The beautiful city of Cardiff, located in South Wales right on the coast of the Bristol Channel, is the ideal spot for a weekend getaway. With plenty to explore, from the historic castle to boat trips out to Flat Holm Island, there’s so much to see and do in the Welsh capital. The key to a seamless city-break, in our experience, is preparing an itinerary that isn’t too jam-packed, so that you have a second to catch your breath and take in the wonderful sights around you.
With this in mind, it’s important to stop for vital refreshments - whether that’s a coffee in the morning or a delicious pasta feast in the evening - and so we’ve rounded up our favourite Italian restaurants in Cardiff to give you a flavour of what this city has to offer.
Or, if you’d rather enjoy restaurant-quality pasta in the comfort of your own home, why not check out our delivery service? We deliver recipe kits to postcodes across Wales if you fancy having a go yourself in the kitchen. Buon appetito!
Our Top 5 Pasta Restaurants in Cardiff
Elgano
58 Cathedral Road, Cardiff, CF11 9LL
Situated only a short distance from the River Taff, Elgano is a Victorian hotel boasting charming river views and a wonderful Italian restaurant. This small establishment has a warm, cozy atmosphere, evocative of the convivialità of Italy’s family-run trattorie. Not only does Elgano offer a relaxed dining experience, but the menu is filled with authentic Italian dishes, cooked to perfection by head chef Pietro, a native of Calabria in the south of Italy. Our favourite picks from the menu are the ravioli al salmone, a nod to the Adriatic waterways of Italy’s northeastern regions, and the ravioli burro & salvia, fresh parcels of ravioli filled with spinach and creamy ricotta and served in a fresh sage butter.
Photo credit: Elgano
Giardini di Sorrento
12 City Road, Cardiff CF24 3DL
We love to seek our authentic Italian food wherever we can, and Giardini di Sorrento, a charming eatery in the heart of Cardiff’s city centre, offers just that. Head chef Giovanni Pane and his dedicated team are committed to making fresh pasta for the restaurant's guests, providing a truly delicious taste of Italy to the people of south Wales. Ingredients are sourced of the highest quality from small-scale local producers and from farms and small-holdings in Italy, ensuring all of the food at Giardini di Sorrento is as fresh as can be. The experience is authentically Italian from start to finish and we can’t recommend this lovely restaurant enough. You can’t go wrong with any of the options on their Sorrentine-inspired menu, though our favourite options are the Linguine St. Agata, made with king prawns and Sorrento lemons, and the Paccheri alla Nerano, made with courgette and Parmesan cheese. Giardini also offer picnic boxes throughout the summer, perfect for a day on the beach! Everything on the menu is simply sublime.
Photo credit: Giardini di Sorrento
Casanova
13 Quay Street, Cardiff, CF10 1EA
Casanova was opened in 2005 by three Italian friends; Antonio Cersosimo, Luca Montuori and Angelo Montuori who hoped to bring authentic Italian food, cooked with the best ingredients, to Cardiff. All of the restaurant’s food is freshly cooked using high quality local produce and direct imports from their suppliers in Italy, such as salami, extra virgin olive oil and truffles. The changing, seasonal menu focuses on authenticity, though certain dishes are presented with a modern twist. Whilst the menu differs month to month, depending on the seasonal produce available, there will always be a number of delicious options to choose from. Some of our favourite picks include the Calamarata ai Frutti Di Mare, a fresh concoction of seafood and pasta served with a garlic and chilli sauce, and the wonderfully rich Goat Ragù, where tender chunks of wine-enriched goat meat are served with fileja, a type of twisted pasta.
Photo credit: SquareMeal
Stefano’s Ristorante
14 Romilly Crescent, Pontcanna, Cardiff, CF11 9NR
If you’ve ever found yourself strolling along the enchanting canals of Venice, then it’s likely that, come the evening, you also stumbled into a local bàcari - traditional Venetian wine bar - and dined on cicchetti. This style of dining that is unique to Venice is similar to the Spanish concept of tapas, and involves a selection of snacks served up on small plates. Very di moda (on trend) this summer, we love small-plate dining and here at Pasta Evangelists we think the Venetians do it best. Therefore we were thrilled to discover the cicchetti menu here at Stefano’s, and with a wonderful selection of antipasti and pane, we were spoiled for choice when choosing our dishes. Our final selection of dishes did not disappoint, though the stand-outs for us were unsurprisingly the pasta dishes. We loved the tagliatelle salmone and the gnocchi della casa, served with a bologenese sauce. Deliziosa!
Svago
153-155 Crwys road, CF24 4NH, Cardiff
Located in Cardiff’s city centre, Svago is the perfect place to refuel after a busy day of shopping and sight-seeing. This independent Italian restaurant has a lovely relaxed atmosphere and a very reasonably priced menu, making it the perfect pit stop. They also have a tasty vegan menu on offer and plenty of delicious wines to accompany your meal. Our favourite dishes were the linguine pomodoro, fresh strands of pasta served in a tasty tomato sauce, and their indulgently creamy spaghetti carbonara. We enjoyed our meal with a glass of the Primitivo, a bold Italian red wine that went down a treat!
Photo credit: Svago
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