Park View Cafe is a very small, local community cafe located just outside the stunning family-friendly Victoria Park. It’s just a 30 second walk across the road from the front entrance and there’s even a zebra crossing right there to make it safe.
We visited Park View Cafe on the morning of my 35th birthday. The weather was looking extremely dodgy – which is often the case on my birthday, being in the middle of September in Wales, so I didn’t want to venture too far from home. After deciding a walk around our favourite local park with the baby was just the ticket to start the day, I googled for breakfast places near the park and discovered this little gem.
It’s in the old Parish Hall of St. Luke’s Church and the building is very much in an old church style, with high framed windows. It’s been tastefully decorated, with pretty little tables and pews along the walls for benches. Simple, but bright, cheerful and very welcoming. It was very quiet inside, just a group of construction workers and an elderly lady with her dog, doing a crossword and drinking a cup of tea. There are about 10 tables in all, so it’s quite a small place but it does have outdoor seating as well. Perhaps a little better suited for the summer though!
Park View Cafe Supports the Community
What’s special about Park View Cafe is it’s a real community hub and is a place where adults with learning difficulties can get training and experience in the workplace. Adults with learning difficulties can find it very difficult to find companies willing to train and work with them patiently, but at Park View Cafe they can have this opportunity to build confidence and learn valuable skills. All the staff we encountered were competent and friendly.
If you follow me on Instagram or have been reading my posts on eating out in Cardiff, you probably already know that I’m a fan of the full cooked breakfast. Park View Cafe actually offered what I’d consider to be one of the best value breakfasts I’ve had so far! A large full breakfast (which is served all day) for £4.75. This included a large cup of tea, two pieces of toast and butter, two rashers of bacon, two hash browns, black pudding, fried egg, mushrooms and a large quantity of baked beans. We both struggled to finish it! It was a simple fry-up, everything cooked well and exactly what I wanted on a cold morning after a brisk walk.
They do have a highchair available for children and we just pulled the stroller up to the table – but as it’s quite a small place there wasn’t a massive amount of space. You would struggle with a large stroller I think, but our Cosatto Giggle 2 is quite compact and didn’t block the way. There are loads of smaller breakfast item, but also a kids meal is available for just £3 with a drink and ice cream.
They also serve basic lunch food such as burger and chips, as well as sandwiches, baguettes, jacket potatoes, snacks and ice cream. We’ll definitely be visiting Park View Cafe again to sample some of the different items. It was a simple, warm, friendly visit to a lovely little community cafe and this is a hidden gem that I would thoroughly recommend.
Shortly after we got home the skies opened and there was a torrential thunderstorm that we narrowly avoided, so it was a good decision in all respects! Stomachs full and thoroughly satiated, we had a lazy afternoon at home before heading out to Miller & Cardiff, Cardiff Bay, for some epic steaks and awesome birthday cocktails!
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Looks like a terrific little place!