Who doesn't love Italian food? Whether it's pizza, pasta, bruschetta, or a nice tiramisu, Italian cuisine has something for everyone. That's probably a big part of why Italian restaurants are so popular - no matter who you're dining with, they're sure to find something on the menu that they like!

If you fancy a fun family dinner, a big Italian banquet with friends, or romantic meal for two, Cardiff has plenty of excellent Italian eateries to choose from. Here are 5 of our favourites:

Da Mara

25 Clear Water Way, Lakeside, Cardiff CF23 6DJ

Formerly known as Anatoni's, Da Mara (stylised as 'da MARA') is a lovely restaurant near Roath Lake that offers authentic Italian food and great service. They specialise in proper Italian pizza - the pizzas have their own separate menu, in fact - but there are plenty of other dishes available too if pizza isn't your thing.

Image Source: @DaMaraCardiff

Zio Pin

74 Albany Road, Roath, Cardiff CF24 3RS

With a cosy, welcoming atmosphere and a huge variety of Italian meals on the menu, Zio Pin is one restaurant that can always be relied upon to provide a wonderful dining experience. Arrive hungry and you'll leave full, satisfied, and very happy indeed!

Image Source: @ziopincardiff

Giovanni's

38 The Hayes, Cardiff CF10 1AJ

Conveniently located right in the centre of Cardiff (just across from the St. David's 2 shopping centre), Giovanni's offers a warm welcome and a menu that encapsulates, as the restaurant's website puts it, "the true taste of Italy".

Image Source: facebook.com/giovannisonthehayes

Strada

24 Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF10 5BZ

Situated in the splendid waterfront restaurant complex at Mermaid Quay, Strada is a great choice if you're looking for a mouth-watering Italian meal in Cardiff Bay. Their set menu is great value for money if you're on a strict budget.

I Giardini di Sorrento

12 City Road, Cardiff CF24 3DL

Located on City Road, a street better know for its takeaways than for its tiramisu, I Giardini is one of Cardiff's highest-rated Italian restaurants on TripAdvisor and a great place to go if you want some "truly Italian" cuisine. Specials are revised daily, so you never know what delicious treats you might get to try during your visit!

Image Source: @i_giardini

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Sometimes, you just can't beat a spot of proper pub food. Whether you're after a Sunday roast, bangers and mash, or a nice big steak and ale pie, there are plenty of places in Cardiff and the surrounding area to grab some cockle-warming pub grub...and no, we're not just talking about the city's many Wetherspoons!

Here, in our opinion, are the five best gastropubs in and around Cardiff:

The Lansdowne

Lansdowne Road, Canton

Image Source: @Thelansdownepub

The Lansdowne team describe their establishment as a "new old pub". They specialise in real ales, but they also serve up a great variety of pub meals, including steak, burgers, fish and chips, curry, and more.

The Royal George

Mackintosh Place, Roath

Image Source: facebook.com/RoyalGeorgeCardiff

Located at the centre of Cardiff's infamous 'death junction' (where Albany Road, Mackintosh Place, Crwys Road, Richmond Road and City Road all meet), The Royal George is a popular student haunt with loads of great food to munch on while you watch the football or psych yourself up for a game of pool.

The Gwaelod-y-Garth Inn

Main Road, Gwaelod-y-Garth

Image Source: @GwaelodInn

Gwaelod-y-Garth is a village near Taff's Well. If you want the picturesque country inn experience, the Gwaelod is well worth seeking out - it's great for Sunday lunch as well as for posh pub dishes (Tournedos Rossini, anyone?) during the week.

The Traveller's Rest 

Thornhill, Caerphilly

The Traveller's Rest is a great place to stop for a meal after a brisk outdoor walk. It has a cosy, rustic interior and a menu full of meals that will warm you right up.

The Corner House

Caroline Street, Central Cardiff

If you don't fancy straying away from the centre of town, don't worry - there's great pub grub to be had at The Corner House. Situated on the end of Chippy Lane - a street more famous for its cheap chip shops than for its hearty pub food - The Corner House is a hidden gem with loads of lovely dishes to choose from.

 Be sure to follow @KitchenEconomy on Twitter for more Cardiff-centric foodie chat!

Where would we be without coffee? Whether it's that first jolt of caffeine that gets you going in the morning or the decadent vanilla latte (with whipped cream on top, naturally) that you slurp as you sink into a comfy armchair at the end of the day, just about everyone enjoys a well-made cup of joe.

And if you live in Cardiff - or if you're here for a visit - you'll be pleased to learn that we have an abundance of superb coffee shops here in the Welsh capital. Yes, we have a Starbucks on every street just like every other city, but we're lucky enough to also have a number of enchanting indie cafés that are well worth exploring if you're a coffee lover. Here are three of our favourite such spots:

Coffee#1

Location: Wood Street, Central Cardiff (among others)

The Coffee#1 brand is something of a local success story for our city. Huge expansion has seen Coffee#1 shops popping up all over Wales, the Midlands, and South West England (with more than 70 locations at time of writing), but it all started right here in Cardiff - the very first Coffee#1 branch is still open on Wood Street, right next to Cardiff Central Station. Coffee#1 offer a great variety of bites and beverages, with coffee sourced from all over the world and loads of great sweet treats to have alongside your brew. We particularly recommend the individual cheesecakes!

The Little Man Coffee Co.

Location: Ivor House, Bridge Street, Central Cardiff

Image from twitter.com/littlemancoffee

Little Man first opened its doors in the latter part of 2014, making them a fairly new face on the Cardiff coffee scene compared to Coffee#1 (est. 2001). Still, the Little Man team are clearly passionate about their coffee, and they're open from 7am until 9pm on weekdays, giving you a nice big window to go and check out their food and drink offerings before or after work. 

The Deck

Location: Harrowby Street, Cardiff Bay

Image from twitter.com/_TheDeck

Tucked away in a tiny Cardiff Bay side road, The Deck is a real treat of a café that's well worth searching out. You may remember that we mentioned them here on the blog a little while back, but that was for their marvellous cakes - we think they merit another mention for their coffee! At time of writing The Deck is the #1 listing on TripAdvisor for 'Coffee & Tea' in Cardiff - if that's not reason enough to check them out, we're not sure what is!

For more local food and drink chat, be sure to follow @KitchenEconomy on Twitter!

The UK is now home to several million people who do not eat meat, and yet it can sometimes still be tricky for vegetarians and vegans to find a decent place to eat. If you find yourself hungry in Cardiff, we'd strongly recommend the following veggie-friendly eateries, all of which are conveniently located in/near the centre of the Welsh capital...

Note: No list of outstanding veggie restaurants in Cardiff would be complete without a mention of the Vegetarian Food Studio on Penarth Road. However, in the interest of fairness, we've decided to omit them from our top 3 today; the VFS is very popular among local herbivores, and their food is undeniably delicious, but we featured them on our list of Cardiff's Best Indian Restaurants just a couple of weeks ago - today, we'd like to pay tribute to three exceptional meat-free establishments that we haven't talked about before!

Milgi
213 City Road, CF24 3JD

Image source: @milgicardiff

This 'plant-based restaurant and bar' can be found on Cardiff's bustling City Road, a brief 15-20 minute walk from Queen Street. They serve a colourful array of natural, meat-free dishes, and their very seasonal menu makes this place worth returning to again and again. They do a great variety of cocktails, too!

Atma
9-10 Church Street, CF10 1BG

Image source: facebook.com/cafeatma

Atma is handily located slap-bang in the middle of central Cardiff. This vegetarian/vegan café is operated by members of the Hare Krishna movement, and the menu encompasses a wide variety of cuisines; whatever you're in the mood for, you'll find it here!

Crumbs Kitchen
33 Morgan Arcade, CF10 1AF

Image source: @CrumbsKitchen

Tucked away in one of Cardiff's much-loved Victorian arcades (not far from Spillers Records, famously the 'oldest record shop in the world'), Crumbs Kitchen offer a great selection of light meals for vegetarians, vegans, and anyone else who just fancies a break from meat dishes. On the local scene, they're best known for their legendary vegetarian salad bowls, which you can fill to the brim with your choice of foods. If you're shopping in Cardiff and need a place to stop for lunch, Crumbs will do very nicely indeed!

For more local recommendations and Cardiff chat, be sure to follow @KitchenEconomy on Twitter!

Indian cuisine doesn't begin and end with fiery curries - it's a rich, diverse thing, with all kinds of different dishes to choose from. Truthfully, it's not really even fair to lump it all under the same heading; each region of India has its own unique culinary experience to offer, from the tropical spices of Goa to the delicate flavours of Odisha.

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

British people who aren't aware of this diversity often fall into the trap of associating Indian food exclusively with cheap and nasty takeaways, seldom venturing beyond microwaveable chicken kormas and the occasional cheeky vindaloo. Still, it's never too late to broaden one's horizons - if you're in Cardiff and you fancy trying something a little more exotic than the standard Indian takeaway, here are 3 local Indian restaurants that we think you'll enjoy:

Mint and Mustard

134 Whitchurch Road, CF14 3LZ

The Mint and Mustard team describe themselves as having "pioneered the British new wave of Indian cuisine". Built upon the flavours and philosophies of Kerala (a state in South West India that's known for fresh, healthy foods), Mint and Mustard's delicious dishes are wonderfully presented and critically acclaimed.

Vegetarian Food Studio

115-117 Penarth Road, CF11 6JU

Image source: @VegFoodStudio

 India reportedly has the lowest rate of meat consumption in the world, with some estimates suggesting that as much as 40% of the total Indian population is vegetarian. As this restaurant's name suggests, they don't serve any meat, but meat-eaters shouldn't be put off - owner Neil Patel and his team serve up a huge variety of veggie dishes from India and elsewhere in Asia that may well have you wondering if you even want to go back to meat.

Purple Poppadom

185A Cowbridge Road East, CF11 9AJ

Image source: @Purple_poppadom

Purple Poppadom purports to be the "home of New Indian Cuisine in Cardiff", and the many awards that have been heaped upon Chef Anand George's restaurant suggest that this boast may not be misplaced. This establishment on Whitchurch Road takes a fresh, innovative approach to traditional Indian meals, and this - combined with the restaurant's colourful decor - makes for an authentic yet very modern dining experience.

For more local foodie insight, be sure to follow Kitchen Economy on Twitter!