Cardiff Market is home to some of the best independent food companies in Cardiff. Hosting a wide variety of cuisines, Cardiff Market is (in my opinion) the best place to pop into if you want a quick and substantial bite to eat.
Dirty Gnocchi
Most recently, I visited Dirty Gnocchi on ground floor of the market. While I may or may not have found it through TikTok, every time is visit the market I see so many people walking around with cheesy, tasty-looking pasta and gnocchi dishes. I chose to go with the Beef Ragu Tagliatelle, which you can watch them make fresh as you wait. The best part about choosing the tagliatelle is that they make it in a big wheel of melted cheese, which made the pasta really gooey and even more delicious. The ragu they put on top is clearly slow-cooked because the beef is tender and falls apart in your mouth. It is full of flavour and pairs really well with the cheesy pasta beneath it. If I was served this in a restaurant I would have been really happy, so for me it’s a must-visit at the market.
Ffwrnes Pizza
Ffwrnes Pizza, as the name suggests, serves thin-base pizza, and is on the upper floor of the market. They serve a nice variety of meat and vegetarian pizzas, and I opted for the funghi pizza which had tomato sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms, basil and extra virgin truffle olive oil. It has a really thin base, a crispy crust and flavour packed toppings, with a heaty tomato sauce and plenty of mozzarella cheese on top. In my opinion, the quality of a pizza is defined by its tomato sauce, and Ffwrnes’s sauce is rich and a nice consistency. It’s often busy up at Ffwrnes, but the pizza they serve is absolutely worth the wait.
Ya – Souvlaki
A personal favourite of mine I have frequented since the beginning of my second year here is Ya – Souvlaki. The staff are really friendly, and the stall started my love for Greek food. I always get the same thing because I am a creature of habit, but the chicken souvlaki pita is delicious. It’s stuffed full of fragrant chicken, feta cheese, salad, tzatziki, and herby chips, all surrounded by a warm, thick pita bread. It’s really tasty and flavourful and these are a reasons I have continued to go back for the last year and a half. I even got given a free croissant on my birthday because they saw my crown advertising it. It’s the small things like this that I love Ya – Souvlaki and indeed many other stalls at the market.
If you ever find yourself famished in town but can’t be bothered to sit down in a restaurant, or want something more interesting than a supermarket meal deal, then Cardiff Market is the place to visit. With a whole range of food, both hot and cold, and a greengrocer, fishmonger, butcher, and cheesemonger, you can even grab some food to take home and cook too! The market is my favourite place in town to visit, and hopefully after a trip there it will be yours too.