The Red Dragon Centre Cardiff — Attraction in Great Britain

The Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay is a decent place for a chilled evening of food and entertainment. It’s not really a shopping centre – it’s more for hanging out. There’s an Odeon cinema with an IMAX screen, a bowling alley, a casino, a gym, and a few casual places to eat. It’s a good option for a relaxed night out or something to do when the weather’s bad.

Food-wise, there’s a decent selection like Five Guys, Bella Italia, Chiquito, and Cadwaladers for coffee or dessert. That said, I had a really bad experience at Buffet Tonight. The food felt stale, service was poor, and overall it didn’t feel clean or welcoming. I’ve written a separate review on it if you want the full breakdown, but I definitely wouldn’t go back.

One thing the centre does well is parking as long as you know how it works. You get up to six hours free, but only if you spend at least £6 and remember to register your car reg at one of the machines inside. It uses number plate recognition, so there are no tickets. If you forget to register or don’t spend enough, you’ll end up paying a fair bit, and the prices jump quickly the longer you stay. There are plenty of spaces though, including accessible ones, so parking itself is usually easy.

The biggest downside is that the place can feel a bit run-down. Some parts of it look like they haven’t had an update in years, and outside of the cinema and a couple of restaurants, it lacks atmosphere. If you’re expecting a modern, lively vibe, it might feel a bit tired. Still, it does the job if you just want somewhere convenient for a film and a...

I hadn't been here for years as I no longer live in cardiff but was visiting this weekend and took the kids out for bowling. Everything has gone up so much in price. Even the arcade games. A good few were out of order. The rest were either £2 each game or not fun to play. Ended up on the coin machines mostly for the kids the 2p ones. Bowling was a headache as I booked online but realised the website didn't apply the discount it offered (earlybird) so tried to sort it out at the desk but they couldn't and told me to call number on site to sort it. Ended up being on the phone for 40 minutes trying to sort this out. They ended up refunding me the difference. Then it was time for ice cream and £3.50 a scoop. Do they realise people can buy a whole tub for that much?? The whole thing left me wondering how this place is still open and functioning. I saw a few birthday parties where kids had come with their friends for a meal and a bowl and realised this must be the reason why it's still open. I remember this place being rammed in weekends with teens and couples and families. Times have changed I suppose and prices are definitely not inviting me back anytime soon. 2 games of bowling with no food and refreshments for a family of 4 was £56 . Ice cream for the family was £14. Games and arcades was another 20. Factor in the parking and a few bottles of water and the whole thing was about £100. That's a lot for a Sunday morning outing with kids. Needless to say I won't be back here any time soon...

So the reason I come here is purely because it's close to my work. I wouldn't be able to give an accurate description of all the restaurants but I can talk about what I do know. So it's situated in Cardiff bay about 5-7 minutes walk from mermaid quay. The centre consists of 6 restaurants, a small coffee shop cafe in the centre and an odeon cinema. The coffee from the coffee shop is awful if you're looking for something that is significantly tasty, but if you want a quick caffeine fix then it'll do the job. The places I've eaten are at the five guys fast food stop which was surprisingly expensive for an awful burger that I could have made better at the age of 6 making funny shaped burgers in the kitchen with my mum. The second place is the spice route. This place is soo cool and could be considered fast food but is fantastic because it's healthy. They let you choose from an array of raw fresh ingredients that you would find in a stir fry, and they cook it right in front of you in a couple of minutes on a high powered jet engine looking flame in a large wok. It's impressive and tasty. The other places I'll let you...