27-39 Wyndham Arcade, Mill Lane, Cardiff. 029 2023 1524 / www.bills-website.co.uk
Despite being in the centre of the city’s regeneration and within arm’s length of John Lewis and St David’s, Wyndham Arcade is often overlooked. Since Bill’s opened in late October it has firmly put the arcade back on the map. At 7pm on a cold and wet Friday, it was already heaving with nearly every table taken. The furniture is quirky and old-fashioned, but without being twee and exudes cosiness and comfort without a hint of pretentiousness.
With an extensive menu to work our way through, the four of us decided we needed to bide our time with a couple of bottles of their house wine in red and white (£14.50 per bottle), the bread board (£3.95) and some olives (£2.75). After perusing the menu for what felt like a long time, we picked the avocado and bacon salad (£5.25), crab and salmon fishcakes (£5.95) and a tomato and basil bruschetta with goat’s cheese (£5.75). The portions were all delicious and of a very generous size, and raised our expectations of the quality of the mains yet to come.
For our main courses, two opted for the Bill’s hamburger (£9.95); while I went for the halloumi and hummus in a sesame seed bun (£8.95) and the other chose the macaroni cheese (£8.50). The two who’d picked the burger described it as the best burger they’d eaten in Cardiff – praise indeed! My halloumi was fantastic, but as is the danger of eating halloumi, once it gets cold it turns rubbery and isn’t particularly nice to eat, but this was my own fault for talking too much.
Instead of ordering desserts we decided to order some more wine and sat there chatting for another hour or so, which is testament to how comfortable we felt and not at all rushed to leave as you often find in other restaurants. ANGHARAD BROWN