You are here: Homepage >> Pubs >> City Centre >> Fat Cat - Café Bar
Fat Cat - Café Bar
Grosvenor House, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff City Centre, CF10 3AD [Map]
Tel: 029 2022 8378
A plethora of swish new bars have opened on Greyfriars Road during the past few years. The Fat Cat is one such offering, located just opposite the New Theatre. The Fat Cat has a very upmarket look to it with plush seating, atmospheric lighting and even a few velvet drapes thrown in for good measure, but it still manages to maintain a relaxed feel about the place.
Apparently, this independent chain of bars was started in North Wales (Bangor to be precise) by a group of students in the early nineties. Since then they have spread to several more locations around the UK, but make no mistake this is not your usual big-brand corporate chain pub, the Fat Cat has a very independent feel to it.
The Fat Cat is a fairly large venue with a section of plush seating along an elevated left-hand-side and a large floor space in the centre. The bar is located on the right-hand-side of this floor space and it looks the business with a massive array of spirit bottles lined up along a huge mirror, which is the same length as the bar. These spirits are no doubt put to good use when you order from the impressive cocktail menu. Go along on a Monday night and enjoy selected 2-for-1 cocktails.
Being a café bar there is a wide selection of food on offer during the day and into the evening. The menu included a wide variety of dishes from quick snacks through to main meals (including Sunday roasts) and deserts. The menu contains a key that highlights not only those dishes that are suitable for vegetarians (v) but also those dishes that are classed as healthy (h). It's obvious to most of us what is healthy (grilled salmon and cous cous) and what is not (steak burger), but it's a novel idea and it makes you think twice about what you're ordering!
We went for one dish of Stuffed Peppers and one dish of Fish & Chips, with some Nachos to share as a starter. All the food that came to our table was well prepared and very tasty. The chips were quite possibly the chunkiest chips I have ever seen served in Cardiff, more like door stops than chips! The two halves of pepper came stuffed with a spicy cream cheese concoction, which was very tasty. It also turned out to be a lot more filling than it initially appeared.
The Fat Cat was fairly quiet when we visited, but apparently gets very busy on the weekend evenings, when the tables and chairs give way to a danceflooor and a DJ sets up in a booth near the main entrance. The bar looked plenty big enough to cope with crowds of thirsty drinkers.
Check out their website (see below) to see what's happening during the Summer evenings as they look to have a range of different promotional nights planned. You might also like to sign up for their Privilege Card which entitles you to discounts on food and drink as well as other offers.
All in all a very stylish bar serving some great food. Would definitely visit again.
Posted by Taffy 22nd May 2007