Lakota

Sometimes you are in town and you want a cup of coffee. Not the heightened, capitalised experience of Having Coffee, but the simple pleasure of a warm drink down your throat and a sensible dose of caffeine. Lakota ticks this box by providing the stuff for about a pound.
Like an increasing number of bars these days, they also boast that their coffee is from Costa. You can give or take this claim as, although they use branded mugs, the actual drink is nowhere near the Costa standard. What you get is a shot of espresso covered in a big, bubbly froth, not the sweet cappuccinos with light foams made by the burgundy coffee giant.
However, Lakota do provide all the lovely little extras that make your coffee a little enjoyable if you have the desire to linger. They have a bowl of free fruit and a vast selection of newspapers and magazines for you to peruse.
My biggest problem was with the facilities, which were the source of much confusion for me. In recent months, I’m not exactly sure if my behaviour has been more that of a ‘hunk’, or of a ‘heart-​breaker’. I guess this is something we all have to work out for ourselves so make sure you tally up the fors and againsts for each category before you go.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Order the waffles and icecream, no matter how close you are to tea-​time

This venue used to be Edwards which was quite frankly a bit drab. Now Lakota has taken over the building, it is a vibrant, fresh and funky bar. The walls are adorned with wood in what I can only think is to try and imitate a winter lodge.
The food in here is a bargain, you can get 2 meals for £5, dishes including gammon, burgers and other standard pub fare. Where they nail you with this pricing, is with the drinks, but there are always sneaky ways to avoid this, have a glass of water and then nip to a Wetherspoons!
I like this place in the day time, it is peaceful and the surroundings are nice, however I imagine as night falls, it does get a little rowdier being in the centre of the bar scene of Cardiff, but to be fair I haven’t been here at night so this is only a guess, but I definitely recommend it for day time use.

Lakota! A place that me and my friends would always be happy to return to due to the service the staff provide, plus the quality and the price of the food they serve. If you were going to get some food your best bet is to go for the ‘two for £5″ on selected meals which do offer a variety of choice including vegetarian meals. Personally I usually go for the southern friend chicken; but thats just my personal choice. There are some delicious desserts too at only £1.50
The whole bar is a very open space so there are certain areas where you can have a chat quietly, or if you want to listen to the music when it gets played very loudly then it’s very good if you sit in the round circular booths: Particularly if you’re with a group of friends!
Drinks are at a reasonable price as well. Although I do have a feeling they focus on the alcoholic drinks rather than the soft drinks (which is understandable as there is so much choice) My problem with the soft drinks which made me rate this place with four stars is the fact that they come from a gas tap. This would be fine except they need to change the gas tank! For the last three times I have been there I order a Coke and it is always very flat and almost flavourless. I hope to one day go back there and my drink will be fizzy and flavoursome. Now that’s not too much to ask is it?
I would recommend this place for a good night out and also if you’re looking for a nice cheap lunch. Be warned, it can get very busy!

Lakota has always been a place which has stayed under my radar a little. For some reason it never attracted me in until recently. Though the prices are good, I don’t think it’s somewhere I’ll be spending a lot of time, unless I’m running low on cash and don’t want to cook. It seems a little too impersonal to me, and I’ll take a traditional pub any day of the week, which at least almost always make the attempt to impose a certain character into the place. The food, in fairness is extremely reasonably priced. You’ve got a 2 meals for £5 menu every day, a pizza and a drink for £5 and all sorts of offers throughout the week.
These low, low prices extend to the drinks too. Naturally, I went in on a Wednesday because all cocktails are just £2.99. For the centre of Cardiff, that’s pretty awesome. I ordered a Muddy Welly, ably mixed and delivered by JP the barman and it was fantastic. I can’t remember what was in it exactly, but I’m thinking some kind of Baileys/​Vodka concoction. Really friendly staff too and everyone seemed happy to chat. After a while, I did warm to the place a little and to be honest, for £2.99 a pop I had to pry myself away from the bar to avoid losing a whole day to sampling the entire cocktail menu.

Anybody but hardened drinkers who frequented the old Edwards in St Mary Street are probably glad it’s been afforded an overdue revamp. Credit where it’s due: as Lakota the bar is almost unrecognisably improved. Gone is décor straight out of the dreariest chain pubs in favour of leather furnishings and an eye-​catching, wall-​covering spirits range. The cocktails are strong, expertly made and tasty — don’t be put off by some of the sexually orientated titles — and they cater for more refined beer tastes than standard big name lager swilling. Cheap pizza isn’t the most obvious matchwinner, but here they come as part of inexpensive drinks deals, replete with imaginative toppings (the slow cooked duck with hoi sin sauce could easily have come from a gourmet Italian joint). Early evening is definitely the best point to visit, for a relaxed bite to eat and pint that’ll give you change from a tenner.

If Lakota weren’t occupying the foyer and stairs of the old Royal Hotel, I’d be writing a much more lenient review right now. But there’s something a wee bit distressing about a chain taking over such a grand building and doing nothing but impose their mass produced stamp on something that was formerly a lot more beautiful. Originally crafted by artisans and latterly refurbished by shop fitters, I can’t help feeling it’s a sorry state of affairs.
To make matters worse, Lakota are going to use it as a venue where people can come to watch the World Cup, eat breakfast for a couple of quid, or have lunch for two for a fiver, and then of course, there’s the pizza deals… All very commendable under other circumstances, but just not here!
Cheap cocktails on Wednesday, and other drinks promotions on other nights, provide for a cheap night out if you want to eat a meal served with chips and then get smashed. Personally, I think it’s a crime!

So being as blindly drunk as I generally am when I wander down St. Mary’s Street on a night out, I had failed to notice that Edward’s had become Lakota’s. Apparently it has been as such for a good few months now.
Anyway on noticing said change of name, I decided to venture inside. It was pretty late by this point which is a shame as I missed out on having 2 meals for a fiver, the lovely sounding pizza’s and Nacho’s. I could have eaten at least that much!
It was friday night and the cocktails were £2.99 so of course I was going to have one or two. Don’t judge me but I just couldnt resist trying a Porn Star Martini, I should have stuck with my beloved Margarita!
So from my drunken haze it looked much better than its predecessor and there were lots and lots of people here too.