cup farm tours and tasting events in spring and summer. Lucy also runs workshops where tea lovers learn how to pick, process and make teas. valefoodtrail.com

Glyndwr Vineyard, Llanblethian, Cowbridge

For four decades, Glyndwr has been in the vanguard of Welsh wine’s remarkable growth. From March to December, visitors can explore how the Norris family tends its low-intervention vineyard and makes wine (and ciders from its neighbouring orchards) during two-hour tours which take in several glasses of Glyndwr wines and a two-course meal. glyndwrvineyard.co.uk

Foodie neighbourhoods in Cardiff

Pontanna and Canton

A short hop from Cardiff Central Station, handsome inner suburb, Pontcanna, is a distinctive enclave of Victorian villas and splendid parklands which, with neighbouring Canton, is home to an easily navigable cluster of indie boutiques, cultural hubs (most notably, Chapter Arts Centre) and on-point food venues. In Gorse, Heaneys and Thomas, some of Cardiff’s best restaurants share adjacent Pontcanna streets. But options go deeper than fine dining. The excellent bakery-cafés, Ground and Scandi-owned Brød, for example, offer casual victuals in various forms. Café and bar, Milkwood, serves “the best brunch in Cardiff,” enthuses chef Leyli Homayoonfar, owner of the South Walian Mexican street food brand, Bab Haus. Over at Kings Road Yard, you will find the Pipes brewery, The Wardrobe Coffee Shop, Tom’s wood-fired pizza and, among other events, a weekly Saturday produce market. Continue shopping at the discerning Al Ponte Deli or The Bottle Shop, before combining the retail therapy with drinks at Canton’s Corp Market (check wine shop Vin Van Cymru and Khione Sicilian deli) or Crafty Devil Brewing’s Cellar tap bar and shop. Hungry again? Head to Ffwrnes’s NY slice inspired spin-off, West Pizza.

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