Giggling Squid - Cardiff St David's — Restaurant in Great Britain

It was a mixed bag really we went on an incredibly busy night in fairness the place was rammed.

We were met at the the door at 19:55 for an 20:00pm table the front of house said the table would be ready in a few minutes and we were asked to wait in the waiting are .. At this point it would of been nice to be asked if we would like a drink while we were waiting (an extra few pounds of revenue missed as we definitely would of). He may of thought that we would be seated quickly ??

We were seated at around 20:15 and we then spoke to our waiter at around 20:35 again no offer of any drinks until the main meal was ordered. The drinks came around 20 mins later after ordering so we had been in the restaurant for an hour before we had our first drink (we would of been on our second possibly by this point and added another £30 to the bill) When you get a touch point for a client it's always great to see if they want something else in my view (although I'm not from a restaurant background)

When the food order was taken, one of the items was missed from the starter but this was dealt with quickly in fairness so that was great.

The food was excellent for the 5 of us a little bit weird were the Prawn crackers which were hit and miss with some of the party but they were a 3 / 2 split on whether they were liked or not.

The mains were brilliant very tasty and everything correct and really well presented we were there for our daughters birthday so it was nice at the end to get a little slice of cheesecake for her and a plastic cup as a memento.

As the Giggling squid got quieter there was a marked note of the service levels increasing and the staff seemed to have more time to engage with the people eating and you could tell this made a huge difference to the atmosphere as things seemed to calm down.

The Manager was excellent and really pleasant at the end of the night and had time to explain why they were so busy and they are a great credit to the business. (by the way we're not moaners so we weren't back and forth extolling on the wait or lack of service etc you could really see they were stressed. I wouldn't of liked to see the breakages bills for the night as there were lots of them when the service was busy.)

On the whole a solid 3.5 - 4 I think it was more of a staffing levels issue which I know can be difficult to get right but I do think that an extra staff member would probably create more than enough revenue to ensure that their paid for and leave some healthy profit. For us alone I know if the table had been seen more regularly our bill would probably of been another £100 more.

Would I go back , yes 100% would I check what was going on in Cardiff before going there 100% a great meal overall with the staff doing the best with what they could.

So we will be back and hopefully see that things have settled...

Brought my partner and sister for a meal here at 13:15pm. No need to book before 2pm. As we headed in the male host introduced us in a lively and warm manner which was pleasant introduction for our first visit here through a family recommendation.

The decor on the inside was more beautiful than it looks from the outside. Especially with the Xmas decoration, it is worth going in to see. We loved the mint floral, vibrant, white cages, golden booths and a singular neon lighting booth for those of us who happen to like that. Overall the place is perfect for an aesthetic cute café light lunch. The food was overall quite delicious (coming from south asians) but price to portion size was small, while we were satisfied, there is room for more portion. However, the small portion size is understandable if we consider this as a mid-classy flavoursome yet modern cafe instead of a restaurant. It was moderately authentic, which did exceed our expectations, it truthfully wasn't as basic as we thought.

Drinks: lychee and rose mocktail which was light in flavour but refreshing between meals. Strawberry mojito which was definitely punchy and delicious (table fave).

Starters: sticky chicken - 5 wings, tender and juicy bbq style, 8/10. Butterfly Prawns with Green and Zingy Satay (3 pieces) light crispy prawns tossed in salad and hint of sauce, 7/10.

Mains: Prawn and crab coconut curry which was green thai style. served with aubergine and green peppercorns. The crab was battered and very juicy and crispy! There were only 2 battered prawns. The sauce was on point, creamy and spicy, given not a coconut fan was very happy with the taste. We ordered jasmine rice to eat with it. Filling and tasty 9/10. Next was Stir-fried Gao pao chicken and beef (we requested a meat mix). This was okay but it does not come with noodles or rice given it was in the noodle section. We ordered garlic noodles after this was served and we mixed this in (we recommend mixing). But this was a different price and the noodles were plain cooked and didn't have any garlic, but it did come quick. Waitress agreed she would probably mention this going forward to new customers as I'm sure this has happened before. 7/10. Pretty basic though.

We would come in again for a lunch date because the place was so pretty and the food is different and surprisingly tasty. Good for a dress-up occasion. Next time to try the dessert. 3 people costed £88, 2 sides, 2...

I visited giggling squid to celebrate my wife’s graduation, the female member of staff who allocated tables to everyone refused to give us the table we asked for although she sat us on a table of 4, she told us we couldn’t move to another table as she would prefer to give the table to the group of four that were expected to arrive later on because apparently they had booked a while ago. I was quite baffled at her response/explanation as I’m pretty sure tables are allocated on a first come, first serve basis rather than staff preferences. (I later heard her talking to another group who walked in and she told them that all tables are allocated on a first come first serve basis).

The other members of staff were lovely, however there was an Asian lady (waitress) who blatantly, walked past and ignored me after making eye contact every time I said excuse me

When it came to paying the bill, I asked for the service charge to be removed as I wasn’t happy with the service I received, the Asian waitress made a very unkind face at me and questioned why I wished for the charge to be removed and I informed her that I was not happy with the service. She then, using a rude tone of voice responded that it’s impolite of me to ask for the charge to be removed and went on to find invalid excuses of why she believes I apparently have to pay and then handed me the card terminal without removing the service charge. I then reiterated that I wished for the service charge to be removed and then she again made an unpleasant face at me and asked if I’m sure I would like the charge to be removed.

It’s very disappointing that a restaurant that have just opened in Cardiff are letting themselves down with rude and unprofessional...