Giovanni's In The Bay in Cardiff

Absolutely delicious food, the ingredients tasted of good quality and fresh, very very polite staff warm friendly welcome, service was excellent also. So happy to have gone in here on spur of the moment, would highly recommend to anyone visiting Cardiff Bay, kudos to the chef :) we will be back for lamb and sea bass

Lovely food, nice atmosphere, good service.

Fantastic place to have dinner either as a family or celebration event. We ordered the Meat Planko which was great value given the size of the group

Went here with friends on a Saturday night and the atmosphere was lovely, there was live music which wasn't too loud. The staff were lovely and the food was delicious!

First time visiting, service was really good and friendly, food was lovely had the carbonara & a calzone

Had a lovely meal before going to WMC last night. Very busy night but great experience and personal touch. Beautiful atmosphere, friendly and helpful staff from management to table service. Delicious meal. Highly recommended.

2 night stay this weekend and Giovanni's was that good we ate here both nights! Staff were lovely, food was incredible and the atmosphere was really quite romantic. Amazing job guys. We will be back 🥰

Booked a table. Arrived about10 minutes early to be told we shouldn't expect our table to be ready. Shown to a table. They are very close together, not much space to take coats off and sit. We then sat for 25 minutes without any acknowledgement from any waiters, tried in vain to catch their attention. Didn't even take our drink order so we left.

Ignored for 25 minutes so left without ordering

What an amazing afternoon tea. The 2 of us visited Giovanni's after popping in for a quick bite to eat before a show and noticing that they offered an Italian Afternoon Tea. The Afternoon Tea was perfectly presented. They put a great twist on the traditional afternoon tea. First with 2 huge Italian ciabatta sandwiches that could have been a meal by itself. Then with a plate full of antipasti with meats, olives and a burrata salad. Then with the most perfect plate of desserts. The sandwiches were so fresh. The meats were a great addition. But the star of the show was the dessert plate. We had cannolis, pistachio cheesecake, homemade profiteroles and the most divine tiramisu. The profiteroles were homemade and the most amazing profiteroles we have ever had. The tiramisu was absolutely incredible. I wish there was a way to order a tray of it for takeaway on a monthly (probably weekly) subscription. The price included a welcome drink of prosecco or a non alcoholic substitute and unlimited coffee or tea. We also had the pleasure of meeting Giovanni who was kind enough to make the time to come and say hello. The other staff were very attentive and could not do enough to make the experience so perfect. We will definitely be back for the afternoon tea very soon.

We had a meal starter and main but the food was disappointing starter was nice but main let it down chicken was bland chilli sauce was nice paster was hard so we both left main meal staff were great can’t fault service we did not complain maybe we should have would I go again?

Blevin made sure our meal was exceptional. Fast service, fresh and hot food within minutes. Nothing was too much to ask and very extremely knowledgeable on all dishes. Very reasonable prices for the quality of food that we were presented with. 2 words to top this shiney 5 star review off ……. Powerful chef 👏

Amazing service from the staff at Giovanni's, especially from the manager. Will definitely be returning; the food was great. I will definitely recommend the restaurant to all my friends.

Me and my girlfriend went in for a few drinks before seeing Hamilton and everyone was amazing! The view was amazing, good prices and the staff couldn’t do enough for us! We were so impressed we went back after the show for some more drinks and a pizza, which tasted delicious! Special shout of to Bleddyn he was amazing and will be one of many reasons we return in the future!

Great food, service was okay but beautiful restaurant with great location

Made so welcome as soon as we walked through the door. Service was exceptional- food equally so. Special mention to Darren for attention to detail and for making us feel special . Thank you . Oh and their choice of music was superb x

What a wonderful place to eat!! A big thank to Bleddyn and Darren and girls for making it a memorable occasion

Wonderful, tasty food with good portion sizes. Bleddyn and Darren were wonderful hosts and made us feel like part of the family.

I asked to go Italian for a birthday celebration. This was an enjoyable surprise. We were offered a corner table. The staff were all very friendly and gave us plenty of time to choose our meals. The meals were excellent, and the child's portion was very welcome. Dessert was an ideal way to round off the meal.

We have had a nice Christmas works meal here a few years ago so thought it would be nice to come back with the family for a pre theatre meal birthday treat. Wow.....the power of the old fashioned good 'maitre d' customer service to transform a restaurant is oh so apparent here. Yes the location is excellent, the food is well cooked, varied and the standard price range for good Italian food. But....the whole experience is so so much better when you apply good attention to detail in the restaurant area, great management and excellent friendly customer service. The relatively newly installed manager Blethyn should be applauded for the dining experience he provided and the absolute delight he had in making our birthday family member extra special. Food was served quickly (which is always important for a pre theatre meal). The spicy risotto and the lamb linguini were also highlights for us. All in all the meal made the whole evening so much better and we were just about to see Hamilton (so that has to be high praise!). So good in fact, we came back afterwards for dessert and coffees. I can report that the tiramisu and coffee were both up to authentic Italian standards! Thank you Blethyn and all the staff, we will definitely be back soon. Long live the old ways of treating your customers with kindness respect and a good dose of Welsh & Italian humour. Bravo!

This place felt like a real punch in the gut. I honestly don’t know what’s going on here. The starter was OK, but everything quickly went downhill from there. The menu states that the pasta dishes are to be shared. The waiter asked if we'll be sharing the pasta. You tell me Mr Waiter, it says to share so I guess we're sharing. To share? To share!? Maybe between two 8-year-olds, but that’s about it. I couldn’t believe the portion size. I now ordered the rigatoni with artichoke and cheese, and, well… that’s all I got. It was as plain as can be — completely void of any soul. Seriously, did I just pay £18 for what was essentially a bowl of bland pasta? I later heard that staff had downplayed the “sharing” aspect and were apparently more open about the portion size when asked. But nobody mentioned how small the portions actually were. The side dish? Just a pool of overpriced oil. Can dessert save this place? Well, before that, I had to deal with the staff. The first waiter was great — maybe *too* great, to be honest. He wouldn’t stop trying to make conversation (probably because it was a bit quiet). The second waiter, though… I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. After some awkward smiling and nodding, my dessert finally arrived. It was pure sugar — beyond sweet. Sickly, even.

Too quiet to have any atmosphere. Great staff though

Fantastic always a great welcome and great food 😀

I really liked the place, and I was very well attended by Kams, she is very attentive and polite.

The food is not worth the price The music was a bit loud as well

Had a great time at Giovanni’s in the Bay! The service was fast and friendly. Marvin was especially awesome, even offering to take our pictures. The atmosphere was relaxed and cozy, and the steak was spot on. Definitely a place I’ll be coming back to!

A large group of us (10+) and 3 infants had lunch here and would highly recommend to anyone. The service was impeccable, and all staff were accommodating to the needs of the children. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was lovely. Would definitely eat here again if I was in the area.

Delicious food with a very sweet and welcoming. Was an amazing night at Giovanni’s .. a very special mention to who looked after me all night. Nothing was too much trouble for kamakshi and the rest of the staff. Kams was quick with the food serving and also a very welcoming staff who kept atmosphere alive for us.

Our party of 4 attended for a pre theatre meal, we had the most delicious meal, a massive Thankyou to all of the staff in the restaurant! A member of our party is non verbal autistic who is fussy with food and the staff at this restaurant could not be more accommodating if they tried! It made the whole experience fantastic, we will be back!

We were entertained! Not local and happened to stumble across the restaurant on our way back to our hotel… whilst the music was very loud, the disco ball quite distracting, the staff were great, and the food was decent, although on the expensive side. The guy singing had a great voice, but it was just all quite a random experience.

An amazing night at Giovanni’s at the bay. Amazing service by Bleddyn, Kamakshi and a very special mention to Darren who looked after us all night. Nothing was too much trouble for Darren and the rest of the staff. We also met Giovanni last night who took the time to go round the tables and check in on everyone. An amazing night at an amazing restaurant!

Great service by Kams, Braddyn and Darren. Great team great location. Thank you

Left waiting in the doorway, ignored by several members of staff. Squeezed onto a table between two large groups, who were both visible uncomfortably with being asked to squeeze up. Food mediocre to bland, staff friendly but not as pro active as they could have been. Won’t be returning.

Went on a Saturday night without a booking. They managed to squeeze us in which was great but then it felt like they forgot about us. Whilst the staff were all friendly, the service was largely inattentive and we had to flag down people. Communication between staff was minimal as we ordered food and drinks after calling someone over and then were asked later if we had even ordered. Food was pretty average and overpriced for what we received. I had lasagne which was fine, my mum has rigatoni with artichokes which was tasteless and it took us 5 minutes to get someones attention to just bring us seasoning. Overall a bit disappointing but to reiterate when we did speak to staff they were friendly and helpful, just could have been better organized

Not good at all food food was terrible

Had a lovely lunch before the theatre. Can highly recommend the Bistecca della casa . Amazing atmosphere. Staff go out of their way to be friendly A great place to go

We have just had a great experience at Giovanni's in the bay. Wandered around Cardiff bay looking for some food. Nothing jumping out at us. Walking back to the hotel, saw the festoon lights by the fountains. Glad we did as it was superb. Cracking welcome from the start. Lovely food, great atmosphere. Everyone very friendly , helpful and attentive. Thanks Giovanni's.👍👍

Excellent pasta, perhaps if it arrived warmer, it would have been even better, but it may have been a one-off.

Excellent position, service and food. Will definitely return.

We'd hoped to enjoy a good pasta meal on Satuday night before this weekend's Cardiff half marathon. Unfortunately whoever the live singer at Gionanni's was, had other ideas. The sound was set at concert level volume and the vocalist was not exactly blessed with a fine singing voice one associates with the Welsh. We sat down for all of 2 minutes and left the restaurant without ordering. The food looked great, but all in all it was an utter disaster. We were really really disappointed as we were unable to get a good pre-race pasta in due to all other restaurants being fully booked. I'm all for a live music at, but it must compliment the meal, not completely overwhelm it. You seriously need to rethink what you put on as entertainment if that's the standard Saturday fare.

Food is excellent. visiting for the weekend and it was the only place still serving food after 9pm. Calzone had the lightest pastry which made it easy eating for someone that suffers from IBS. Pizza tasty and daughter loved the polpette casa-homemade meatballs.

Such beautiful food. The staff are simply amazing. Made our night so very special. Thank you so much.

Amazing day out with the family. Service was excellent. Darren and Marvin made us feel extremely welcome and were super helpful. Bleddyn the manager came over numerous times and was super friendly! Dessert were to die for. Cannot fault the food at all!

Absolutely superb. From the service to the food. 100% recommend this place. Special mention to Darren outstanding service

We almost licked the plate—the carbonara was amazing! Paired with a great Sicilian wine, with fantastic service from Marvin. A great diversion on a rainy night in Cardiff!

I would give Giovannis a 10 if I could! Fab Carbonara, Caprese Salad, and excellent service from Marvin! We ordered a nice Sicilian wine to pair with the meal—outstanding.

Pumping playlists make this the place for party people who are pedants for Peroni, butterless potatoes and people watching. One of the most exquisite balsamic vinegars I’ve ever chugged though

Always great food and service at Giovanni's x

We organised a 16th party for our daughter and five friends and took her to Giovanni‘s in the Bay. They were treated to an amazing experience making their own pizzas with Chef Ali in the kitchen, followed by being taught how to make various mocktails by bartender Gabriel. Bleddyn, who managed the whole experience, made sure that everything went off absolutely faultlessly and looked after the girls so well. Nothing was rushed at any point in the whole experience, there was plenty of time for photographs and the girls simply had an amazing time. This is just a great venue for this and so much more. Giovanni himself came in to say hello and made a real fuss of the group, and the staff also presented her with a birthday card. We can’t thank Giovanni and the team enough – this was truly a very special 16th birthday experience.

Great food and excellent service! A very warm welcome by Darren, who served us. Nice atmosphere. Definitely worth a visit!

Absolutely awful experience dining here on a rare date night with my partner. We were greeted by grumpy staff and chaos having made a booking in advance. The service was pretty poor. We got our starters after a bit of a wait but the wait after that for our mains was ridiculous- over an hour and a half went by until I finally complained. We weren't offered any drinks (even tap water) no one apologised for the delay just asked us what we were waiting for... Eventually we were given free drinks and finally our mains arrived... the potatoes and asparagus were very undercooked, the lamb was cold and the sauce wasn't very well made either, we'd ordered a special priced at £30! We decided to not eat our mains and refused to pay for them so ended up spending £33 on 2 drinks and 2 starters and went home very hungry and annoyed. Especially as we were late for our babysitter! Didn't receive much of an apology just that they were training new chefs... AVOID!

Lovely food and a great placed location for The Millennium Centre.

Gorgeous interior upstairs, relaxing space to eat with great music. Good choice of dishes on the menu. Delicious food and outstanding service. Staff were friendly and informative. The outdoor area looked lovely with plenty of seating next to the fountain and lots of flowers. Highly recommend.

We had a wonderful family meal here. Delicious food, beautiful location and the staff couldn't have been kinder to us and the kids. We'll definitely be back next time we visit Cardiff.

We had a great experience, the food was good and all the staff were excellent. We were served by Adewale who was very attentive, friendly & made a delicious tiramisu

We went for dinner after a show at the Millenium Centre and had an amazing time. Staff were fabulous , nothing was too much trouble, and we were very well looked after. The food was absolutely fantastic, piping hot when served and the best I have eaten in an Italian restaurant in the UK.

Fantastic evening, they had a live singer outside which gave the pace a real buzz, the food was great very tasty, service was excellent thanks to our waiter Darren he made the evening, highly recommend this restaurant Thanks Neil

We were just there for a drink. The service was very slow. I think we had been forgotten. The furniture was not in very good condition and the place was a bit dirty.

Fantastic evening, the food was amazing, they had live music which was a nice touch service was excellent thanks to Darren our waiter who really looked after us highly recommend this restaurant.

Walked past here Saturday night, they had a live singer outside who was brilliant. Atmosphere was so great we stayed for the food (best pizza have eaten!) and drinks, service was brilliant, everyone so friendly, it was a beautiful setting outside in the sunshine! Thank you for your hospitality!

Great service, good food, clean and well priced. Had a fabulous lunch and Bleddyn was great! Thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Tonight was our youngest daughter’s 13th Birthday and she chose to dine here at Giovanni’s.. from the moment we entered the building the atentativeness was second to none, pizza’s all round and I had the seafood linguini. Being a very rare fussy and passionate chef I would always make criticism, whether good or bad but I have to say it was excellent, flavoursome, plenty and seafood cooked to perfection. Big THANKS to Giovanni himself for joining us and sharing some of his life’s stories it was lovely to meet you. Also thanks to the Welsh manager whose efforts are clearly outstanding.. we will be back.

We went down the bay for a change usually go to the city restaurant it was well worth it thanks to Darren our waiter will be back missed the live music hopefully see it next time

Absolutely awful food. They did remove the cost of one plate of food from the bill, we didn't complain about the other disappointing food, but then added a service charge of nearly £10 negating the refund! It was my daughter's graduation meal and a very rare treat for us but the restaurant experience spoilt our much hoped for evening. So upset at £104 for appalling food all round. Sorry.

Unfortunately a disappointing dining experience, considering we had received recommendations on this place from several people. Initially service was quite good when we arrived, and the drinks were nice. However, things quickly went downhill after we ordered food. We ordered our appetizers and mains at 6:00 - mains did not arrive until 7:15. I am honestly not sure if perhaps there was just an error somewhere and the order wasn't placed, but we received our apps in a reasonable amount of time so I couldn't know for certain. The staff we approached with concerns about our wait time were all lovely, and did comp us a free glass of prosecco for our wait. We did also overhear a neighbouring table growing frustrated with how slow the service they received was as well. Once the food arrived we were disappointed by the quality, and one of the orders came out incorrectly and had to be sent back. There was not much flavour to any of the dishes and the plating felt more like someone put leftovers in a bowl and warmed it up. Given the price point for the pasta dishes I expected a lot better quality. All in all, friendly servers but the actual delivery of service and the quality of food makes this one place in the Bay we will not be returning to.

My favourite restaurant. Beautifully situated on edge of Mermaid Quay with nearby WMC. Friendly and attentive staff, noting too much trouble. Great menus and dishes of the day - mouth watering and beautifully presented. Great cocktails, wines, and liqueur coffees.

Giovanni's has been a fixture in Cardiff for decades now and while The Hayes and Park Place restaurants are classic Italian in the best way, the one in the The Bay puts a fresh spin on the Giovanni brand and Italian food in general! The restaurant itself is gorgeous, with some of the coolest design work in town; from the warm lighting to the incredible views to the hanging plants that abound… It’s a vibe and a half, and I’m here for it. Beyond that, the food is (as always when it comes to Giovanni’s) incredible. I mean it when I say; no one in Cardiff knows how to cook pasta like they do. I ate my way through Italy last summer and you’d be forgiven for thinking that a dinner from Gio’s actually came straight over from the home country. (That sounds like hyperbole, but it’s not). Further building on that authentic feel is the staff; everyone who works here actually seems excited to cater to the customer, to make them feel taken care of and special, even if only for a few hours. They truly enjoy serving you (unlike most restaurants these days) and it shows from start to finish. This type of service is lost nowadays, outside of Giovanni’s at least. Oh, one last thing: don’t sleep on the pistachio cake. Genuinely life changing. Suffice to say, I absolutely love this place =)

Lovely meal & location was fab ! Try the cocktails 🍹. Staff were lovely as you would expect. 5 stars 🌟

Very small menu with limited vegetarian options. Tables too close together and uncomfortable. Nobody asked us if we wanted a drink for over 20 minutes. Glad I know that the two in Central Cardiff are far better.

Dreadful not worth the one star

Fantastic atmosphere and location. Amazing service

How does an Italian restaurant "run out" of pizza by 6pm on a Saturday?

Watery pizza, tasted like it was frozen. Not recommended

Good food for sure, but an hour and a quarter to the table, poor. Not recommended.

Nice food but a bit pricy imo for a pasta dish/wine especially with 10% service charge.

Once again fantastic food and service, Rodger always friendly and professional, a pleasure to dine at this place.

We traveled 100 miles to Cardiff for a couple of days and we decided to have a Italian meal , but we were not impressed with the food a couple of us had a chicken meal but the actual chicken was over cooked and not worth the money so I don’t think we will be going back any time soon, you are talking about £35 pound each and it wasn’t worth that ,but I will say the gentleman that took our order was very good

Quaint restaurant overlooking the Bay in Cardiff. Food was delicious. Tender lamb shank and lovely carbonara. Friendly staff.

Booked a table. Staff attentive and we had a very good meal before going to the Millennium Centre. I would recommend going here pre concert.

Burnt Pizzas, hard crust they would be better buying in pizzas from Tesco and cooking them as they can't make good ones themselves. No response to our complaint - Disgusted! Expensive for poor food Hardly any room to sit comfortably Restaurant was very Noisy

Amazing team at Giovanni’s. Disabled access is fantastic with a lift available to the upper deck. They were brilliant with our babies and very accommodating. I would highly recommend this venue for a family meal. Food was amazing service brilliant and a great atmosphere created by the staff.

Had an absolutely amazing experience here this evening. Food was great, ambiance fantastic, and the staff are incredible. I realised it was evening prayer time and I asked one of the members of staff if he had a small area for me to use to pray (I am Muslim), and this guy went out of his way to accommodate me. On top of that, they gave us a dish on the house. 5 stars.

Literally cannot fault. Fantastic food. Banging music. Excellent service. Triple threat restaurant

We visited for a meal after a Matinee performance in the Millennium Centre. Service was efficient and friendly but let down when one meal arrived luke warm. The meal was taken away and re-warmed. The meal took so long to be reheated that I had finished my meal before it came back to the table. It would have been good to have offered an apology (drink or % off the bill) but nothing. A pity, because the food was tasty and good size portions. I asked for the gratuity to be removed from the bill, which is unusual, as I felt the customer service was let down by the way they dealt with our 'complaint'.

Table 25 7:04 9th December 2023 - We had a terrible meal, pizzas were black on the base, burnt! The restaurant was heaving and our wives wouldn't let us make a scene and anyway we were tight on time to wait for them to make fresh pizzas as we had booked to see a performance in the Millennium Centre, so we eat what we could and left. I did write to complain but didn't receive a reply - Disgusting! If you are going to go make sure its early when its not busy as we don't think they can cope with big numbers.

The servers were nice however the food was absolutely not worth the price. I came with my friends who orders a simple penne pasta which tasted like a can of tomatoes dumped on a pile of pasta. In the pasta sauce of my dish the oil was bringing to separate in a very unappetising way, and made me not want to continue with my meal. The pasta was incredibly undercooked and the portions were not at all worth what we paid. I would not recommend this restaurant at all, you could probably get better food at the local Sainsbury’s across the street.

I have never eaten such a terrible meal, the lasagne was drowned in tomato sauce and the layers inside were burnt black. LAZANIA WAS INEDIBLE.

Very disappointed with this restaurant. My friend and I walked in for a meal and we have both had food poisoning. I've called today to flag this incase anyone has been ill. The assistant manager, Roger was very rude and obstructive. I wasn't going to raise a complaint but it was upset with the response, I asked that one be raised. The assistant manager became more rude and patronising. He couldn't give me a rough timescale to hear back from my complaint. Having shared this experience with friends and family, they advised that they know a number of people who have left Giovani's with food poisoning and they weren't surprised it happened to us.

As a visitor to Cardiff we called on spec after a walk to the bay & were so pleased we did. The lobster tortellini tasted fantastic & was beautifully presented. Darren was the perfect host & recommended the profiteroles for dessert, along with a glass or two of house wine. We had been to Giovanni’s on the Hayes the evening before, which we enjoyed, but this was definitely a cut above there. Just loved it so Thank you.

Lovely authentic Italian food, really great services and Amazing environment too! Would definitely recommend!

We had a delicious meal in here - food was amazing and bursting with fresh flavours… we were so well looked after by everyone, especially Darren - and to top it off, we even met the lovely man himself - Giovanni!! Thank you so much for such a special evening and some really great memories made 🙂🍾🥂

Starter was frozen inside so had to send it back to be replaced. Even though the food was nice when it came it was hugely disappointing that this happened in the first place. Service was a bit slow. Waited aged for dessert menu. Atmosphere there was nice, the decor was nice and the staff were nice enough.

We went to Giovannis for a Pizza Making class and it really did not disappoint! It was full of laughs and tips and tricks on different techniques for making your pizza. Would really recommend, for us it included a welcome drink (soft drink, small glass of wine, or a bottle of beer) making the pizza with unlimited toppings and then eating the pizza (the best part!).

Food is delicious, fresh and beautifully served. Restaurant is lovely looking and clean. Staff is kind and polite. Such a lovely place to visit 🤩🤩🤩

Had a delicious dinner with a fabulous view at Giovanni's in the Bay. We were there quite early so it wasn't very busy, by the time we left the restaurant was full. We ordered a pizza, olives and drinks. The server was friendly and attentive, the food arrived hot and fresh. All in all I would highly recommend Giovanni's.

Very poor, food tasteless and very over priced. Waited ages for food and when it eventually came had to add lots of parmesan to add some flavour. Would definitely not return. Ravioli from a can would have more flavour .

My family and I went for dinner as a New Year’s Eve Eve meal. The restaurant had around 5 tables all evening so the restaurant was not busy at all. Our waiter, an older chap, took our order and seemed very impatient as my father hadn’t decided what he wanted. Instead of giving us extra time he decided to wait there and stare forcing my father’s decision to be rushed. We ordered olives to start and while we were still eating them they got taken away. We had bruschetta as a side with the maid meal and while we were in the middle of eating this it got taken away. I had to ask 5 times for water and when we called another waiter over to complain he said it’s just because he is Italian and also new. As my parents travel regularly to Italy several times a year they explained it can’t be because he is Italian because they have never experienced this bad of service there before. The waiter proceeded to respond without an apology to us and said we are insulting him. Now the food was very good and we enjoyed every meal we had but I wouldn’t go back nor would I recommend this place to any one because of the service being so bad.

I didn't get good vibes the second I walked in there , everything about it screamed italian style extortion the menu was awful , overpriced and the food tasteless I am not joking when I said I had the worst coffee I have ever drank in my life Wouldn't return

As usual we enjoyed our dinner, following a show at the Millennium Centre. The service was friendly, speedy and efficient, and the ambience was pleasant. They do seem to have upped their prices quite a bit but perhaps that was inevitable.

Would highly recommend this venue. We hosted our friends 40th birthday here and the restaurant was so accommodating, we were able to play our own music, order food and dance through the night. The staff looked after us and the food was delicious 😋 its such a pretty venue, perfect for party’s. Xx