Matsudai Ramen in Cardiff

What a great hidden gem, 20 mins walk from the centre this ramen place is as authentic as you get! Probably the best one if ever had!

Thank you very much for your warm welcoming, friendly atmosphere. The food is excellent, the staff are exceptional and I highly recommend this restaurant. The Family friendly, relaxing and warm environment makes the experience even better.

Astonishingly good food. Very busy and with a menu l couldn't properly understand; but the food was still amazing.

We’ve been here twice and it’s been amazing. I got myself the Sunset red and it was top-notch. The broth, the noodles, the tofu on it and the spice level were excellent. My friends loved it as well, the service is on point and like they recommend, the faster you eat the better. The price is great, the location is a bit tricky for anyone from the other part of the city but if you get a train to grangetown station it a 5 minute walk.

I ate tokusei shoyu with extra pork belly. let me just say, this is up there as some of the best foods I’ve eaten at a restaurant, immense value, beautiful flavour and I definitely recommend anyone who is a first-time taster of ramen to try this dish, you will not be disappointed

Lovely place, lovely food, great service. What more do you want? Busy place with a simple uncomplicated menu. Book ahead to avoid disappointment.

Lovely meal. The pork just falls apart. Staff friendly and accompanying. Recommended.

Everything is Heaven in a bowl! never had a bad experience. both dining in and with their deliveries.

Peronally, Matsudai did not live up to the hype that surrounds it, which is unfortunate. We ordered the Wontons and Mini Chashu Don to start, unfortunately the Chashu Don was underwhelming with bland rice. For main we ordered a Classic Tonkatsu and a Sunset Red Tonkatsu. Both were great, the depth of flavour to the Sunset Red was unbeatable, but given the price point the portion did seem quite stingy. Two small slices of pork belly and a good inch or so from the top of the bowl with the broth. It was very busy in the restaurant but there were ample staff who were friendly. However, the service was a little slow and the noise in the restaurant was incredibly loud and our server was very softly spoken which made it harder than it should've been. The only other thing I could add is that the restaurant was rather cold which detracted from the overall experience.

When you order food and its given to a different table so you have to wait an hour for yours, you begin to wonder about the management of orders! Food is delicious, though, but the apathetic service is beyond reasonable. Some key items missing like a chopsticks rest, from being an authentic experience, prob would just order food kits instead.

One of the best ramen I've ever tried. Katsu mushrooms are to die for.

It's a good place. Staff and service is excellent.

Visited here on recommendation that it’s the best ramen in Cardiff. Whilst I don’t doubt this, I think Cardiff has a long way to go for ramen. I accept being vegetarians / vegan can sometimes limit a menue choice but feel there wasn’t enough options, not even a simple vegetable gyoza. Pickle plate was too fishy with an overstated aftertaste, and the mushroom starter wasn’t going to be an option for me as I don’t like mushrooms! I went for the vampire slayer ramen; a heavily infused garlic tonkotsu. I think it tasted very good! But was suprised how quick it was eaten as it wasn’t that hot, despite the menu advising to not wait for food to cool down before beginning. Overall a disappointment for Cardiffs best, and perhaps suited better to a meat eater.

When I last ate here over a year ago, I was a little disappointed. This place didn't live up to the overwhelming hype. Matsudai Ramen is blatant gentrification, but it's right across the street from where I live, so I thought I'd better give it another shot. We ordered the mushroom and chicken karaage. Only the mushroom arrived. Chicken didn't arrive, so I reminded the waiter about it. The Mushrooms were great, but I still prefer the chicken. Classic tonkotsu felt like it was skimping a wee bit, there's a good inch and a half to the rim of the bowl. It was delicious, but not mind blowing. The broth was once again underwhelming. The Tofu was hot on the outside and cold on the inside, suggesting it had been cooked at too high a heat. 330ML of cider is £5.50, a bit much. The bill came and we were charged for 2 Chicken Karaage and instead of one. So the order was taken, but it was forgotten, and when I asked for it, another was charged. An easy fix, but the 2 small plates on the table (1 for chicken, 1 for mushroom) should have been an obvious indication. However, the staff were quite friendly and courteous. Nothing beats actual Japanese service, which you can get from the Japanese run udon restaurant around the corner.

Absolutely brilliant once again. We love the food here and this time we tried a sparkling sake (thanks for the recommendation Fin!) Joey our server was friendly and helpful and Molly made us feel really welcome when we turned up a bit early. Great place and we'll be back soon.

Best ramen I had so far! Thank you, now I won't be able to enjoy ramen elsewhere...

I decided to try Matsudai after some pretty heavy recommendations from various sources, print media and social media. So expectations were high to begin with. Location is good and easy to get to. There is parking available as long as you know where to look. Sorry not giving any tips there as everyone has a favourite parking spot and mine is secret. Remember it is a ramen joint so I am only reviewing based on other similar establishments. The service was quick and attentive and the staff was lovely. My main gripes are twofold. They don't have soft drinks in bottles or cans and only available 'on tap' and the taste is greatly compromised. I have always found the mix to be either, too flat, too sweet or badly proportioned. The other gripe I have is that the meat portion of the ramen is pretty miserly. The pork belly consisted of two really thin slices and it really didn't do anything to satiate me. I was expecting more meat for £16 - 18 per dish. The broth and overall taste of the ramen and their consistency was very good but the lack of protein put a dampener on the whole thing. Chicken karaage was OK - as expected I guess, but once again I think we live in price-inflated times so slightly costlier than what I expected. Overall, given this was supposed to be a Wagamama killer experience etc, it didn't live up to my expectations. However, the atmosphere is different and more intimate that Wags and it is definitely better tasting than many other independents, albeit thin on the meat. Food - 4/5 Soft drinks - Meh... Staff - Great Kitchen - 👍🏾👍🏾 Serve Time - V. Quick Location - Convenient / Easy parking

Do not buy the subscription service! I bought this as a gift and only 1 out of the 3 months arrived (following a delay!). This is a scam

A blonde tall waitress served us food, she dropped a piece of fried chicken onto the floor, she didn’t even offer to serve us with a new plate and she didn’t pick up the chicken from the floor. So unprofessional and rude! Also the quality of the food weren’t as good as before and especially the snacks they were over-seasoned.

It's popular and acclaimed for a reason. Fantastic food, nice service. If you're a ramen fan you need to go.

This place is amazing, The Sake, ramen 🍜 was to die for. It's so filling and great value for money. I will come back.

I'm embarrassed it's taken me so long to visit this high quality restaurant. All the dishes were full of flavour, we left happy and content.

delicious ramen, friendly staff but the best thing was the friend mushrooms - i would go and get just a few plates of those and be very, very happy

Amazing food and atmosphere, the staff were very welcoming and friendly, would recommend

Starters were lovely but the main wasn't pleasant. It wasn't made clear to us when ordering that the broth was creamy, as we don't like creamy food. I thought it would be more of a clear broth. The bowls and drinking stein mugs were chipped. I explained at the end that we were dissatisfied with our food and they did offer another meal which we didn't want as we were put off with the previous dish, no discount was offered until I asked in which they took £20 off the bill.

What a real lovely Ramen restaurant in Grangetown. Excellent food, so very tasty and freshly cooked. Staff were very efficient and attentive. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend.

Lovely food! Very quick professional service

This is the most authentic ramen I have since coming back from Japan, late last year. The first slurp of broth gave me flashbacks to the back streets of Osaka, trying to find that perfect ramen. It filled my heart with joy and my belly with spicy tingling feeling. Would 100% recommend

I have visited a number of times both on my own and with friend and family and have always had brilliant food and brilliant service. This night in particular they sat me at the bar where the bartender Fin served me and gave me some great drink recommendations. There’s a good reason this is one of my cardiff favourites!

The most authentic ramen I’ve had since spending time in Japan

So vibey! A real must for any ramen fan. Tonkotsu ramen - spectacular, 10/10. Mushroom Karaage also 10/10, class snack. Pickles were also great, especially the mushrooms. Will be back for sure. Photos aren’t the greatest due to it being evening but you get the picture, literally.

We had been advised to you walk in through the phone and when we arrived they said we needed a reservation. Terrible organisation and rude service

Amazing food and vibe. Food they serving is created with passion and you can literally feel it in the air 😍

Best Ramen place in Wales, real thick broth with flavour and not like others that taste like instant noodles. Also the staff is really friendly and nice !

Love love love the food and staff at Matsudai! Always a smile on their face and ready to accommodate any requests! Absolutely delicious grub! Digging in to a nice delicious bowl of ramen is like getting a big hug! Love it! Also, the chicken karaage with curry mayo - very addictive! Portion sizes are ginormous and definitely a lot of bang for the buck!

Food was good, nice atmosphere slow drinks service let it down this time. Otherwise another enjoyable Ramen

Very homely restaurant, very polite staff and incredible food, highly recommend

One of the best ramen I have tried in the UK!

Best noodles I’ve ever eaten. Great place.

This ramen shop is run by locals and uses noodles that are different from traditional ones. Pork Belly, ideal for cooking, is alluring.

I don't know what an original ramen dish should taste like but I really liked the food at Matsudai. Also, I haven't played any of the games that were blaring from the speakers. Wonderful.

I’ve lived in Cardiff for 10+ years, and can honestly say that this is one of the best restaurants I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. Always so, so good. Impeccable service from our host, Kamala, and her colleagues this evening. Thank you all so much. Will be back soon!

Always a good experience at Matsudai, the ramen is delicious, and I highly recommend the karaage mushroom side too. Service is always good, and the food always delicious.

Amazing food, amazing staff (thanks fin 😉). One of the best places to eat in Cardiff hands down.

Ramen is acceptable and worth 1 star. The boiled egg and the pork is good worth 3 star. On average is 2 star. Service is fair. Atmosphere is fair.

Food was delicious, good service, very much enjoyed.

Matsudai Ramen first sprung to fame during lockdown when the owner, moving from delivering pop-ups across the UK began to deliver Raman Kits to people's homes. The restaurant went from strength to strength, especially when it was catapulted into national fame with Jay Rayner's review in the Observer in February 2023. I tell you what, Rayner was not wrong, the food here really does provide what he calls: "Bowls of deep care and thoughtfulness". We ordered four starters to share Tsukemono or pickle plate, Mini Chashu Don, Lemon Karaage Mushroom and Lemon Taffy Wontons. They were all exceptional, but we especially loved the Japanese wontons wrapping Welsh ingredients, lamb, leek and Caerphilly cheese. Excellent. For mains I had a Tokusei Shoyu and my partner had Triple-Yuzu Shio, both where rich in flavour and delicious. Be sure, we'll be back for such wonderful culinary delights.

Bought 2 x home kits (Classic and Sunset Red) very very easy and quick to prepare at home, absolutely delicious. Highly recommend adding the extra egg to your home delivery order as they’re super tasty! We were really impressed with these “make-at-home” kits and would 100% try the restaurant itself if we’re ever in Cardiff. [I also highly commend their use of biodegradable and recyclable packaging throughout the home kits 👏]

HONEST REVIEW: waiter rejected us at door saying it is fully booked. Later a customer advised us to look online for a booking. Booked it and was served by the same waiter and made sit in a shared bench. After more than half the restaurant was empty. Then he decided to fill our bench with 8 more people. Food we delicious

Absolutely excellent Japanese food. Bouncy noodles, a rich and savoury broth, so much flavour. And really friendly service!

I mean…. Wow. Been to Tokyo and ate at almost all Micheline star restaurants. I simply cannot believe how good this is. I’m sure a Micheline star is on the way for Matsudai. From the quality of the ingredients to the careful meticulous preparation of each item on the menu. To give you an idea, imagine a slow cooked thick chicken/pork broth, warming your soul with each and every warm slurp. Then you have the bamboo shoots and garnishes that elevate it cutting through the umami of the soup giving it a fresh kick. I could not help but hoover my bowel and lick the remainder leaving nothing behind. I love this place, it thoroughly deserves the hype! 5/5.

Amazing food, music a little too loud for me where struggled with conversation (the little there was as we were focused on our ramen bowls)

best ramen place i’ve been to. great service, delicious food and lovely atmosphere.

Bit disappointed with whats happened. When this place first opened, the ramen was beyond good. Now they have swapped out the hand made noodles for dried versions. They only really offer 1 type of ramen nowadays and no longer offer the spicy type.

Came here after hearing good reviews, it was local so we thought we’d try it out Atmosphere was horrendous, we had a really strange duo next to us talking about explicit nsfw topics. Acoustics are terrible, everything is very loud and over-stimulating, meaning you have to shout to hear the other person. Making it “dog-friendly” made the experience even worse, particularly on a rainy day… Service was amateur at best, we were served by kids who were obviously inexperienced. One brought the karaage chicken over, dropped a piece on the edge of the table and served it to us saying “Enjoy”. We didn’t know whether to laugh or say something, in the end didn’t have the heart to tell them off as they were very young Food was ok, but the portions weren’t big enough to justify the price. the ramen was described as “lightly spiced” but turned out to be very spicy, poor use of language

First time and wow, amazing food! Definitely recommend.

Food at Matsudai was so great, really reasonably priced, good portions and super delicious. Had a bottle of Sake which you don’t often come by so was a treat. The place is NOISY, be prepared to shout across the table or get your head down to enjoy the food and save conversation for later. Service was very friendly and attentive to start with but trailed off towards the end of the night.

You wont find a better Ramen in all of Wales. I guarantee it.

It's a nice place to have lunch.

Always an extremely tasty and filling visit when we stop by Matsudai. The staff are friendly, the food is outstanding, and the atmosphere is great. A wonderful small menu spot for a date, a meal with friends, or a celebration. Be ready to share a table and make some new friends as you tuck in for some wonderful flavours.

Excellent food. Broth was light but still have a lot of flavour and taste. Egg was perfect along with both the chicken and pork belly. If your in Cardiff this is definitely a place worth visiting

Had a lovely meal here with dumplings to start then I had my ramen. It's quite tasty and a nice place to eat.I will be coming here again, I highly recommend you take you and you're friends here!

They have become seriously good - even orders that have been sent out incorrectly are immediately corrected with humour and grace. I am officially a fanboy!!

Great ramen and good service. This was our second visit, would definitely come back again when visiting Cardiff.

Veggie ramen was nice, however I found the soy protein to be a bit lazy and not really flavourful. I feel like fried mushrooms or tofu shavings would work much better. We were offered tofu as an addition to our meal, the way question was constructed however did not indicate it is an extra, but more like a choice of protein instead of meat, which at £16 a bowl already felt excessive to be adding anything else. Mushroom starter was amazing, not sure I would pay £8.50 for it again though. At the end we opted in for a dessert, yuzu creme brulee, which was unfortunately a bit underwhelming and not very yuzu. Still delicious though, I feel like my expectation was just different. Overall it was worth it and there is no service charge added to the bill, which makes the prices less offensive if you factor this in.

This was my second visit as we were so impressed the first time and the food didn’t disappoint. Super dishes with great flavours. We had the karaage chicken, taffy wontons and mini chashu don to start, all stunning. We then had tantanmen for main which was very nice if you like a bit of spice. If I’m honest, we most probably should’ve done two starters not three but it was still stunning. Definitely worth another visit. Ps the starters were so good I forgot to take a picture until halfway through so apologies

My favourite restaurant in Cardiff. Delicious food, no exceptions! Would highly recommend

Thank you for the meal! Very tasty ramen, best in Wales! It's insanely delicious. I think it's the best in Wales. The tableware was simple and nice. If I could have you change one thing, it would be to add gyozas! Thank you🤲. P.S. Sueyo is written backwards on your tshirts and menus . It’s not Sueyo, it’s Sueyo 🙂

We enjoyed our meal out here, the two noodle dishes we got were very tasty. The fried mushrooms were excellent! The service was very good, and we liked the open style kitchen. The space looked great, but the seating wasn't very comfortable. Would recommend, and look forward to trying more of the menu 😊

Food is really really good but the service ruins it. The waiters ignored us for ages throughout the night and when we tried to order dessert they just came over and asked if we wanted the bill. I gave up and just said yes. When presented with the bill they assumed that we would tip. I'm just disappointed as I liked the food but not the experience.

Absolutely perfect ramen, the vegan tantanmen was amazing. So much flavour!

The chicken Karaage is 10/10. It is really delicious. Ordered classic ramen, the meat is good but the soup and the egg are too salty. The services were alright, most staffs are friendly.

Delicious, quick, and lovely staff

Great food and a well decorated restaurant

One of my favourite Cardiff locations, highly recommend if you're a fan of Asian cuisine!

Wonderful bowl of Tantanmen, I opted to add pork belly which very tasty as well. Great broth and spice balance, noodles cooked perfectly, finished every last drop.

Tasty, satisfying big bowls of ramen in busy, friendly family atmosphere.

Me and some friends visited this place for the first time and were very impressed. The service was really good and it's a lovely restaurant. The food was delicious with decent portions. I'll definitely be recommending others to come here and try their great selection of freshly cooked food

I’ve never been big on ramen, but this place completely turned my opinion around. All of the food is so so good. The service is nice and everyone is polite and accommodating. The menu changes so you can go and have a different favourite item every handful of months. The only downside (although it’s not much of one) is that sometimes it can feel like you’re a bit packed in. The tables are either shared or very close to one another.

Fantastic find in Grangetown. Fantastic food and service. Would highly recommend and will be returning.

Food was delicious, service was great. I would suggest to not have sharing tables as it was quite awkward sitting so close to strangers. Otherwise great.

Delicious vegan ramen and lovely staff

The ramen was good, but this was not an enjoyable experience overall. A large dog does not belong in a busy restaurant at 8pm on a Saturday night. It made for an uncomfortable experience. The acoustics are dreadful, making it a very noisy space. Service was attentive to start, then staff seemed uninterested. The food is served when it’s ready, so dishes come out at random to the party

I visited this restaurant last night and had a very disappointing experience. According to Google, the restaurant is open until 11 p.m. I called at 7.30ish but no luck, drove all the way from Bridgend and arrived at 9ish and saw opening signs, lights on, staff present, and even people eating. However, no one greeted or served me when I entered. When I approached a table, a staff member told me that the kitchen was closed and I had to leave. This was very frustrating and unprofessional. The restaurant should update their hours or put a close sign, and staff training is recommended.

Called around 8pm, no one answer on phone, google said close 11pm. Arrived around 9pm but staff said kitchen is already closed. Light still on, no shop close sign at door front Ramen is definitely good, but service wasn’t consistent. Quite disappointed.

Absolutely stunning food, best noodle dish I have ever eaten! And the Japanese belly pork starter was divine 😋😋😋

They have a delicious pork ramen. We tried it twice and it is highly recommended. Dont forget to book an appointment.

As good as the professional reviews gave it.

Authentic and delicious ramen with super friendly service from Darren. We didn’t choose the specials but they sounded great too.

I messed up the number of people on our reservation and the hostess went extra lengths to fit the extra 2 people we needed in. Excellent food as always. Karpaage chicken annd curry mayo unreal.

Probably the best ramen in the UK. Just go for the tonkotsu

Fabulous food and attentive service.

Having eaten at Matsuai Ramen a few times, I can say that the service is fabulous, staff are friendly, attentive & professional. The food is just wonderful, with dishes suitable for me as a vegetarian, great place to eat & meet friends.

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. The beautiful food and friendly, helpful staff make it a pleasure from start to finish 🙂

Had high expectations. Full of students. Vegi broth was good little disappointed with the noodles. Lots of pork belly on menu which we did not try.

Ive visited the restaurant a number of times since it opened and it just keeps getting better! The food is absolutely delicious and the most recent ramen tribute to Chippy Lane was my favourite yet! The service is top class and the team go out of their way to talk you through the menu and specials and make great recommendations. If the peachy cocktail were to make a summer comeback that would be a real win 💛

Doesn’t feeling welcoming or inclusive. doesn’t represent the diverse community and area of Grangetown.

I got food poisoning from one of their cook at home ramens sets. I sent them a very respectful email letting them know and never heard back from them.

The food for the most part was lovely which don’t get me wrong, is why we went however, the service we had from our host was horrific. While I was still eating one of the dishes the server asked if she could take plates - making me feel like an inconvenience (which isn’t great considering we payed good money for the food). On top of this when my partner wanted another drink the response wasn’t great - it was like the server had to go out of their way to put it through. Ordered a matcha crème brûlée (i love both matcha and crème brûlée) but the sugar on top was burned rather than caramelised - i understand it’s probably more difficult to get right due to the darker colour of the crème but was a bit disappointing. We had to wait ages to get the bill (I had to end up getting up to ask another server for it because our host had her eyes to the floor when doing everything so was really difficult to try and get her attention). The rest of the food we had was great (besides the server assuming it was okay to take dishes before i was done). Just a real shame the server seemed a bit cold and stand off-ish towards us :( really wanted to enjoy the experience as we travelled just to eat here and had it planned for a while!

The food was absolutely delicious, and could rival the best Ramen restaurants in London. The service was extremely fast and we could not have been more satisfied! The Buta No Kukai (glazed pork belly) is probably the best pork we’ve ever had - must try!