Gathering Ground in Cardiff

We were so lucky to come across 4 Seasons one Sunday afternoon. The owner was just fantastic. He looked after us with exceptional warmth, cheer and speedy service. I can’t think of any other coffee place that comes close. The food was great, and the menu has something for everyone. Make use of the lovely window seats to watch the world go by. I will definitely be returning here, and highly recommend to others! Thank you so much.

Wonderful place for sandwich coffee and your dog/s. So close to roath park lake. Highly recommend. Staff lovely. Cakes 🍰 stunning. Honeycomb sponge and Victoria sponge. Great ambience. Will be coming back for definate. ** Ps - this is now called 4 seasons ** under new management. So ignore previous bad reviews, as almost never came. So glad we did. Little gem 💎

Gathering grounds has now changed hands to 4 Seasons coffee house, absolutely phenomenal food coffee. The staff are exceptional. It’s also dog friendly and very close to Roath Park Lake for a nice walk. Which highly recommend this coffee shop.

Following from my previous review of the disaster of the breakfast we were informed that they had replaced the chief and we were encouraged to try the breakfast again We visited this morning and I am pleased to report that the breakfast was back up to the high standard we had come to expect Good to be able to highly recommend the venue again

We have been coming to the cafe near Roath Park for years and have always enjoyed their breakfast. It used to be a set price, slightly more expensive but always well cooked, nicely presented and using good ingredients Last Friday morning we were looking forward to having our breakfast only to find that was no longer a set price but price per item. Fine but now for what we used to have it was more expensive. When it arrived we were appalled by what was served! The eggs were over done and hard, the bacon was burnt to a crisp, the mushrooms looked like they were left over from the previous day and the sausage was no longer a quality item but rathe a 100 for a £1.00. There was no thought to presentation as it appeared just to have been dumped on the plate. If this is the standard to which it has fallen we will no longer be having our breakfast there. How very sad to see the deterioration of a once fine cafe!

Never again. Went for a birthday breakfast with my daughter and her partner. Everything looked grubby, dirty tables covered in food and really sticky. Asked for a damp cloth to wipe it over. Cloth stank! Smelt fousty and well used. Went to the bathroom to wash the smell from my hands, filthy in there too. Build your own breakfast was shocking, so over priced. My daughter and I had poached eggs and avocado on a flatbread….looked great until we realised it was swimming in water because the eggs hadn’t been drained. I wish we’d left before ordering food as we really didn’t enjoy it having seen the state of the place. Won’t be back.

We visited around 11am on Sunday morning and bought a bottle of iced raspberry tea and a latte. We sat at a table and were told the latte would be brought over. The cafe was not very busy, one or two others came in after us and ordered drinks to take away and a couple of other people ordered and waited at another table. Most tables had dirty cups and plates on them and there was only one young member of staff at first who didn’t say they were busy or that our order would take a long time. The latte eventually arrived after 35 minutes with a half hearted apology. It was certainly not worth the wait as the coffee was very average and didn’t taste very good. So in summary, very poor service, nasty coffee and a dirty untidy cafe. Suffice to say we will never be returning and unless the service improves dramatically very quickly I would expect this establishment to close very soon.

What has happened to this place ? Used to be really good !!! Popped in this morning with my wife, they no longer do a cooked breakfast you have to build your own breakfast using individually priced items, hash browns £1.50 each etc really poor quality as well, was scared to order a type of full English as probably would have had to take a loan out !!! Young girl on the till was great, really miserable older lady was with her then she was in the kitchen cooking, food took a good 30 mins to arrive and when it came it was dreadful, they had messed the egg up so they did another egg but decided to leave the messed up one on the plate also. Bacon was burnt, everything tasted like it had been cooked in dirty oil, when I left there I really felt sick and had to eat something sweet to get the dirty oil taste out of my mouth, honestly was worse than a transport cafe !!! Probably won’t ever return here, my wife also had a go at me as her poached eggs were under done

This is a great spot for a coffee, or an iced coffee, but twice I’ve been and not had the best food. The portions are big in terms of everything you get (I think?) gets a nice side salad and some crisps, but the actual meals I’ve had haven’t been great. One time, my jacket potato was undercooked so was quite hard in the middle, and today I had a sandwich and the chicken and bacon was minimal. Coffee though, like I said, top-notch and can’t go wrong! But perhaps not the best place for lunch. If you’re in Whitchurch though, Coffi Lab across the road (not my fave coffee place) do great food and cakes, or Brook Bistro, albeit, a bit more expensive, so loooovely food!!

On arrival to the premises we asked for the menu and promptly told, “we are in the 21st century, it’s in the board”. We asked where the board was and the screens above behind the bar were pointed at. We ordered two drinks, ice cream and a brownie. The drinks were delicious but I had asked for three scoops of ice cream which looked like 2. I wouldn’t usually grumble but the ice cream was basic (nothing fancy) and it was almost £5. You can buy a full tub of Ben and Jerry’s for that price and I couldn’t get three full scoops. After asking for cakes on the menu and being told they don’t have them, I pointed at a brownie on the counter and asked what flavour it was. I was told it was Ferrero rocher, it was in fact a snickers one or at least trying to be snickers. It had nougat caramel and peanuts on top but not an identifiable chocolate topping. The brownie was also dry, cakey and not chocolaty. Not worth the £5 ish price tag. Overall, won’t be returning for seconds. Staff were friendly but not professional.

Not a bad location, but scruffy, sprawling and rude servers. It takes so long to get coffee out, then it's terrible anyway.

So this is a well placed spot near Roath Park, with another branch on Victoria Park. The quality ends there. Appalling service, mostly by disinterested children. Dodgy coffee and nothing “gourmet” about any of their grotty little cakes than the name, which the French would do well to patent as they did Champagne, based on the shocking misappropriation of the label at work here. The “manager” (invisible apart from on reviews here) takes it upon themself to aggressively reply to reviewers, who don’t get right of reply in turn. I doubt many people read the drivel produced, let alone understand it (barely literate) but the sage advice of the manager that plaintiffs “vote with feet” shall be followed. I intend to boycott this company based on this invitation. Good luck and good riddance.

I've been to this place 3 or 4 times in the last 6 months to give it a few chances. The coffee's not bad but the staff are just incompetent. Can you please give them some training? Most are very young and don't know how to greet someone, how to serve one person at a time, how to take an order politely, how to prioritise tasks or how to deliver orders efficiently. It's a shame because it's a nice location with lots of potential.

We visited for coffees and possibly lunch. The only menus were on a board and some of our group were not well-enough to be able to go and read them. So we abandoned lunch and just had coffees. Unfortunate but that's life. Coffees took ages to arrive. Staff seemed to be doing jobs which were not urgent in preference to making our coffees. The coffees were tasty and did arrive with a slight apology

Service was worst I’ve ever experienced. Staff laughed when asking about menu. Overheard staff slaying other staff members in front of us. Food was wrong and extremely poor. Would never return and would tell everyone else not to. All too busy slating staff and sorting the wrong food to care about service.

It’s a tardis! The size surprises you upon first going there. Excellent food, service and atmosphere in a superb location by Roath Park. I’ll definitely be coming back.

Visited today. Was going to have breakfast and asked if the bacon was smoked or not. The server didn't know and didn't bother to go and find out. Two sales lost.

For such a great park location the Food and coffee and customer service was disappointing and overpriced Dark and dingy atmosphere and no heating

Open till 5 but refused to serve us for a takeaway coffee15:40 as they were closing. Took my custom elsewhere.

Recently opened branch on Victoria Park. Overall appearance, the signage on the front looks cheap and rushed so it's disappointing to visually look at from the house. Went in regardless to support a local business. The bar woman made repeated eye contact but have no...

Favourite Cafe shop in Whitchurch. Great coffee, tasty food, lovely ambiance and friendly staff. Always enjoy dropping in.

Appalling Rudeness Never been treated with so much disrespect in a cafe ever ! Out for a pleasant lunchtime snack and chose this place as Dog Friendly Complained our food was inedible and tasted 'off ' sister and I left almost full plates Received aggressive...

Best place to grab a coffee and a bite to eat in Cardiff! Chilled sexy vibes only here with a lovely atmosphere and great staff- shout out to Hannah and Linda! Will be back!

My favourite cafe in Cardiff, great atmosphere, food is delicious, I especially recommend the Club sandwich! Fantastic service every time.

banging food i must be honest the CHEESE THE CHEESE it’s so mwa i loved the food and i think my dog liked the egg too :D highly recommend

Coffee at this place ok. Unfortunately the parking is awful. Got blocked in by a Chevrolet Matiz, the owner of which said the coffee shop car park was her driveway. Might go back but will take the bus.

Went for informal meal with drinks on a Friday night. Food and service was great and good value. Also live music -fab cover versions

This is a unisex toilet, but the floor was littered with small pieces of tissue. Obviously not checked regularly. Waitress who served us stank of stale smoke. Other waitress did not use tray at all. Coffee not bad, should be taught how to make a...

Just picked up a Caramel Latte for a walk around Roath Lake. Excellent tasting coffee as well as a friendly service. Love the deco inside and so nice to see dogs allowed in with their owners. Will be back for a sit inside next time....

Really friendly staff, clean, welcoming lovely coffee, great for peaceful people watch. Nice chocolate cakes too. Good music, pooch friendly, all rounder

Popped in with my wife for a quick lunch with a rare day off together. My wife went for the club sandwich which had burnt bread. Asked the waitress to change it and she looked at my wife like dirt. Could see the kitchen from...

Fantastic coffee and breakfast! They do a really good smashed avocado. Lovly outdoor seating. Worth a visit. Would 100% recommend.

Recently reopened (previously different owners and a different name). Nice rustic quirky decor with some unusual touches. Previously the cafe included its own items for sale, but the new ownership has done away with that and is purely a cafe. We'll spaced tables and an...