Chai Social in Cardiff

Went out for a meal last night at this restaurant, the food was absolutely fantastic and service was even better! Highly recommend if you are in Cardiff!

Great customer service and lovely food in a great location! Would definitely recommend. Very friendly atmosphere with authentic dishes with a modern restaurant feel. Felt welcome. I would recommend for families, date nights, and groups. Cocktails were delicious and 2 for 12£ is a bargain.

Good food particularly the mains that were delicate but traditional enough. Pleasant staff. Only drawback at the end (around 9:15-9:30) felt a bit rushed as they were tidying the place to close

We went here for lunch. the food was lovely. And the staff were some of the loveliest staff i have ever met in a restaurant. They were so lovely to our kids and even ended with a little dance and some lollipops. highly recommended

We only came here for drinks and although all of the food others were eating looked delicious, we found lots of small flies floating in our cocktails. Although the staff said that the flies may have landed in the drinks since arriving at our table, there were a few floating well beneath the ice that would have gone in the drink in the kitchen/at the bar. The staff were nice enough to take the cost of these off of our bill but it ruined the experience in the restaurant.

100% recommend this restaurant. Went for a spot of lunch and loved it! Delicious food and flavours with quick and friendly service. The restaurant is also clean and nicely decorated and has a good vibe. Would recommend the mango lassi, veg Manchurian and samosa with chickpea curry to start. 10/10 would absolutely come again!

Great customer service and to be honest this is the best place I ever been for food. Really quick service with funny environment. I suggest everyone whoever wants to have delicious food. Really amazing staff🔥😍

I ordered chili chicken and chicken noodles, and they were amazing. The chili chicken, in particular, brought back a wave of nostalgia.

Not too busy when we went in but got going shortly after. New owners from December 2023 and new menu. Some favourites still there. The food was great, clean and fresh and the service was with a smile 👍

Great experience once again. Authentic Indian meal. Staff are very friendly and polite. Suresh, manager of the restaurant, really attentive and suggested some great options. If you want to eat a proper Indian meal, visit Chai Social surely. Mango lassi is tasty. Cocktails 2 for £12 is defo a bargain.

A fantastic restaurant that I have returned to many times. Staff have always been very friendly, and service has been quick. The menu boasts a wide range of options (I can personally recommend the clay pot curries, such as the Seafood Medley). Prices are reasonable. The restaurant has a cozy atmosphere.

This restaurant has authentic north indian food. Food is full of flavours and so colourful.

Had a delicious meal here while visiting Cardiff! Staff was extremely helpful and patient with our family who had limited knowledge of the dishes. Waiter provided recommendations based on spiciness and gluten-free options. Didn’t have a kid menu but he knew exactly what to bring to keep our toddler happy and trying new things! Thank you!

This restaurant has authentic indian food. Food is full of flavours and so colourful. The service is also great. I really enjoyed eating here.

Unexpectedly good food - was particularly blown away by the starters (the dahi puri chaats are to die for!) and the chicken curries + naan bread we tried did not disappoint. Serving and staff 10/10 - super friendly, prompt and considerate. Highly recommend giving it a try!

Yet another wonderful experience at Chai Social. This is the fourth time I have visited and I’m never disappointed. The service is excellent, food is fresh, full of delicate flavour and delicious. I was especially grateful for the birthday desert and candle that was presented to me this evening. Thank you to all the wonderful staff. We will be seeing you again very soon.

What an amazing experience! Welcoming, great atmosphere and fantastic food. Thank you all from Nicki n Kat x

I'm thoroughly impressed by this place. Undeniably Indian but not like the traditional curry house. Chai Social has a lovely friendly informal feel and a menu with breakfast dishes, burgers AND curries. I think we'll be making a return visit soon! ...Several return visits later, this is definitely one of my favourite places to eat!

My boyfriend and I just came back from eating there and it was the loveliest time. Not only is the staff so caring and cheerfull but the ambiance is cosy and welcoming. Now for the food, we clearly were too ambitious (we had a cocktail each, both a starter and then main dish and a naan) but it was still so worth it. The food is tasteful, there's an attention to details in the presentation of the dishes and there are quite a lot of vegetarian options that just don't disappoint! Will be recommanding this place to friends and family and recommand it to all the foodies who love a good indian restaurant!

We've now been here a few times and can confirm they have consistency in the quality of their food, drinks, and service. Firstly I must start by saying this is an authentic indian restaurant, not a restaurant labelled as Indian but really serves bangladeshi cuisine. The head chef Raj is Punjabi, he and his team have served us some of the best indian food we have had in Cardiff. We are fortunate to have tasted authentic indian food in India itself and also in the UK in places such as Southall and in the midlands in Desi Pubs as they are known. Let's just say Chai Social saves us a motorway trip which we use to sometimes do just to get authentic Desi style food. Their menu may seem limited, but they are happy to make things off the menu, our favourites off the menu are Lamb Keema and Chicken Bhuna. The lamb chops and chicken tikka starters are also good orders. When it comes to vegetarian food they don't fail either, we love the manchurian and paneer, and all the veg curries we have tasted haven't let us down either. The naan is nicely light and crisp, not that thick doughy naan you get in some places. With drinks there is a good selection available, as well as 2 for £12 cocktails all day/night I believe. It's important to point out the cocktails are all freshly made and not used with those ready-made pouches you tend to see in pubs and bars. We've tried a few different ones over our visits and we have enjoyed them all, and well worth the money. They also have Kingfisher lager on draft and Camden IPA, both pour nicely and it's clear they maintain and clean out the lines regularly, which isn't always the case in restaurants. When it comes to service, we personally think it's as good as some top rated restaurants we've visited in the likes of central London. Nothing is ever too much, they are always friendly and happy to assist, and more importantly if there are any issues they are quick to act and rectify it. All in all, this is the indian restaurant Cardiff has been missing for some time, and I hope it starts getting the reputation and popularity it deserves. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed!

Nice pub nice and clean good pint,. And the food was good around the £15 mark well worth a visit,

We had a great experience in social chai The food was extremely delicious service was wonderful all the staff very friendly definitely we will visit again Thanks alot

We had jungli pot Lamb curry with Naan. Best Naan in town taste so fresh. Thank you for the delicous meal & warm hospitality. I would definitely recommend Chai Social to my network and community.

Enjoyed the good food, service and ambience Shoutout to Suresh bhai for his amazing hospitality. Must try place.

Amazing food, great ambiance, worth every penny. Great hospitality by Suresh and Raj, absolutely gem of a person.

Accomodating and welcoming staff. kids friendly Place. Thank you for looking after us. Best Indian food, Awesome music, Memorable dinning experience.

We recently celebrated a birthday party at Chai Social, and it was an unforgettable experience. From the moment we walked in, the warm and inviting ambiance set the perfect tone for our celebration. The decor is chic and modern, with a touch of cozy elegance that made everyone feel at home. The staff at Chai Social went above and beyond to ensure our party was a success. Their friendly and attentive service made us feel truly special. They were incredibly accommodating, helping us with every detail and ensuring that all our needs were met with a smile. The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the food. Every dish we tried was bursting with flavor and beautifully presented. The menu offers a delightful fusion of traditional and contemporary dishes, catering to a variety of tastes. Our guests raved about the delicious appetizers, flavorful mains, and decadent desserts. The chai, of course, was exceptional and added a unique touch to our celebration. We were also impressed with the way Chai Social handled our large group. The space was arranged perfectly, allowing us to socialise comfortably while still maintaining an intimate atmosphere. The thoughtful touches, like personalised service and attention to detail, made the birthday celebration even more memorable. They were also fantastic with our young children. Overall, Chai Social exceeded our expectations in every way. The combination of fantastic food, outstanding service, and a wonderful setting made for a perfect birthday party. We highly recommend Chai Social for any special occasion or simply for a delightful dining experience. We can't wait to return and create more wonderful memories here!

The taste of the food was great but I was highly disappointed with the service. If you are an Indian then please don't visit this place because they don't treat you like the locals. I would have given a 5 star review but given 1 just for their service.

Came to try their sunday thali menu. For the price, this was well worth it. The staff service was also excellent. A hidden gem!

Personable staff, well appointed dining room, and the food is always excellent.

Very tasty food, great service, nice cocktail selection. Good atmosphere, slightly expensive but worth it

Delicious food, excellent service from Tiwari who was very welcoming and attentive!

Really lovely vibe early on a Saturday evening. Had a good table in the window. Very friendly service. Range of curries was not huge but all well presented and tasty. Couple of comments: The more unique menu has been replaced by a more typical menu. Be aware of this. It felt a little rushed, probably a bit too rushed. More pricey than was expecting.

All dishes were amazing , I had lamb shank ( the special dish ) brilliant it was. Whole family of 7 enjoyed their meal even our picky ones

Enjoyed a wonderful meal at Chai Social. The food was delicious - 5 stars. Staff were incredible! Highly recommend you visit for a tasty Indian and quality experience.

Wow! What an incredible place. It was my first visit and I really felt at home. The food was piping hot, plates were hot, the staff were super friendly and accommodating. 10/10 I will be back!

Lovely food and lovelier staff, second time we’ve eaten from Chai Social and will definitely be returning! Very happy!

An amazing place with great staff, lovely food and very nice cocktails all for great prices! Highly recommended

One of the best Indian food I had in cardiff , cocktails 🍹 were also great , good atmosphere and service .

Can anyone enlighten me as to when Chai Social had changed their menu? I've always known it as a street food type of resturant and judging from all the photos assumed it still was! Me and my partner visited last night and I was surprised to see the change of menu and it fitted a more classic curry house which had we known, likely wouldn't have visited as this wasn't what we were looking for. Don't get me wrong the food was lovely and the service was brilliant, just left a little disappointed as it was not as we were hoping for!

Amazing food, service and atmosphere.. staff was very attentive and helpful. HIGHLY RECOMMEND..

1st time to chai social since it was “mint & mustard” Although new name, new owners and chef, it was lovely to be welcomed by a familiar friendly face. Great lunchtime menu (12-3pm). FOOD: We choose the “house chicken curry” & the “house lamb curry” We were asked our spice level (quite hot) Arrived in good time, boiling hot, nice presentation. Served with popadoms, rice and a naan. Plenty of succulent meat, perfect spice level and a truly fantastic authentic flavoursome curry (no floating oil or ghee) Drinks: Nice to have Camden IPA on tap. My wife also had an espresso martini for dessert which was very good too! ATMOSPHERE: attentive, friendly & happy staff. Pleasant decor. If I was to be the tiniest bit critical it would be the British 80’s playlist, would rather something a little more Bhangra/Sitar influenced. But honestly- that’s just me :-) Throughly recommended!!!! You will not be disappointed!!!

Delicious food. Lunch Menu excellent x

Highly recommend this venue. Fabulous food and attentive (and funny) staff. Went over and above for my partner with allergies - thank you. Photo is of the Chai Social Thali - yum 😋

One of the best places I’ve been to in Cardiff. The food had great flavour, the atmosphere was warm, and the staff just couldn’t do enough for you.

Thanks for letting us hire the back room for a private party. Food was great! Starters and main course. Nice amount of space. Many tables and chairs.

Very quick and attentive staff. A very relaxed atmosphere and the mains we had were very good. I had the railway curry. Pompadom chutneys were pretty tasteless and really measly portions. Save your money on those.

Lovely food and perfect service from all

Good menu selection and options for kids. Friendly staff and lovely interior. There's a few 2 hour free parking spots in the backstreets if you can't get anything on the main road.

I arrived here late with my partner, and they still said that they could serve us. The man that served us was so friendly and welcoming, and the food was amazing. I had the chicken Tikka, rice and nan bread, and my partner had the the chicken Tikka Buddha bowl. Absolutely gorgeous food. Decoration is lovely too. Can't wait to go here again.

Best biryani I have had in a very long time, with a delicious yogurt sauce!

We had a great evening at Chai Social ! Great food and atmosphere, friendly accommodating staff. We were a large party but all went smoothly. Will definitely go back .

The cauliflower Buddha bowl was fantastic, curry delicious. Really awesome place. Great interiors and friendly staff.

Lovely food, service, and good value for money

We had my daughter’s birthday meal here. The service & food were excellent! Very authentic Indian cuisine and very helpful Staff! They made an extra effort knowing it was my daughter’s birthday. It’s my favourite Indian restaurant in Cardiff!

Went for a quick lunch, pani puri, samosa and special Thali were all really good. Service was friendly and relaxed. Reasonable lunch menu.

Went for dinner with the family. Very nice atmosphere and good service. Starters were average. Dhai chat bomb was mainly yougurt needed more tamrind and spices. Chicken 65 wasn't nice. Saying that it is difficult to make.good chicken 65. Lamb was very good. Regarding mains the nans were excellent. The baigan was average and so was the chicken. In summary slightly above average Indian meal.

Food is delicious. Nice decor. Will be returning. Lovely addition to the neighbourhood.

Thank you so much to the team at Chai Social for delicious food served for our work event in Cardiff. Fantastic variety full of flavour and all served to cater superbly for over 30 people in the dedicated event room. We really appreciated the effort to cater for us and we were all so satisfied with the gorgeous food!

Lovely place for lunch. Great food choices and a good value lunchtime menu.. meal + drink for £10

Tonight was such a perfect evening. Their cocktails are expertly made. Food was brilliant. Such good value for money. Highly recommend. Great place for a party x

Used the back room for a work function requiring a PowerPoint presentation, the staff were really helpful in setting the room up and the food was excellent.

We had such a beautiful experience at this restaurant this evening. The service was superb the staff were exceptional and the food was a taste above the rest. Beautiful family meal. Beautiful ambience and 5*plus food. All recommended dishes were finger licking Can't recommend enough

Can't fault anything. The staff were brilliant, friendly. The food was lovely. Not your average curry, it's something a bit different & tasted amazing. They also do good cocktail offers. I'll definitely be going back!

The best food and cocktails we’ve tried in Cardiff. Having lived here nearly 5 years now we can’t believe we hadn’t been here sooner! We visited as a group of 4 and every single dish on the table was delicious. The cocktails were so flavoursome and unique, can’t wait to go back already! So reasonably priced for what you get and the staff were so lovely too. Couldn’t recommend this place enough ⭐️

Perfect place to Enjoy good food and drinks. Portions were huge as menu says small plates. Ordered pakora scotch egg and somasa chat, papadam with 3 chutney along with some wine. Chat was good but bit mild on spices makes that star of the menu( still i enjoyed though)and pakora was way too crispy and dense. Raj was great, good conversation & service was outstanding. Cant wait to try their other dishes this time. Need to get more friends so i can try other dishes same time.

Absolutely stellar experience. We spent 2 weeks in Cardiff and Chai Social, along with their other location Chai St. were by far the best meals we had during our stay. Friendly staff and excellent drinks made it all the better. If we find ourselves in Cardiff again, we will be sure to visit Chai Social. 🍻

This was the best food we had in Cardiff. No competition. Absolutely amazing. We are here 3 times in 7 days and might go back again for our last day.

Always so tasty and plenty of vegan options. Just missing a vegan dessert! 😊

AMAZING FOOD AMAZING STAFF AMAZING ATMOSPHERE Really clean, calm and warm atmosphere, really, really friendly and kind staff who work so hard to provide great service and the food is so flavourful with fantastic options for both vegans and meat eaters. The food is reasonably priced and the way that it is plated (beautiful plates/bowls) provides a really mindful eating experience. Would strongly recommend you don't miss this gem on Whitchurch road.

Second time visiting, Food was great again. So tasty! Drinks were fabulous, really nice cocktails. Service excellent, the staff are so friendly. Can't wait to return to try something new off the menu!

Very tasty and a range of different less common Indian dishes! Worth a visit!

Really nice place, met friends for food and a catch up, we weren't rushed, we were well looked after and the atmosphere lends itself to a really lovely, sociable evening with friends.

First time at Chai social today and loved the experience. The food was lovely, great flavours and textures . Excellent service . Highly recommended

Lovely experience from the moment we walked in. Warm, friendly & attentive staff, greeted with a smile. The food was gorgeous, the cocktails were delightful, & the atmosphere & background music set a perfect vibe for an enjoyable meal. Overall we will definitely be returning seeing as this is now local to us. Go check this place out.

We all had the best time, the service was amazing (our waiter was called Raj and he was so lovely and attentive)! The food was delicious, came quickly and was cooked fresh. Would highly recommend, we will be returning! From Sophie

Great taste, good atmosphere but they really need to work on their customer service. We weren’t served water or any plates. After our food arrived my partner had to go and specifically ask for plates. I could see that they were bringing in plates and poppadams which were on the house to every other table but we weren’t served any. Regardless, after we were done eating there was no clue of any server who would come and ask us if we needed anything or if we needed our bill. After waiting for a while my partner had to go up to the til and ask to pay there as the service was just not on point and we were tired of sitting and waiting around. On confronting one of the servers at the til my partner told him that they really needed to work on their customer service to which he replied that they didnt expect that much of crowd and thats why we weren’t served properly which doesnt really justify the situation. Nonetheless there food is good and if they want to keep up on their game they really need to improve their customer service.

My husband and I went there for the first time yesterday after arriving from Spain . We were hungry and decided to try it. We were so impressed with the service and the food . Swapnali escorted us to our table and looked after us all evening advising on dishes and serving us our delicious choices . We have had many curry dishes but honestly this restaurant is like no other . The flavours were amazingly different to others and definitely better . Thank you we will come back soon . Maha

Amazing place, so tasty, hit and fresh. Excellent service and a great meal! We will definitely be back!

Thank you Raj for the best Singapore sling outside Singapore. Fabulous food. Fabulous cocktails

Lovely staff and tasty food for affordable prices

Amazing afternoon, staff are very friendly and food was amazing. If you want great food and an amazing cocktail, highly recommended :)

Lovely place, Food was delicious.

Nice friendly staff and good food.

Had a lovely dinner and cocktails at Chai Social - delicious food and drink, really friendly and attentive staff and great atmosphere! Would definitely come here again !

Excellent food and service. The manager even let me take a beer glass of theirs home with me because I said I liked it. I would highly recommend.

I loved this place. Amazing atmosphere and friendly staff. The portions were generous and the food was delicious, specially the chana masala.

beautiful place, very expensive food.

Really enjoyed our food. Great friendly service and lovely atmosphere. Will be back when we're back in Cardiff!!

East meets West. An unusual fusion of Asian and Western food. Small plates tantalise your taste buds are just enough for starters. From vegetarian to one pot currys to burgers there is something to awakend everyone's taste buds. Our first visit to Chai Social but definitely not our last

I had the kerala fish curry in a pot can only say wow the best curry I've had, for a very long time. Sorry no pics you've got to go there.

Interesting and tasty presentation of Indian food. Can be expensive.

Had a few times take out but one day I had 10% discount and the other time no discount 😂 if you offer discount then should be continually.

Went in yesterday for their express lunch. Had amazing food and great value, will definitely be back!

Delicious food! Service with a smile 😊

Went here for a lovely Brunch. Atmosphere was fantastic really cozy, food was decently priced had the curry of the day for £7. Food was good portion was nice. Service was fantastic Grace was our waitress she brought us water in a jug and checked on us midway through our meal. Only lost a star because our dessert we had wasn't worth the money just being a sundae for £6.50 would realistically only pay £4 ish for it. Other than that really nice place would definitely visit again.

Lovely place to get some alternative curries

Delicious food, friendly service.

The food was tasty but over priced. 3 pakoras costing circa £6, a bowl of okra perhaps 5/6 pieces from the grocers chopped in half and fried in the same batter as the pakoras and weird Chicken stroke Mexican style mo mos. Really overpriced for what they were. My 'sticks' and ratatouille was tasty but £13 for so little meat was disappointing. WORST OF ALL was a little bowl of rice and 1 naan each costing £4. You might have no complaints but I won't be going back!!

Scrumptious food... Bang up to date. Great prices, particularly the express lunch. Fab staff who love to make you happy.