Amalfi

A lot of my reviews on takeaways and restaurants in the city centre, or the Roath/​Cathays area end up evolving into compare and contrast essays, analysing the merits of one restaurant when compared to the major competitors in the area. Perhaps this isn’t strictly fair; after all, it skews my reviews so that a café that could possibly be a four star business is reviewed as a three star business because I’m comparing it, rather than reviewing it on its own merits. However, businesses don’t exist inside a vacuum and this is the exact same method of selecting a restaurant to eat at that everyone else uses.
In this light, I feel I should mention that Amalfi is a great place to eat. The food is good, the atmosphere is interesting and delightful and the staff know how to operate. On its own, Amalfi would get four stars. Unfortunately for them though, they operate in the same area as Lorenza’s, and it would be remiss of me to talk about Amalfi without recommending a much, much better restaurant that is a very short walk away.
If you’re being dragged to Amalfi, you won’t regret it. But if you get to choose the place, it’s Lorenza’s all the way.

The Amalfi Italian restaurant situated on Crwys rd is a traditional style of Italian cooking. The service is fine and the atmosphere is charming, I would especially recommend as a date night location. It’s is best to book in advance as it is much smaller than it’s competitor Lorenza’s.
They also offer a takeaway service that features an unusual array of choice and the classic style pizzas. Fresh flavourful ingredients make it a special experience even if you have takeaway it is different to the typical pizzas from Crwys rd other pizzerias. You’ll find that a meal can set you back at least £20 each, which is more than I would expect for a restaurant in this location. The restaurant has some pedigree ownership and this makes for a tried & tested formula, which means you’ll enjoy the experience.

The first time I saw this restaurant, all closed up, I thought it was ironic how depressing it looked considering it’s named after one of Italy’s most famous and beautiful coastlines. One of my friends ate there, however, and told me that it was the sister restaurant of Da Mario in the city centre, and that the food was fantastic, so I was persuaded to give it a chance. Going back in the evening it looked far cosier and more appealing. The décor is quite simple and plain, rather than being stuffed with fake plants and memorabilia like many Italian restaurants are, although personally I quite like the latter!
Their pizzas are thin, 11−12″, and homemade, offering two choices of base (Margherita or Napoletana) plus a wide choice of extra toppings so you can make up your own — but I went for calamari rings for starters (£6.95) followed by Penne al Salmone (£10.95), both of which were delicious. This restaurant offers reasonable value and great service — but I’d probably prefer to go over to Canton to the Italian Way, for its fun, slightly cheesy old-​fashioned Italian atmosphere.

The food here is just lovely but the absolute best thing about it is the service. I feel that everyone who works here should get some kind of bonus because they are all just lovely people. They also were efficient — making them some of the best service people I’ve had in a long while. The food, like I say, was good but my only (tiny) gripe about it is that I would have preferred a little bit more choice. Having said that, when I ate it, I was more than happy with what I’d ordered. The prices are reasonable and it’s only about a three minute walk from my house. All in all, I think I’ll be going back there again and again.