Albert Hall — Restaurant in Wales

DISABLED UNFRIENDLY AND SO IT'S NOT INCLUSIVE

The good points first! The staff were faultless! They were bubbly, approachable, efficient and super helpful! Kudos for such optimal customer service! The food that I ate was sumptuous! You can see from my photos what I ordered, and all is highly recommended for foodies who love flavour! The tables were cleaned frequently, there was room readily available to sit, the prices were moderate for a city centre location. It is modern, (not finished yet and builders/trades people are still working in various areas) and best suited for those who like a busy, bustling street food style venue, definitely not a cosy or romantic setting. It had a London city, Friday after work in Canary Wharf kind of feel to the venue, which is new for Swansea.

Now the bad points! This venue is very much built and designed from an able-bodied bias. If you have mobility issues, you're confined only to the food hall as there are no lifts to the middle or upper floors. The food hall dining tables mean you have to sit on long wooden benches. If you can't lift a leg up or over, or if you need to stay in a wheelchair to eat, it would mean you place your chair at the head of a table (if it is available) which results in the busy walkway being blocked. The walkways are busy, the staff and frenetically delivering food, cleaning tables, removing used plates/cutlery etc and the food hall is the main thoroughfare into and out of the venue, so people are constantly on the move all around you, so it's not a relaxing environment. All menus are on the walls next to each food station and each table has a QR code from which to scan and order what you'd like... All great for those who have excellent vision and technological know-how, but a blind guest would suffer if unaccompanied. No braille menus and not able to see a phone screen to place orders. I didn't notice a disabled toilet nor baby changing facilities, I can't say for definite that they don't exist, but they weren't visible if so. The main toilets are down approx 6 steps and then there is a bottle neck of people as there is quite a narrow but short corridor to the toilets, which means people are waiting for each other to pass. And 2 small sofas are placed in two small and dark waiting areas by the toilets too, which in an already crammed space with people bottle necked, seems like a good idea but in practise it just doesn't work. The sinks were still dirty from when it was a building site, with stains of plaster and paint in them. The male restrooms smelled fresh, only one cubicle though which is very limited for a large venue. Lastly, the music with a heavy beat wasn't in-keeping with a Thursday lunch time vibe, it was much better suited for a weekend night bar for those who wish to drink and dance. The music was very off-putting and created the wrong atmosphere for lunch.

Lots of room for improvement from a venue perspective but congrats to the staff and the eateries for delivering an impeccable service. Currently, I won't be back with my parents, older friends or those with mobility issues as it's wholly not suitable for them, which is a pity as they are the ones who would remember this old gem of a building as a cinema in their days in the 70s. I hope this is viewed as positive criticism and not just a lengthy nag, I wish this venue to be better so EVERYONE...

I was really looking forward to visiting the newly opened Albert Hall in Swansea, and there’s a lot to love about the space. It’s great to see an old building being brought back to life, and the staff were clearly working hard to keep things running smoothly. Plus, the food selection is impressively varied, which is always a bonus.

The Positives: The effort to transform this historic venue is commendable. It’s exciting to see it being used in a fresh way, and the team behind it seem to be working flat out. The range of food on offer is impressive, with something for just about every taste.

A Few Hiccups: That said, there are a few areas where things could improve. The toilet situation, for instance, felt a bit limited—only one cubicle for men and four for women, which doesn’t seem quite enough for a venue of this size. And with the toilets downstairs, it’s quite a trek if you’re sitting at the top bar.

The seating also wasn’t ideal. The long bench-style seating isn’t very accessible and felt a bit like a school canteen rather than a welcoming, social space.

Ordering drinks via QR code is a nice idea, but it wasn’t perfect—some items, like the Chieftain IPA, weren’t available through the system, so we had to go up to the bar anyway. Not a huge issue, but it did slow things down.

There was also a small technical glitch with a mouse cursor being left on the big screen, which was a bit distracting.

The Atmosphere: The music was a bit of a surprise for a Thursday evening—loud drum and bass at 6 pm didn’t quite fit the vibe I was expecting. A bit more variety might help set a more relaxed mood.

The Food: While there’s plenty of choice, some dishes seemed to be rushed. The flavours were good, but a few things weren’t quite right—overcooked pork in the souvlaki, soggy karaage chicken, and fries that weren’t crispy. It felt like they were trying to do a bit too much, which may be why not everything was as fresh as it could’ve been.

Overall: There’s real potential here, and with a few tweaks, the Albert Hall could be a fantastic spot. At the moment, it feels like they’re still ironing out the details, but I’m hopeful they’ll get there. The concept is great, and I’d love to see it become a regular...

The HOTTEST🔥 Foodie 😋address on Swansea's Map this Week!

Our first experience was very positive - after grand make-over historical Albert Hall looks amazing 🤩...but mainly of the front side! Interiors except of some original details and features here & there have been completely modernized. Good that some boards and screens with slide shows mention about rich heritage background of the building.

Let's focus now on the most important thing - F.O.O.D 👨‍🍳 We've got 8 stalls with quite decent street food selection. The good thing - same like with local First Food Hall 'Founders & Co.' is that all of them represent local or Welsh independent eateries. From Pizzas 🍕, through Greek🍢, American style Burgers🍔, Bao buns 🍙 & bubble tea, 🧋 to pastas 🍝, Indian Street food 🧆🪷, doughnuts 🍩 to cocktails 🍸, beer 🍺 and coffee at Bar and Cafe. We went with Burgers from Port Talbot based - Burger Boyz which basically wiped us out of the quality and taste (sorry Smokin' G - THIS ARE THE NEW KINGS 👑👑 in this kart of Wales!👌👌🫶🫶) Meanwhile we had two Pravhas 🍻 from Academy - on that point we realized that you have to pay some % of the total sum on bill to get order delivered 😳 ...very strange. Especially that it wasn't the fastest service (but very friendly and lovely we have to admit 🙂)

After getting drinks we place the request for some brand new Pizza 🍕 option with pumpkin base from Swansea's Jacks - Pizza Boyz which... unfortunately didn't work for us.

At the end we spoiled ourselves with Galaxy Salt Caramel Doughnut 🍩 from - unknown till now - Who Cult. Looked mouthwatering but dough was a bit to dry tbh.

No matter what it's superb and great that this venue get second life and definitely good for Swansea's Foodie scene to get another cool, trendy place to go.

We will definitely give another go as we are incredibly curious of other positions we couldn't try this time!

Huge congrats for owners and fingers crossed 🤞 for an awesome start in new...