Fast Food/Snacks/Takeaways, Cardiff

The restaurant is in the food court at St David's Mall. It is bright and airy and can be very busy. There is quite a large choice of fillings available .
When the restaurant is busy, the service is not at its most efficient though.

Favorite Dish: Tuna with mayonnaise is always safe and tasty

One morning we went down to Cardiff Bay. There is an area called Mermaid Quay which is full of dining spots, from restaurants to bars, pizzerias or cafes We just wanted a coffee before we explore the bay so we preferred the small café Coffee Mania, it was great next to the window with view of the water front, I guess during the summer months everyone will want to get a seat outside of course.

The decoration is modern but the menu is typical, they have danish pastries & croissants (from 95p), bacon & sausage rolls(from £2.25), toast, paninis(£3.95), soup of the day(£3.75), jacket potatoes(£4.70), sandwiches & salads, cakes & pastries

For 2 coffees, a big cookie(or something like that) and a sandwich (which was very good) we paid £7.10. The service was typical, the prices good and they even have some vouchers on their site for discounts!

It is open Monday to Saturday 8.00-22.30

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If you travel with low budget you can always visit Caroline street in the city center (at the bottom end of St Mary street).

This small alley is full of fast food options, kebap, fish n chips, chinese etc It's very helpful due to its location near Brewery quarter

Alternative (especially during the day) you can have some nice sandwiches at Greggs bakery or other similar places. And yes, there are McDonalds in Cardiff too...

The Cornish Bakehouse is prominently situated on a corner of Church Street right in the City Centre, surrounded by three Italian restaurants. However, the Bakehouse sells fast food.....with a difference. People queue in the rain to purchase the delectable Cornish pasties made on the premises and eaten by many, piping hot, in the street in the rain:-)

Favorite Dish: For those of you who don't know what a Cornish Pastie is, it's like a mini Calzone pizza but made with flaky pastry and filled with various different types of fillling.

For those of you who aren't too sure which pizza is the Calzone, it's the one cut like a traditional circular pizza but folded in half with all the delicious filling sealed inside.

I ordered one pasty filled with lamb meat and potato, and another filled with corned beef hash (i.e. mashed potato and corned beef combined).

Updating this tip, I returned to Cardiff in February 2008 and made a sneak trip to this yummy takeaway, ordering the beef and stilton this time. It's the nicest one yet!!!

Further updating, my pasty longing has dwindled a bit after my 2011 visit. Perhaps it's the recession, but they have started using way too much potatoe and way too little meat. I hope it's just a passing phase......

At about two pounds each they make a very mouth wateringly tasty quick meal, they are very filling, and great value for money.

This cafe in Cardiff Central station is very handy. I had arrived from London and it was past lunchtime, so I decided to sit and have a bite before proceding. The food is freshly prepared sandwiches, and hot or cold drinks.
There were tables and also couches for people to relax.
The toilets were clean.

Favorite Dish: I had tuna and mayonnaise sandwich and a cup of hot chocolate. Both were good and quite filling.

['Bwyty Allan' - Food Outside (I think)}

Another Cardiff institution - Hayes Island Snack Bar. Originally when it opened in 1911 it was a parcel office. It is now reborn as a rather quaint wooden cafe. The Snack Bar was under threat of closure several years ago, but instead the Council saw sense and preserved it. Now it serves a full range of snacks and hot food, cheaply and conveniently.

Seating is outside in the fresh air. This is OK most of the time - there is lots going on to watch, buses, shoppers and... ..erm... more shoppers, tourists and taxis.

There used to be a problem with pidgeons in the trees - make sure to look above your head and make sure one of these flying rats isn't aligning its sphincta over your repast.

Fortunately, during the wetter months of the year a covered awning is available for shelter - very sensible - this is not the South of France!!!

There are some stylish old public toilets in the same area. Check the wind direction before you choose your seat because sometimes the sweet smell of urine can come wafting over from the gents :-)))

The centre of Cardiff's fast-food world is still Caroline Street. Evreyone seens to visit there after the pubs and clubs close, to fill their tummy's before catching a taxi home.

There are two traditional 'fish'n'chip' take-aways, several pizza outlets and kebab shops.

The local council hates it and would like to see the end of it. In 2003 the trendy new Brewery Quarter opened next door and in their opinion Caroline Street spoils the view!! In 2004 a local council worker managed to find a rat fast asleep in a kebab shop window. It very conveniently obliged to stay asleep while the worker took photos for the local newspaper. If you are the second unlucky person to find a rat, I would recommend PLENTY of chilli sauce... :-))

But there are plenty more reasons to continue visiting there!!! Lots of people still want cheap take-away food.

I must admit I love having a good meal in a good restaurant , but if there isn't much time, & not enough money (for having bought lots of gifts)...there's no other chance but to eat on the hoof!

Favorite Dish: Double cheese burger with bacon and chips and Pepperoni Pizza!! To drink: Fosters, Guinness or a cream Ale!!!

The Hayes has been serving greasy bacon rolls and styrofoam cups of tea to labourers, tramps, drunks, and anyone else, young and old, for as long as I can remember. There's certainly a mixed clientele and it can be quite an interesting place to sit and watch the world pass by (as long as it's not raining!)

Believe it or not the place has been 'yuppified' a few years back - it's now much smarter and with a far more extensive menu than in the past. Although tell that to the man with the stray dogs who stinks of urine! Along with some of the unfriendliest and miserable staff in the world, this is a uniquely Cardiff kind of place! Despite all that it's well worth a visit at least once.

Favorite Dish: The food is actually pretty good at times - best bet is an early morning breakfast roll of bacon, egg, mushroom and sausage all stuffed into a bread roll, for about 2 pounds.

As you step out clutching your chips you see the chip bags rolling past and think of all those corny westerns you've seen.

The alley is awash with late night drunks stranded in the strange time between chucking out time from the clubs and being able to flag down a taxi.

Favorite Dish: The speciality is chicken curry off the bone but I tend to stick with the old Peters pies and chips.