Restaurant-Guide.com
hand picked restaurants

Why is it that many Chinese restaurants have such a strong reputation for lunch? Dunno, I hear you say, you're supposed to be telling us. Well, I have long held that Sunday lunch is due for a comeback but probably in a different form, and that form could learn much from the Chinese pattern.

First, all sense of the passage of time must be banished. If your guests turn up an hour late, forget it, no problem. You want a large meal, it's all there; you want to emulate tapas, fine - go for the dim sum and have a prolonged nibble-fest. As with the food so with the drink, let them be long and languorous, undemanding but satisfying.

Large numbers of the Chinese population of Cardiff seem to feel exactly the same and you will find them at the well-named Happy Gathering every Sunday, and on other days of course, but possessed then with less of a sense of that well-loved Jamaican saying 'come soon'.

Every inch an Italian café with some pretensions to being a restaurant, mainly in the form of traditional dishes of the country such as vegetable antipasata, mozzarella ciabatta. Their pizzas are renowned and this must be one of the best places for coffee in Cardiff. The garden is a place for lost afternoons and an everlasting supply of the grappa, though the same could be said for the café on less balmy days when people-watching can be a mildly enervating occupation. If the people are boring there's always the pictures, large numbers of which, many in an idiom which some would be hard put to comprehend, adorn the walls.

Whilst the 42 Loch Fyne restaurants have a shared background there is a welcome degree of individuality encouraged throughout the group, which makes for customer interest. If you like wholesome, fresh and reliable seafood caught and reared under carefully controlled conditions, well presented in unfussy surroundings, and you enjoy being well looked after by pleasant staff, Loch Fyne is for you.

There is an increasing awareness of other food staples with an extended choice of meat dishes, but it is the original fare upon which their success was created that prevails. Loch Fyne kippers, a fine bouillabaisse, braden rost, kiln-roasted salmon fillet, and the toothsome oysters on ice, with a selection of accompaniments, all are to be found throughout the various restaurants, as well as Glen Fyne 21 day aged rib-eye steak and Scottish smoked venison. There is invariably a well-travelled wine list available which is sensible, both in content and prices.

Loch Fyne's greatest achievement has been to prove to a sceptical populace that chains or conglomerates can be made to work in the eating-out public's best interests.

Pizza Express remains a hugely popular bedrock of casual eating. Its popularity is testimony to the fact that across the country, they have restaurants where you will always be guaranteed a good nosh, with children's tastes being well catered for.

Pizza Express has gone even more Roman, and following the success of that particular example of listening to their public have introduced Romana pizzas, including the scorching Etna and the hearty Siciliana.

These pizzas are now thinner, bigger and crispier, and if that sounds like a marketing line, it is. However, unlike many such lines, this one is true, and their quality is always consistent, though cleverly they have still managed to retain a homemade feel to their pizzas.

As an alternative to pizza, try their pollo pesto - cavatappi pasta with torn chicken breast, mushrooms, red onions and mozzarella in a creamy gruyere, parmesan and pesto sauce and finished with grana padano - or the niçoise salad with mixed leaves, yellowfin tuna, free range egg, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes with olives, anchovies, capers and house dressing.

Many of the big chains have come a long way, and Pizza Express is certainly amongst them. One of the first to be quoted on the Stock Exchange - in 1993 - Pizza Express is not a franchise operation and retains tight control through its own staff.

Their wine list - though short - contains some surprisingly good offerings, especially their intense Australian Chardonnay, and a big, full-bodied Merlot from Cusumano, Sicilia.

An impressive Chinatown-style frontage outside with stylish Oriental décor inside charms guests dining at Phi-B's Chinese in Crwys Road. Drop in for a quick lunch or a leisurely evening meal, whether it is with family or friends. Polite attentive service adds to the pleasure of dining here. A takeaway menu is also available.

The eclectic menu offers a wide range at Phi-B's. Diners can look forward to starting well with such dishes as barbequed spare ribs, vegetable spring rolls, crispy seaweed, stir fried tofu, sweet and sour pork, crispy roast duck with pancakes and chicken in chilli and black bean sauce. Mains options include roast duck and pork in plum sauce, fried sliced beef in black pepper sauce, fried straw mushrooms with bamboo shoots and Singapore noodles and egg fried rice. For dessert, choose between toffee apple, lychees with vanilla ice cream and mango pudding.

A long established member of Cardiff's eating scene. Sister to the well known Le Monde restaurant, but with a more casual bistro feel. The terrace is a welcome addition to the restaurant in the summer and the new menu offers a range of salads, grills and snacks.

La France is alive and well in Wales. The basic idea is that you select your steak or items of seafood tastefully displayed on the slab and mosey across to the chef's department. They will either interpret your wishes or make suggestions of their own, and you can observe whilst they get on with the job. Dishes are therefore largely as you would have them.

A well-travelled wine list re-establishes the duties of the proprietor and house wine starts at £11.99. This is a good eating option at prices that almost anybody can afford; while the two course lunch at £7.95 is extremely good value.

The Quality Hotel Cardiff is ideally located for business or leisure with easy access to Cardiff City Centre, South Wales and the M4. It is the perfect base to explore the many Welsh Castles, gardens, museums or the wonderful coastline of Wales; and guests there feel welcomed by the friendliness of the local people.

The Hillside Restaurant at the Quality Hotel is a modern refuge that offers a range of well-prepared popular dishes in a relaxed informal atmosphere. You can make your choice from either the carvery that offers traditional dishes to suit every taste, or alternatively the à la carte menu, which gives diners a chance to sample international as well as local dishes.

Alternatively, enjoy a light snack after a hard days work in the 'Valley Bar' or sunken lounge.

The hotel is a well known venue for wedding receptions and civil wedding ceremonies.