A few weeks back I visited Gina’s Cafe. Located on the corner of the High Street opposite the castle, with it’s colourful wallpaper and mishmash of furniture, it’s a hippy oasis in the grey city centre.
Gina’s Indian inspired street food menu comprises of filled chapatis, wraps and dosas along with a diverse drink selection which includes cardamom spiced chai karak, arabe coffee and ginger milk.
I ordered a cup of teh tarik (£1.50). Strong, hyper-creamy and hyper-sweet it was a cracking example of the hot milk tea drink which is especially popular in Malaysia.
A Masala Dosa was great value for £3.50. The whopping crisp pancake was filled with mild potato curry which would have benefited from a little more spicing. Accompanying perky tomato chutney and a deeply spiced lentil sambal brought the dish to life.
On it’s own the masala dosa would have been sufficient for lunch. Of course, I ordered more.
A pair of weeny filled chapatis represented more dubious value for money at £2.70 & £2.50 respectively for a keema and a chicken variety.
The hot, crisp, flaky and buttery bread was superb and so was the heavily spiced lamb mince filling. However, the chicken variety was dry and bland and crying out for a good glug from a bottle of chilli sauce found on the table.
I enjoyed Gina’s Cafe. It’s unlike anywhere else in the city centre and I’d definitely go back for a teh tarik and a Masala Dosa.
The Details:
Address - Gina's Cafe, 34 High Street, Cardiff CF10 1PU
Web - https://www.facebook.com/ginascafe/
Telephone - 07790 744444
I've been twice and had the Dosa both times, which are very nice, although they were having a bit of a mare the last time (this week) possibly down to staff shortages, as three different customers had the wrong food...or maybe thought they'd be getting something different!
ReplyDeleteSlightly cheeky question, but I'm a co-organiser of an un-conference that comes to Cardiff next month, and its become a tradition that some of the 'delegates' meet for a curry the night before, and I've been given the task of finding a place.
I not a massive curry fan, and live in Canton, and from reading your reviews it sounds like City Road area is where it's at. Bearing in mind that it's a pre-drinks meal (not and end of the night everyone half-cut jobby) and there could be around 30 of us, can you recommend a tidy* place?
*Tidy in the Welsh sense, but anywhere that's neat and tidy is also a bonus.
@Rhys - Oh dear, hope the issues with service at Gina's were a one off blip.
DeleteIn terms of curry places, if you're looking for something a little bit posh then I'd really recommend Mint & Mustard on Whitchurch Road or Purple Poppadom on Cowbridge Road East. Both are high end Southern Indian restaurants.
If you're looking for something cheaper then I'd recommend Kumar's on City Road. Excellent Keralan cooking and it's BYOB. But, the spicing can be a bit erratic and the service a bit flaky as it's only one woman who does front of house.
Other good options are Chai Street (Indian street food on Cowbridge Road East), Chutney Roti (Good run of the mill curry house on Whitchurch Road with some interesting regional options) and I've also heard good things about Dill Jeera in Llandaff.
Hope that's a help!
Ed
Cheers for that. The pics on the Kumar's review have made me mega hungry, and I like the BYOB option.
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