Best Restaurants in Cardiff

Cardiff's moment as a restaurant city arrived in 2025, when Tom Waters's Gorse earned Wales's first Michelin star outside the countryside. The city has been building to this for a decade. A cluster of strong independent openings (Asador 44, Heaneys, The Classroom, Purple Poppadom) created the critical mass the Guide eventually recognised. Beyond the star, the city runs a strong wine-bar scene along Pontcanna Street and High Street, a credible fine-casual cluster in Cardiff Bay, and a twenty-minute drive to Penarth where James Sommerin runs Home. Previously a one-Michelin-starred kitchen under a different name.

The cooking is built on Welsh produce. Salt-marsh lamb from Gower, Welsh Black beef, Pembrokeshire shellfish, laverbread, bara brith. Interpreted across a range of formats. Gorse runs the ingredient-led tasting-menu register; Asador 44 runs a Spanish grill around an enormous charcoal-fired oven; Heaneys does modern British-Welsh bistro; Home in Penarth runs the father-daughter family kitchen that earned Sommerin his first star in 2019. Welsh wine is arriving. Ancre Hill and Glyndŵr vineyards appear on most serious Cardiff lists. Alongside the more established English sparkling programme.

For a deeper editorial read, see our ongoing Editorial coverage — including pieces on the Best Restaurants for Every Occasion, and our Impress Clients and First Date occasion guides.