Cafe Citta Cardiff

 Early in a Tuesday night we found ourselves without a plan for Dinner. 

Staying in Central Cardiff the lure of the High Street restaurants and Bars was enough for us to seek out some sustenance. 

After being rejected by many who were fully booked on a Tuesday night I wandered down Castle Arcade and poked my head into Maison de Beouf  who appeared to be in disarray. And in disarray they were as they were not opening until Saturday evening. Another rejection.  However our fortune was changed with a recommendation that was offered.

Directions were given and in minutes we found ourselves around the corner at Cafe Citta.

They were very accomodating and juggled some tables to get us in for a quick bite. 

As soon as we were seated we both got the feeling that we had stumbled on something great. And great it was. 

We were both drawn to gnocchi. Lance went Gnocchi with their own bolognaise sauce  and myself the gnocchi with docelatte cheese & spinach sauce.

We also had a pizza bread with garlic and cheese.

Let me tell you, I have had quite a bit of gnocchi in a variety of countries and I also make it myself. This gnocchi was firm with out being tough and held the sauce beautifully. Lance’s bolognaise had a depth of flavour that went far beyond tomato. And my spinach cheesy sauce was delicious. The spinach was plentiful, without taking over the sauce and it was just cheesy enough to not be too rich. 

A wee bowl of Parmesan arrived and I have the feeling that any request for more would have been granted with ease. Not that we needed any more flavour!

The pizza bread was light and not tough, with just enough cheese and garlic to not lose the authenticity of pizza.

We finished with a creme brûlée and a panacotta and were not disappointed with these at all.

It wasn’t until I got home that I googled Cafe Citta and found out more about them. They are a family run restaurant a that was absolutely the feeling that we had when we were there. They only have thirteen tables, and I think that we were very lucky to slip in. 

Marco Pierre White apparently told them that they served the best carbonara ever! And wanted them to appear on his TV show. However they had to decline because they were too busy!

All in all this is somewhere that we will recommend to anyone coming to Cardiff and should we find ourselves back in town, this is the place for us.