The shopping centre restaurant that's been named one of the UK's best hidden gems on Tripadvisor

An independent Italian restaurant bang in the middle of a busy shopping centre has been named as one of the best hidden gems in the UK. Ciliegino, which first opened in Cardiff in 2017, is among TripAdvisor's top 10 hidden gems in the UK.

Situated on the first floor of St David's shopping centre, Ciliegino is an independent surrounded by chains - and when we visited in 2023, it had recently become the best-reviewed restaurant in Cardiff on Tripadvisor. For the latest restaurant reviews, sign up to our food and drink newsletter here.

Speaking back then, co-founder and owner Giuseppe Portella told WalesOnline: "We are not a chain, we are really independent. The ingredients we take are coming from Italy, some of them we import directly and many others we have a local supplier. Food at chain restaurants sometimes is frozen or prepared before... our pizza dough is proven for 48 hours and our pizza chef goes there every night with the flour to make the dough and prepare our sauces.

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"We had a really good friend of ours that wanted to be involved in this project and he was living and working in Cardiff. We went to meet him and stayed in Cardiff, fell in love with the city, and decided our first place in the UK should be there."

Not much has changed since, with Ciliegino still getting an average of 5* across 1,065 reviews. The restaurant still holds a proud spot in Tripadvisor's top five for Cardiff, occupying second place below The Empire Restaurant, and it has now ranked fifth on the hidden gems list announced as part of the Travellers' Choice Awards.

The awards were handed out for a number of different categories including casual dining, date night, fine dining, hidden gems, pet friendly, quick bites, vegan/vegetarian and sustainable.