A pre-theatre meal has one job: to be good and to be over in time. A thali was designed for exactly that, about two hundred years before theatres had bars.
Cardiff puts its venues within walking distance of one another and of High Street. From our door the Principality Stadium is eight minutes, St David's Hall five, the New Theatre about seven, the Utilita Arena about twelve, and Cardiff Castle, which hosts its own summer concerts, three. The Wales Millennium Centre in the Bay is a four-minute train from Queen Street or ten minutes in a taxi. Which means you can book a table at six for an eight o'clock curtain and walk, not run.
How the kitchen handles it
When you book, tell us the time you need to be out. The floor team tells the kitchen, and the kitchen plans backwards. Thalis and kari dishes come fast; the Hyderabadi biryani is cooked to order in a sealed handi and takes forty minutes, so if you want it, order it the moment you sit down. We will bring the bill with the last plate rather than make you ask for it. If you are cutting it fine, say so: the express menu exists for that.
The express lunch, weekdays twelve to three
Two courses for £14.90: one chaat or street plate, then one kari with rice or roti. Three courses for £18.90 adds a sweet. Lamb or prawn is a £2 upgrade. Everything is out within forty minutes. The Lunch Thali, £12.90, is faster still: one plate, one kari from the board, rice, roti, dal, raita, pickle, poppadum. For a matinee or a weekday afternoon kick-off, this is the meal.
The Pre-Show, in the evening
Any thali, or two courses from the main menu, with a drink: £19.95. Served all evening, every day. It is the same room, the same kitchen and the same bar as the full-price menu; the only thing that changes is that we know you are on the clock. The Pre-Show page has the two formats in full, and the late plate for after the encore.
What to order when you are short of time
- A thali. The Chicken Thali (£17.90), Lamb Thali (£19.90) or Vegetarian Feast (£15.90): a complete meal on one plate, including the sweet, with nothing to wait for between courses.
- A kathi roll and a chaat. Chicken or paneer kathi roll (£8 and £7.50) with dahi puri (£7.50). Eaten with your hands, done in twenty minutes.
- One kari, rice, bread. Railway Lamb Curry (£13), Grandma's Chicken Curry (£11.50) or Chole Amritsari (£9), with basmati and a naan.
- Not the biryani, unless you have an hour. It is worth the hour.
Match days
On Six Nations and autumn international days the city centre fills by eleven and the pubs on St Mary Street are standing room only by one. We open at twelve, the bar is a proper bar, and a table here is a seat, a plate and a cold beer between the walk from the station and the walk to the gate. Book. Match-day tables go first, and on those days we hold bookings for fifteen minutes past the time and then release them. After the match, the kitchen runs until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays; walk in if there is space.
Concerts and gigs
For the Utilita Arena, allow fifteen minutes to walk and a few more for the doors. For Castle concerts, three minutes. For the stadium's summer shows, the same eight minutes as a match, with the same advice: book, and tell us the time you need to leave.
Walking times from Chai St
- Cardiff Castle: 3 minutes
- St David's Hall, the Hayes: 5 minutes
- New Theatre, Park Place: about 7 minutes
- Principality Stadium: 8 minutes
- Sherman Theatre, Senghennydd Road: about 15 minutes
- Utilita Arena Cardiff: about 12 minutes
- Wales Millennium Centre: Queen Street to Cardiff Bay by train, four minutes, then five on foot; about ten minutes by taxi
- Cardiff Central station: 11 minutes