Mischief’s Cafe Bar

After the «apparent» manager swears at you for no reason I wouldn’t frequent this place again. Don’t expect to go out and get abused by the staff. Toilets are disgraceful too.

Smaller and quieter than its Cardiff Bay counterparts, Mischief’s a quirky little corner café and bar that draws a more mature clientele and offers an ideal spot to sit outside and catch the afternoon sun with a cold pint.
Part of Mischief’s charm stems from its location on the periphery of the glossy and overflowing Mermaid Quay bars and restaurants. I’ve only been here during the day, so I’m not privy to the hi-​jinks that occur here once the sun goes down, but it seems to me Mischief’s is the neighbourhood bar and café for the locals, not the tourists. It’s like Cheers, but with the classic, irreverent British sensibilities.
The staff here strike the ideal balance of friendly and cheeky, which is something I’ve come to appreciate and take note of wherever I go. I’m curious to see what night brings out in Mischief’s — I bet it’s quite naught indeed.

Just watched the football here today and besides the result I really enjoyed it in here. As it is billed as a café I haven’t thought about going in here ever. However my friend mentioned it and wish I knew sooner.
Basically I hate watching Spurs play in crowded pubs if I’m not at home. I won’t moan about fair weathered fans who haven’t seen the city where ‘their club’ resides ruining my watching experience. Which is whats great about Mischief.
As it is a little further away in the Bay it is a bit more quiet and has a real chilled out vibe about the place. Think I’ll be watching the games from here more often then.

Mischief’s is a pretty cool venue just a little outside the centre of Cardiff bay that hosts plenty of live music and entertainment to boot. If you’re sick of the generic overpopulated bars on the waterfront then this provides a worthy alternative. The crowd are different, more mature and relaxed. Luckily you won’t find too many of the ‘blue shirt and school shoes’ crowd. (The sort of men who migrate from the valleys in a cloud of lynx body spray and rock hard hair gel looking for a orange wench to pull)
Instead you’ll find the more mature lady grooving ‘family wedding style’ to whatever live act is performing that weekend.
Good for: The Rugby/​Dancing when you’re drunk.
Bad for: Fans of more hardcore musical genres.

This place changes identities more frequently than a robber on the run. In recent years, since closing as the much loved but never visited Ship and Pilot, it has been an Orange Tree, an Ichiban (signs went up and everything, but it never opened) and a couple of other names that I can’t remember. It seems, however, that Mischiefs may be sticking around.
Popped in one lunchtime (as me and my sis continue our chip audit of the bay) and was pleasantly surprised. The décor is lovely with warm gleaming wood and comfortable seats. There’s a well stocked bar, an upstairs seating area, a decent lunch menu and happy hour from 4pm on weeknights. On weekends, according to the chalk board inside, they have live music.
The man that took our food order was very friendly and smiley and quite the charmer (not a touch on Nigel Havers mind). The food itself was a little slower coming than we’d have liked (only an hour for lunch and we only just made it back to work in time) but was very tasty. Bit more expensive than it should have been I reckon (much cheaper in the Eli Jenkins). As for the chips; they were anaemic! I wouldn’t mind going back to see whether the cocktails are up to scratch though!

This has got to be one of the nicest places in Cardiff to go for a drink. Perfect for a few drinks after work great selection of european beers and all sort of nice drinks you can try.
Live Music when i was there you got to give it a try!
May not be the best place for a quick drink on a busy night though. gets very crowded round the bar and you will almost definately have to stand up.
My advice — go early and get the comfy seats and have a few relaxed drinks and watch the place fill up.
Friendly staff — gotta love it.

Really was a refreshing break from the ‘commerical’ Cardiff Bay. Mischiefs really did have a great atmosphere, we went there intending to have only a few drinks but the singer was great, we ended up staying the entire night! The bar staff were friendly and cheerful and we were always served quickly, not to be missed!

I couldn’t stand Mischief’s. I think the problem was that I wasn’t drunk, and that I wasn’t there primarily to get drunk. Unless you are becoming or already drunk, it’s not an evening venue you want to try. The DJ was loud and not good– playing ‘chart and cheese’ music and talking over it in all the wrong places with terrible microphone technique, it was almost so bad it was funny. The beer was watery and overpriced and there was a strangely rough atmosphere– even in the cosmopolitan Bay area this feels like a local pub for local people.
The web site suggests it’s a bar with a little bit of class, but that class is just not in evidence when you go there.
Friends of mine who’ve tried the lunch here say that it’s OK, but for the same price you should walk round the corner to Cardiff Bay and get something better.