Restaurant Minuet

A sweet little place in Castle Arcade, the food was great and just what we were looking for to have a nice lunch.

Tucked away at the end of the Castle Arcade, this slightly grubby, overwhelmingly charming lunchtime gem serves authentic Italian food in a tiny restaurant space, with a takeaway hatch selling freshly prepared pizza slippers for diners on the go.
Surviving many rounds of city-​centre redevelopment and now awash in a sea of blandly sterile coffee-​chain franchises, Café Minuet is a welcome reminder of what a dash of personality can add to a dining experience — from the pictures of Italian opera singers that adorn the walls, to the owner who can be found most days belting out his own performance of the classics in the kitchen.
The décor in the restaurant is now a little shabby, but the rather tatty plastic checked tablecloths only add to the unpretentious retro appeal. The food, however, is wonderful, from delectable pizza with gobs of molten buffalo mozzarella to freshly made pasta dishes, the menu, while not extensive, makes up for quantity with the quality of the Italian classics on offer. Moderately priced too, this is well worh seeking out for a lunch treat.

This a brilliant and unpretentious café serving really lovely, good value food. It is a really popular little café and it can be hard to get a seat at lunch times but it does take away’s as well so you can always get some food to take away and eat outside the Castle in the sun.
If you chose to eat in the café is quite rustic and as the kitchen is open you can watch the chef cook away. The staff always seem so nice and genuine and the service is like what you’d expect in a restaurant in Italy. They particularly seem to make a fuss of any bambino’s in the café!
I love the little pizza’s for a lunch time snack and the simple but quick and tasty pasta. Yum.

Café Minuet is one of the cutest and most characterful café-​restaurants in Cardiff, a tiny Italian that squeezes into a small space at the castle end of lovely Castle Arcade.
Both the restaurant and its opera-​loving owner have earned many loyal fans, most of them drawn in initially by the irresistible smell of garlic — but then charmed into returning time and time again by the unpretentious atmosphere and the delicious food, with each dish named after a famous musician.
For very reasonably priced classic Italian fare in an informal setting, you can’t beat Café Minuet. And if you’re in a rush or the café is packed out (as is often the case), you can still enjoy a slice of pizza from the little take-​away hatch.