Fat Hippo Cardiff in Cardiff - Phone Number, Reservations, Reviews

Love the food here, extremely tasty and a favourite for all the family. We always try different things from the menu and they never disappoint. Ryan was our server and he was very professional, friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. Will be returning again very soon.

Love it. Ryan is the best server there!

Best burger in Cardiff, starters are amazing as well. Nice chill vibe and super helpful staff. We'll be back

Amazing experience food was very fast coming out. Luke was amazing very attentive along working this evening 🤍

Luke our server was amazing, very friendly and exceeded customer service and even made us laugh, great experience, will return

This was our first restaurant we tried in Wales, and what drew me in was the name, because I am obsessed with hippos! The staff was so welcoming and friendly. The food was amazing! The fat hippo sauce is so delicious. I’d love to come back.

Great lunch at Fat Hippo today, it was quite busy with only 2 staff members working but the service and food was great. Special shout out to Sarah the manager who was working really hard but making it look easy!

Very poor experience overall. Restaurant was quiet, but staff were much more interested in chatting to each other than serving customers. We noticed a distinct lack of food on other tables - that should have been a warning sign. After waiting over 30mins for our burgers, I complained. Our food then arrived shortly afterwards. I immediately sent the fries back because they were cold. The food is mediocre. Decent, but not worth the price. Places like this need to realise that if they want to charge £19 for a burger, the food quality and service need to be top-notch. Neither is applicable to the Fat Hippo. 20% was taken off the food bill due to my complaint about the wait time (it must happen often) so I have given 3 stars instead of 2 - at least they attempted to rectify the situation. Also, Deliveroo / Just Eat seem to take precedence over restaurant diners. Plenty of delivery drivers were served whereas nobody in the restaurant received food.

This place is the definition of quantity over quality, so if you are the type of person that prefers hoovering up flavourless slop over food made with flavour and seasoning then go right ahead. We made a booking with a special request and reminded our waiter as we arrived, all we wanted was our experience to be good and made with care and without fault. We arrived and the restaurant was basically empty which was great since we thought our orders would not need to be rushed, but would be made with care and come out in a reasonable time. We made our order of the PB+JJ burger as we specifically wanted a sweet burger to try, and the Fat Hippo along with dirty fries, dirty tater tots and a side of cheese sauce. We also requested if we could add pickles to the Fat Hippo burger. Our waiter assured us our order would be made perfectly and be out soon. The PB+JJ arrived WITH NO JAM, it was literally just peanut butter, and the signature Fat Hippo burger arrived with the most tiny measly squirt of Fat Hippo sauce, it was literally the size of a £1 coin. And worst of all, they forgot to even add pickles, such a small simple request and they could not get that right. Now lets get down the food quality, the burger patties were the school cafeteria quality, hard, dry, cardboard, no seasoning or flavour whatsoever, it was essentially a Rustlers burger patty. The "Cheese sauce" arrived with a hardened skin covering the top, and had not a hint of cheese flavour, some mystery yellow paste. The chips were soggy beyond recognition, if you are going to make loaded fries you need to make them crispy! The tots were unseasoned, the "bacon" on the tots was a joke, what even is that?? We called the waitress over and showed her the lack of fat hippo sauce on burger, she didnt even say sorry or wait to hear our next request, just walked off and grabbed some sauce for us and left the table again without making eye contact. We then had to call another waiter over and mentioned how we didnt get our simple pickle request and the PB+JJ had no bacon jam on it. He apologised and went to kitchen and brought back 4 slices of pickle and smoked chilli jello... no bacon jam. At this point we just wanted to leave, we ate the few crispy chips that were served and ate the onion rings from the Fat Hippo burger. I cannot stress enough how awful these burger patties were, like genuinely the driest, deadest patties I have ever had in a restaurant. Now the finale... I went to the bathroom before I left, and on my way back from the bathroom I caught the waitress eating fries from an order she was delivering from the kitchen whilst she was on the stairs. WHAT THE HELL??? This place SUCKS!!!!

Cicely and Luke were ace, food amazing will definitely be coming back

Lovely burgers, accommodating of my partners wish for no bun. Billie was great and friendly. Thanks will be back to try the lunch menu!

Our waitress Billie had fab recommendations for food. All arrived quickly and tasted great.

Great music, good value. Burger and was nice. I had the fat hippo burger which had BBQ pulled pork on. Selection of bottled and tinned craft ales About £16 from a main and a fiver for a drink

wings n tings starter was so dead tasted like the oil was years old felt almost sick after eating one wing (mind you i ordered bbq wings i got burnt fried chicken with chives and a side of bbq sauce) the best part of the meal was the elderflower blonde server was kind it’s a shame she has to serve food like that. i’ve now transitioned to become a vegetarian, life changing experience to say the least 🍃

I'll be honest, we came here because the Grazing Shed was closed at lunchtime for some reason, and I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a place of equal standing. Friendly and funny staff members, big juicy burgers and top notch shakes, what more could a guy want.

Service was particularly great. Ryan was super sweet, charming and good with banter, without being too much with it! Thank youuuuuu.x

Excellent all round . Superb friendly service , highly recommend.

Really good place to go. Meet and overall burger quality is exceptional, service is quick and price reasonable.

Had the hangover 2 loved it great friendly service thanks

Marcie ( I think that was her name ) and the bar staff are top notch the shake was good and the wild bill burger hit the spot

Jamie was brilliant, fantastic service.

Food absolutely amazing 🤩 haven't stopped thinking about those cheese balls since I had them burgers are stunning and there's plenty on the menu to choose from well worth the money staff really friendly can't wait to go again. Those cheese balls though 🤣😍

Service was great, but the food is just a letdown. Don’t be fooled by amazing instagram worthy photos of their burgers…. Beef burgers had that generic frozen taste of being bland, boring and tasteless. Fries were also just generic catering fries, absolutely nothing special about these. Even the bacon bits seemed like they’ve come out of some sort of catering bag and thrown onto them. It just felt like there should be a more fresher taste for the price you pay. Chicken was probably the best thing we had. Little bit oily but it wasn’t that bad. Wouldn’t visit again. Shame really since this place had some major hype when it opened. The staff on front of house were 10/10. And also drinks prices were reasonable for a ‘city’ restaurant.

We just had shakes and fries but it was very good. The loaded waffle fries were very spicy but delicious.

The staff were lovely, food was brought it in good timing and of course tasted amazing! We’ve missed this place after having two kids so it was a lovely first date day in a while!

Food was lovely! I had a chicken burger, the chicken was crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The purple slaw was crunchy and tasty and the fries were really nicely seasoned. Very filling and cooked fresh. I would come back if I come to Cardiff again.

As always great food and service, great selection to choose from so should be a burger for everyone's taste. Always busy so recommend booking ahead!

Food was really tasty, we had a nice meal

Amazing street food and great selection

Food was really good. Very nice atmosphere and Hannah’s service was great especially for a busy Saturday night! Thank you!

I have been here a few times. The food is always great and reasonably priced. Staff are always polite and helpful

If you are looking for a good burger this is the place.

The burgers and starters were unbelievable. Very well located with an interesting menu and options. But the service was a bit cold and tense.Despite that, in overall it was a great experience and recommend trying it out.

Luke was my server, he was lush. 10/10 would come again!!

Such a rude and disrespectful staff they even don’t know how to talk to someone such a disrespectful staff 👎

Firstly we were told we were not able to be seated in the half empty restaurant without a booking by the rude host (manager?), then we went elsewhere for a drink and looked at availability online to book for later in the day. To our surprise we were able to be seated in the next 15 minutes according to the online booking form. When we arrived back with our booking the same man told us we’d been assigned seating upstairs which was not open but he could seat us on a no show table. We were seated and ordered pretty quickly, our drinks and starter arrived promptly. Then an hour after being seated our mains were still missing. In this time, they had began seating parties upstairs to the area which we were told was closed?? The same rude host (manager?) approached us to explain there had been a mix up in the kitchen and unfortunately our mains had been missed but they were now priority in the kitchen and would be out shortly. Disappointing. To compensate he offered a round of drinks for free which we weren’t interested in so offered to waver the drinks we’d had off the bill. When the food did eventually arrive it was nothing more than bang average. An experience tainted by extremely poor service throughout, would not recommend and will not be returning, does not live up to the hype. Stick to Beefy Boys.

Our server Jamie was great. Very friendly and helpful. Food was great! But Jamie… some boi.

Highly reviewed place however, a little underwhelming. My vegetarian burger wasn’t great and the special kraken burger was tasty but poorly presented and bun was soggy. Also if you have a nut allergy they do not recommend you eat here and that’s not on their website so if you turn up they recommend you don’t eat.

Bangin, Jamie was our server and it was outstanding.

Jamie was our server, the food was incredible!

I had the Parmesan wings and they were bloody and raw. So disappointing as I usually love this restaurant but they were so unhelpful. The worst meals I’ve had

Burger was very gracey. Chips was very little and cold. Would I order again probably No. Was it good value for money I would say No.

Best service I’ve ever had from anywhere, Luke was amazing!

Food was amazing and the service by Luke was even better. 10/10 highly recommend

Visited yesterday and got to say after being before I was massively disappointed. There was not a clean table in sight when we were seated. Order was taken swiftly with no problems at all. Now to the food.. we ordered cheese balls as a starter which are usually hot and gooey but these were really poor one was cold in the middle and the other was just a ball of batter with no cheese. Told the waiter and he took £1.40 off our bill for the ball of batter. Problem rectified swiftly. However after waiting almost an hour for the burgers the main reason why we visit they were awful. Really dry and overcooked with hard bits of char I’m assuming was off the grill. Table check was done after I ate about 6 potato tots which I will say is the only saving grace to our visit. Then as I was still trying to eat the burger my bill was brought over to me without even asking for it as if they were rushing us out. I know it’s a 75 minute limit but they took 60 minutes to give us our burger! Overall cleanliness has gone downhill the men’s toilets were disguting. Really poor visit :(

Food was very dry and burger burnt.

You may forget two bottles of coke

Food was delicious and great service 😋

The best veggie burger I’ve had in a while 🤤

brillant customer service thankyou to luke!!

Very nice waiter and quick service great experience all round!

Lovely! Our sever Luke was so helpful :)

Great food as usual and friendly service!

Exceptional burger could do with a having a Guinness or similar beer on the menu though, but other than that fantastic

the food was absolutely amazing! although they had run out of milkshake we were definitely compensated for the inconvenience!

Our server billie was amazing, food was lovely

Luke was super helpful, lovely fast and friendly service!! Will be coming back

Luke was amazing, very cheerful, chatty and polite

For fans of Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Fat Hippo takes it to the next level. Their menu is incredible, the service is excellent, and you’ll be sure to have a fantastic night out in the heart of Cardiff. The staff are so friendly and accommodating, Luke in particular helped make ours such a lovely experience.

Very friendly and fast service was provided. Luke gave fast and friendly service and made both my sister and I feel very welcome. Will definitely come back again.

Came here had great service our server Luke was great and the food was lush and got your money’s worth

Very tasty burgers. Service was a little slow but the staff were very friendly and welcoming to us and our Labrador (who thought the food was excellent)

Fantastic food and lovely friendly service from Luke. Thank you

Luke has been very friendly and warming. Will be back :)

Food was really nice. Service a bit rushed and dramatic , we were in the middle of our starters when our mains came in. But overall really nice place. Reasonably price as well for what you get. Will deffo return!

luke was very attentive and welcoming .food was absolutely gorgeous for first time vist we will definitely be visiting again next time we come to Cardiff

Luke was lovely, a warm and fast welcome and took our orders quickly, food was great, definitely recommend 👌

Like was attentive and fantastic, food and drinks were brought out quick and tasted great. Definitely will come back

Absolutely excellent. Delicious burgers, my bf loved the Kraken one. Massive shout out to Luke for his great service and happy personality.

Luke was a very friendly and happy server who made the experience fantastic. Food was amazing. Thank you ☺️

Really good food, lovely staff but waited 40 minutes for food and people arriving after us were served their food before us dampened the mood

Food was lovely. As a big fan of burgers, this easily ranks amongst the best I’ve had. Chicken wings for starter which were also quality and the sauces were excellent. Whilst the servers were nice, and clearly doing their best, they were massively understaffed so everything took much longer than it should’ve. Simple requests such as extra napkins went unfulfilled and ended up having to get up and pay as we may have had to set up a bed if waiting for the card machine to be brought over.

Amazing food. Great play list. Service was great Molli was incredible

Great service&food was lovely and our waitress molli was really helpful :)

First time eating here and the vegan options were excellent, Staff knowledgeable regarding vegan. Throughly recommend. Thanks Molly

Visited Fat Hippo for dinner this evening and from start to finish the service was 10/10. Luke served us and went above and beyond to ensure our dining experience was excellent - drinks arrived really quickly, he was happy to give recommendations and was chatty and friendly without being intrusive. The food itself was delish! My boyfriend had the crack wings to start and then the Swiss Tony burger with fries - the burger almost defeated him but, in his words, it was too nice not to finish. I opted for the Wild Bill burger, on Luke’s recommendation, which I had with waffle fries - both were incredible and I would definitely recommend them. Overall, a fab (and messy) dining experience. Thank you.

I was just indifferent about this venue, the staff were lovely and very helpful with the menu but the food was just average and the Tata tots were bland

Well, where do we start. The menu has good options. The staff serving were friendly. Now the bad and there is a lot We arrived and had a drink while ordering. We were told that we needed to pay first as we were sitting outside. Which we understood. We placed our order. They asked if we wanted our starters first, then the mains. After we had finished. The mains arrived while eating the starters. The mains were completely wrong. We ordered loaded fries and extra onion rings, we asked for different burgers each, but we ended up with the same ones. I asked to speak to the manager and he came to the table. He said he could not process a refund for the missing items or incorrect food received as we had already paid. So we agreed on another round of drinks to offset the missing parts on the order, and the wrong items have been sent out. The restaurant was not busy, so there is no excuse. We then started to eat the main course. It was not good or even taste nice. The fries were scabby and bland. The burger tasted of nothing but grease. The burgers were thin and did not taste of beef. The onion rings were dripping in deep-fried fat. I asked again to speak to the staff and the manager refused to come and talk to me. So I went into the restaurant to speak to him for the second time. He refused to listen and said he had sorted the issue. I said he had only sorted the incorrect order. I asked for the number to complain, which he refused and just said it was on the Web page. For nearly £90 we spent. I would have expected more from a gourmet meal. I wish I had gone to Burger King round the corner.

Amazing burger and the service was first class! Thanks Cicely 😊

Food is amazing as always, service has improved massively since February's visit. Love this place

jess was amazing, very friendly and patient. no complaints from us, food was perfect & store is always clean! thank you for making our eat out enjoyable.

Wow, insane burgers and the fried pickles are the best......lovely atmosphere and fab service

The Hippo Vs Kraken burger was a piece of culinary art. A great collaboration between the Fat Hippo and Kraken Rum. We had an awesome experience with great service by the team. Jamie, Tay and Molly were very welcoming, friendly and attentive.

The chicken wings were too oily and the oil was soo thick and sticky which indicates that oil was old enough. The wings itself were smelling may be due to old brined product or chicken was not washed properly before marinating. As well as the same chicken was used for burger which I didn’t even ate a bite. The second star is just for the cheese balls which was fantastic, sometimes I haven’t tried before, sauce was the MVP. Service was too slow when there were not a lot of people dining in , in compared to the people in the front of the house. Overall a bad experience. Hope so it will change.

Last night I went into the Fat Hippo bar in Cardiff on a whim, and I’m so lucky I chose there. I was nearly in tears after finding a Taylor Swift ticket I bought was a scam and was headed back to Bristol with my tail between my legs. I only had about 20% battery and was worried about getting home safely with not much battery, so I asked if I could charge my phone behind the bar. Elle very kindly put my phone in the office to keep it safe and was just generally had a very caring and loving demeanour. Jamie, the security guard, kept me company and gave me a lot of reassurance. I was scared being in a city I didn’t know, especially because I was on my own as well, but Elle & Jamie made me feel really safe. I’m so lucky to have picked a place with such kind staff :) If Elle or Jamie see this - thank you so much. You deserve all the best things in life! I did actually bump into a friend who had a spare ticket so I was still able to go to the concert after all and got home safely - a very happy ending! :)

Loved it, Cicely was a great server

Amy was very attentive and lovely! Made my sister’s birthday special :)

Amazing experience yet again. Can't wait to come back. X

I didn’t know you could ruin fried pickles. The chicken sandwiches were terrible. Undercooked pickles, overcooked rubbery chicken, dry dusty bun, soggy tater tots…

Jemma was very pleasant and attentive even with my 3yr old granddaughter. Thanks jemma

Jess was amazing, very friendly and approachable and knowledgeable on the menu. Excellent meal out, 10/10!

Tay Tay Was the best member of staff, Served with a Smile and really made both of us feel comfortable.

Visited for a birthday meal. Lovely burger with great portions. Jess, our waitress, was very friendly and attentive! Must visit if in Cardiff!

Jess was absolutely fantastic. Very attentive and knowledgeable about the food. No question was too much. Excellent customer service and a real gem.

Jess was amazing, very friendly and explained everything thouroughly. Thank you!!

Fantastic service from Brandon and amazing tater tots will be recommending this place to my friends. Would come back for the service alone

Had a delicious burger and fries for lunch for £8.50. Lager beer was also delicious 😋. Very dog ​​friendly and the staff is also very nice

Best burger I’ve ever had! It was super busy and staff were run off their feet but still had service with a smile, check backs and the food was amazing. Will be recommending to everyone we know. The frickles were delicious. Thank you!

Great place to go for burgers, plenty of options and extras available. Very good prices for the amount and quality of food you get, will definitely be returning

Finally went to the restaurant and it didn't disappoint. The service was amazing and the food was incredible. Going back there in a few days and I can't wait 🤤