Gwalia Tea Room in Cardiff

A historic place where you can learn more information about Welsh history and yet enjoy a delicious tea and cake. Quiet place and so relaxing. Polite staff too!

We often visit St Fagans, living locally. It always seems a good idea to stop off here for a tea or coffee. The waiter was really friendly and helpful. The food unfortunately never seems to live up to expectations. It was all a bit ordinary: we had sandwiches and one of our group 'Welsh Rarebit'. Nothing exceptional.... Think we'll give it a miss next time.

Booked afternoon tea for a friends 60th birthday. The welcome we received was lovely. We had The Ministers tea, which consisted of a lovely selection of sandwiches, cakes, cheesecake and Welsh cakes with jam and cream, all were very nice. All three of us enjoyed ourselves very much especially the complimentary prosecco, thank you very much. We will definitely return on our next visit.

Went in for lunch did not have to wait for a table and service was quick. Had a ham sandwich which the menu stated was served with crisps. The crisps were vegetable crisps which I did not like. Waitress said this was the only crisps they had. Although the shop downstairs had a good selection of crisps.

You will probably have to wait a little while to be seated here, as it's not very big, and service is not the quickest, but we had a very pleasant break from exploring by having lunch here! If you sit near the entrance you can still hear the CD of old music (not sure about further in), adding to the experience. My husband and I had the "Parlour Tea", which we very much enjoyed (although it would have been even nicer if we had had a Welsh cake each rather than pancakes) - quite a substantial lunch and good value too for that type of meal!

Given the size of the tea room, the service was very slow and the staff weren’t friendly or apologetic about the long wait or getting our order wrong when the food did finally arrive. That said, the Welsh rarebit was delicious.

Nice rest point, that can get busy. Service is brisk, so waiting won't be long. Drinks, cakes etc served.

During my visit to St Fagans museum, I decided to stop into the Gwalia tea room. The staff working there were very friendly and attentive. I had cream tea during my visit and it was wonderful.

Steep stairs prevented one of our group accessing Tea Room but I went to look and it was a bit grim! I realise it’s probably in keeping with the era but it’s not really an appealing place to drink. We had hot chocolatie from the bakery instead

This tea room is charming. It is located within St Fagans Museum, so the retro image is very appropriate. It is separate from the visitors centre, located quite centrally in the site. A very nice experience. They specialise in afternoon teas and offer a wide menu of types of tea. We had a light lunch of Welsh Rarebit: quite small but very good although the salad garnish was unfortunately over-dressed - and a little pricey Service was quite slow - indeed some people walked out - but friendly and otherwise effective.

Although the tea room has excellent character of which is fitting for its surroundings, that is perhaps its only good quality. Whilst i was here i ordered an apple juice of which cost £2.75 for a very small glass and welsh rarebit which cost £5.75 consisting of one slice of rarebit of which the bread was burnt and a side of dry, very pathetic looking salad garnish just to fill the plate. Very disappointed with this considering the cost of this. It could be a really special little tea room but instead it has a poor menu with overpriced small portions.

This is a charming tea-room fitted out with vintage decor. It was busy when we went so we did have to wait a bit, however the tea and scones were excellent. I thought it was a bit pricey though.

A nice little stopping off point within St Fagan's Museum. Good for a snack or an afternoon tea. Highly Reccomended.

lovely quaint little tea room 1940s vibe to it so really quite cool and we enjoyed our tea and cake as well

Great location, delightful decor, with a great view of St Fagan's. The tea was quite good and served hot. And the Welsh Rarebit was the best I've had.

As this is a museum tea room I can only assume the idea is to serve food as it was in Britain in the 50's: i.e. terrible. If this is a post modern joke the joke is on the customer. Plastic cheese and bread. The menu claims loose leaf tea. I had a bag in warmish water. Absolutely pitiful.

This restaurant has a good menu with lots of home cooking and some Welsh specialities. Large pots of tea as well.

This tea shop is upstairs above the general store at the National Museum of Wales. It is decorated in a 40s/50s style and serves Tea and coffee in nice China. There is a selection of cakes and cream scones as well as a full afternoon tea with sandwiches and cake. It is qaint. The service is a bit slow but you are advised of the gentle pace. A full afternoon tea can cost £10+ but a tea is under £2 per pot.It was a nice experience and the staff very polite and helpful.

I came here with my father and grandfather recently, expecting a normal cream tea. When I received it it was far from that, with even the decaffeinated tea packed with delicious aromas. The staff were very friendly, and the room was rather pleasant, with muted archaic music and a beautiful antique clock on the far wall. The price was reasonable, and the tea with scone was about £6. I would certainly recommend it if you are in the museum, looking for a nice place to rest, although it is up two quite precarious flights of stairs. I did hear that there was an easier way of getting up using the fire exit, but I do not know much about this.

Would have been very nice to visit this tea room, but as with all the food outlets at st Fagins it was closed and wouldn't be opening until May!!!

The staff were very friendly and welcoming. We had to wait a short while to be seated but nothing too excessive. The room is nicely appointed as a period tea room with fine china to match. The food was pleasant and came out reasonably quickly. Slightly too much mustard in the rarebit. The menu advertises a range of teas and gives tasting notes, I was expecting loose leaf tea on that basis. Instead it came out in metal pots with bags and no way of timing the brew. If you're going to make a feature of your teas then it would be nice if they were more than just a bag and a pot.

Having queued for a long while then to sit for another 30 minsStill no service people gave up the ghost and left lots of business missed today 1 waitress and 1 cook simply not good enough we left having not been fed or watered would have had more chance finding a oasis

Had a lovely afternoon tea, using bone china. The tea room was traditionally decorated for a 1930's Christmas. I will certainly visit again. The afternoon teas were large, so had two between the three of us and a separate hot drink. Still took a piece on cake home as we could not eat it!

Due to the delightful nature of the tearooms, best china, tablecloths, it's a wonderful chance to slow down & enjoy a more simple lifestyle for a little while. The serving staff are friendly & nothing is too much trouble for them. If your looking for fast food / fast service look elsewhere this won't suit you. My elderly parents started talking about places they had been to like this when they were courting 70 years ago. They were thrilled with every aspect, the ambiance,the food & the chance to rekindle long lost memories. For an attraction with free entry I didn't mind that the prices in the tea room were slightly high.

The tea room is quite small so there was about a 15-20 minute wait for a table, and then there was a long wait to actually get the food we ordered, but the food is definitely worth the wait. The prices are a little expensive for what you get, but as the museum is free to enter I didn't mind paying a little more.The rarebit was good (although mine was perhaps a little burnt on the edges) and came with a side salad and vegetable crisps. Our scones came warm and were obviously freshly baked and were incredibly good.I was disappointed with the tea as it is stated on their menu that they are proud to serve the finest loose leaf tea, but both of our teapots came with teabags and i saw the teabag tag hanging from the teapots of other tables as well.

The tea shop is not well signposted within the building so is hard to find and is up two flights of stairs. But it is well worth the perseverance for the delicious cakes and tea and cakes which are served. The service and price too are excellent. This is a god place for arrest after all the walking.

When visiting this tea room , it's almost like stepping back in time. My nan was in her element with the old 20s and 30s music. All drinks are served in their best fine China cups and the cream tea scones are to die for! A must when visiting st fagons

Cream teas and small snacks all very tasty but quite over priced. Staff polite and service very good. Tea room facilites were very clean.

The lovely waitress made us a mug of hot chocolate which was delicious. The tea room is quaint with lovely staff. We did think the prices were a little expensive though.

Tea room in the St Fagan's Museum which is free to enter. The tea rooms are reconstructed from the early 1900 and serve traditional cream teas, cakes and sandwiches. They are always busy and are usually run by a group of women. Sometimes the wait is a long time but the food is always good. Is a little expensive but it is worth it for all the old fashion china etc and the service. They could do with expanding the site as it is always so popular. Not very disable friendly being on the first floor above the old shop.

A great place to stop and have tea when you want to take a break from walking round the living museum. Lovely china plates, cups and saucers. Really excellent tea with a good selection of cakes.

Good things come to those who wait: whilst we were seated waiting for our order to arrive - which was excellent, incidentally - about eight people in total waited at the 'wait here to be seated' sign before giving up and going away! Worth the wait, though.