Revolution Cardiff

This gem of a place is directly opposite the castle in the centre of Cardiff. Slightly off the beaten track unless you are into the club scene but for a delicious lunch well worth a visit.

Revolution is quite simply a bar that has tapped into the food market and boy have they tapped in. For the first time in a very long time I genuinly found it difficult to decide what to have from a wonderful variety on the menu.

As it was a light lunch for Mrs T and I we decided to forego the starters but they are very reasonably priced for example something as simple as dough balls (£3.25) up to Katsu King Prawns, that is deep fried in Japanese breadcrumbs (£5.25).

They have a wonderfully eclectic mix of main meals from burgers, which looked very nice on another table, traditional fish and chips or steak through to stonebake pizza which very nearly won me over just to find out what duck and hoi sin sauce on a pizza would taste like. I must say that I also fancied the idea of piri piri chicken on a pizza but for this visit I managed to stay my gluntony and go for one of the classic sandwiches. The mains by the way ranged from £7.95 for a sunblushed tomato, asparagus and pea linguine up to £12.95 for a rump steak with a pepper sauce.

At only £7.25 the range of flatbreads looked very good value and I was very tempted by the Sweet Chilli, King Prawn and Chorizo but in the end i decided to go down the road of something new on the summer menu, a classic steak sandwich (£7.25). On lightly toasted granary bread with dijon mustard mayo and a bed of rocket this meaty delight came with a topping of potabello mushroom and caramalised onions. For my liking the steak was slightly overcooked and one downside was that I wasn't asked how I wanted it cooked. Note to self, don't wait to be asked tell the waiting staff how you want your steak cooked. That aside the onions were beautifully sweet and married with the mustard mayo gave a delightlful background enhancment to the steak.



The Little Touches Make This Place

 I was impressed by the little touches shown here instead of the usual pot with cutlery in these lovely little individual pouches just manage to make your experience a little bit more special.

My dining partner for this afternoon was the beautiful Mrs T and she chose the Southern Fried BBQ Chicken Wrap (£6.75). I thought this was very good value and was described by the notoriusly picky Mrs T as 'lush'. When ordering she had been concerned that the BBQ sauce may have overpowered the dish but not so, this was truly fabulous.

Southern Fried BBQ Chicken

The only downside to this dish was the coleslaw, looked and tasted like it had been expertly scooped from a jar. Please, please make your own, when you are producing food this good don't spoil it with the less than brilliant sides.

And while I'm on the subject of sides, the curse of the frozen fries strike again. Why oh why do you insist on frozen chips when hand cut chunky would have been the crowning glory to an otherwise really enjoyable lunch.

Now those of you who know me will know I am not a great herbivor, infact if you eat out with me you will either see the salad left on the side of the plate or offered around to my fellow diners as I am nothing if not a sharing kind of person. However, not in this case the lime dressed side salad was superb, beetroot leaves and mico beans set it off to perfection.

Classic Steak Sandwich

There are a good number of vegetarian options and something I liked was that they are amalgamated into the menu rather than being tagged onto the end as in some places I have visited.

Deserts start at £2.95 for an ice cream up to £4.95 for Revolution Mess, an Eton Mess with summer berries and at the same price or the chocoholics amongst us Revolution Chocolate Mess, whipped cream, meraign, chocolate brownie, chocolate ice cream and topped with chocolate sauce, what's not to love.

Possibly the best recmmendation I can give for Revolution is the photograph below.

In my humble opinion an empty plate is always a sign of an enjoyable dining experience and it is my personal opinion that Revolution in Cardiff is an enjoyable dining experience.

Says It All


If you are taking the children there is a menu for the younger members of the family as well.

If you are looking for lunch in the city don't walk past this place without at least giving it a go.;

We will certainly be returning.

Revolution Cardiff
9-11 Castle Street, Cardiff CF10 1BS
Telephone: 02920 236689
Twitter: @revcardiff
Wbsite: http://www.revolution-bars.co.uk/cardiff

Score: 4T's. Give it a go I don't think you will be dissapointed.