Craft In The Bay, Cardiff

Kemi’s Cafe in Cardiff Bay is one of my favorite daytime eateries in Cardiff. I like the relaxed atmosphere, the friendly staff, the interesting local arts and ’what’s on’ magazines but of course the main selling point is the food.
I usually go for a ‘salad feast’, which is a selection of the salad bar dishes, it certainly is generous and really nice after a walk across the barrier from Penarth. I’ve not had a whole cake for myself, but I’ve tried some and they are excellent.
Given that there is a lot of choice down in the Bay it is fair to say that there us a lot of competition, but I would say that for quality of the wholesome salads and prices it makes the best value choice. It has a nice feel about the place that I don’t find in most of the numerous chain restaurants just around the corner.

I should only really review the Cafe (Kemi’s Cafe) here rather than the arts and crafts area, as you could write everything I know about arts and crafts onto a small piece of tissue paper, but I do like eating, so the cafe, I can do.

It’s a little bit pricey, but it’s not bad for city centre prices and it’s worth it. There’s not a lot of what you’d call main meals but you could fill up on salads easily, but mainly you could skip all that and just get to the cakes, some of which are delicious.

This place is just over the road from the Opera House and round the corner from all the eateries on the waterfront, yet the fact of a 100 yard walk and a pedestrian crossing seems to put off a lot of passing trade. It’s a shame for the shop, but it does make it quieter.

In a slightly unusual position in the the centre of a busy road in the bay, this is a lovely glass and wooden building. The art and craft gallery inside is fantastic with regular artists displaying their work alongside occasional projects and displays. I’ve seem some great work here that has been in collaboration with local schools - there is usually something interesting to see. You can also purchase lots of the craft work from bags and clothes to kitchenware and furniture.

The cafe here is well worth a visit too. They offer really wholesome and interesting food. Lots of salads, quiche and soup. The salad bar is fantastic you can have a full salad or side salad with most dishes and choose to have a full mixture of all the different options or pick out the ones you like. Usually things like chargrilled vegetables, chickpea salads, beetroots, couscous, beans.. lots of colourful ways to get your 5 a day here! It’s not the cheapest cafe in the world but the portions are fantastic and they will pack up any leftovers for you to take home. Brilliant!

All the staff here are incredibly friendly and lovely. Very warm atmosphere.

Craft in The Bay is situated across from the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay. Set apart on a large road island is a surprisingly old building made of steel, glass and wood. This is mainly a gallery where you can view contemporary craft pieces or exhibitions by members of The Makers Guild in Wales, purchase something -as the gallery also serves as a shop- or attend a craft workshop. The gem for me is Kemis Café (which takes up the other part of the building). The lunch menu is a more wholesome one, freshly made and the salad dishes are put together in a more interesting way and I would definitely recommend trying the salads of the day. The cakes on display are also good. Order downstairs with seating upstairs give a great view of the Millennium Centre building and the Roahl Dahl Plass.