Fino Lounge

Thus is part of a chain, with Juno and Ocho also in Cardiff and Penarth. All three are cool places.
The mood is relaxed with low lighting. A mixture of recycled wooden furniture, sofas and a mix of long, small and coffee tables means there is somewhere for the larger dinner groups to a relaxed coffee with a friend.
The food is staple but good quality. The burgers, salads and sandwiches are all excellent.
There is a really good range of beer, cider and wines.
The staff are really friendly and helpful. Attentive but not intrusive.
There are children’s menus which double up as colouring sheets, and there are a selection of box games to play.
All in, a good place!

I feel so bad to give this place such a poor rating, but I am basing it solely on my experience there, as well as the experience of those with me.
Never have I been so disappointed in a place as I have been with this one. The décor and sound of everything on the menu was just outstanding. I was visiting my boyfriend’s family in Wales when they suggested us go here for a late lunch. They said that the customer service was a bit lousy as the place tries to be hipsterish (is bad customer service associated with hipsters?! I don’t know but hellllllll naw if so), but that the food and atmosphere was pretty on point.
We arrived there with a fairly large group and found our way upstairs to sit. The décor of the place was quirky and rather cool, in my opinion. I also loved the large wooden tables.
The restaurant is swarming with children and super loud music. The children are obviously nothing to complain about (as I was with children at the time), but the music was soooo loud. We were sat in a corner near a speaker, but it was still unmanageable when we initially sat at another table initially. I couldn’t even hear those around me speak.
We were told that Fino had great burgers. I opted for a falafel and butternut squash burger and my boyfriend opted for the Hero burger. The falafel burger (which comes on a brioche bun) also comes with a tomato and red pepper chutney, wood roasted peppers, red onions, a side of slaw, french fries, and halloumi and ruccola on the burger. Nothing was that tasty. The falafel itself was super dry and overly sweet. The chutney tasted way too sweet and almost more like a jam instead of a balanced out chutney. The halloumi was okay but not enough of it. The fries were alright, but I wish we had been given a menu option instead of fries. And the slaw was just terrible. Pickle that stuff guys! Or something! It was really lousy. The brioche bun (which, too, was dry) was too sweet for this sweet of a dish. My boyfriend will review his burger (which he thought was awful) on another review. His mother ordered a salmon fish cake and was extremely disappointed, as well. She said it was overly dry and the poached egg on top was way overdone.
One of my bigger complaints about this place is that it tries to be innovative and ‘hip’, yet has the crappiest beer selection of nearly any place I have ever been. Not many craft beers or even Welsh beers. I ordered a Cruiser Atlantic Pale Ale. It was alright, but more choices (AND NOT PERONI) would have been pretty amazing.
I’m certainly not going to be heading back here next time I’m in Cardiff. The menu and place has so much potential. And given the ratings on Unilocal,it seems as though most people don’t mind the food. It just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I went here with my family on a quick trip to visit my sister and her family and introduce them to my girlfriend. We decided we would go out for a family lunch somewhere. My sister had said this place is pretty good and that the burgers are very tasty. so we decided to head over there as we could easily walk there and back and my sister has 2 small children so always good to be close.
We walked in and it was a busy atmosphere and nicely decorated (although found out from my sister that many places in the area are decorated exactly the same with all the exact same pictures), the first issue I had with the place itself is the noise. it was loud so loud you couldn’t hear the person next you. the place was already busy and there were lots of children around so I think they should of turned the music down a bit, but it seems they just turned it up louder.
The food menu was concise and honed on a few dishes, I was hoping this meant they did them well, they offered 4 or 5 burgers and 4 or 5 other mains and the same with salads and mains, although it was also possible to get a vegan menu and a gluten free menu. I opted for a burger as I had heard they were good. I ordered the Hero burger as the toppings appealed to me, although, I’m not sure about their fascination with brioche buns. The burger came out and looked ok but just from looking at the patty I could tell it was over cooked as the some of the meat crumbled off. I took a bite of the burger and it was like eating cardboard, tasteless and dry, oh so dry. It was truly one of the worst burgers I have ever had. I tried my girlfriends falafel burger and it was like eating sand. the rest of my family seemed to not enjoy their food many complaining of it being overcooked and dry. The side slaw was tasteless and a pointless addition to the plate in the end. The chips were ok but I’m not so much of a chip man.
The beer selection for a supposedly hipster place was terrible with only a few beers on draft and no bottles. this is the age of craft beers and they offered one craft beer from Bristol. They didn’t even offer one Welsh beer!
Will not be going back here anytime soon. I went here based on reviews and it seems like those reviews were too old to be trusted. this place doesn’t deserve anywhere near the rating it has.

I have said on many occasions how good this place is and each time I come I’m not disappointed. Very busy today but I think its because of the rain. There are other places to go here.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Egg and Bacon Stack, people! There is no finer thing ever invented or to be invented. You see it’s egg, and it’s bacon, and it’s in some kind of tasty stack.
This lounge is a great place to come for a long and lazy brunch. There are plenty of free newspapers to grab on your way in and they have board games like Scrabble, Jenga and Rummikub. It’s a really relaxed atmosphere in the Fino Lounge where the staff are friendly and the food is really good. It’s not super cheap, but nor is it too pricey, I suppose that would make it some kind of a goldilocks price range.
You could easily give over a whole Sunday to that place by grabbing your brunch and then playing a load of Jenga to build up your appetite for dinner. I know this to be true.
Top Tip: For parking take the first left after the lounge and there’s a big free car park behind it.

It has taken me AGES to get around to trying Fino Lounge, having been many times to its sister café Juno on Wellfield Road in Roath.
I went to Juno in the early evening for a bite to eat and a couple of drinks, and it was pretty busy even then, with a relaxed community-​oriented atmosphere giving you the sense that many people meet up here regularly. Inside it’s smart but comfortable with lots of wooden tables and chairs, and comfortable sofas for lounging about in reading the paper, or playing the board games they have there for customers.
I like this type of lounge-​style bar where you can just grab a coffee if you like, but there’s also the option to have a beer or a cocktail if you fancy it.
Their food is seasonal so the specials change all the time, but usually you can order some tasty tapas or equivalent snacking and sharing food — plus enormous muffins if you just want something sweet with a coffee! Definitely on a par with its sister lounge bar Juno — let’s hope they soon open a branch in Canton and other areas of the city!

The Lounge Bars are a wonderful invention, and I look forward to them spreading all over in a Starbucks-​like rash. Yay for expansion. I’m a massive fan of everything tht this little local ‘chain’ of cafes/​bars has to offer.
Fino Lounge serves a wide range of food, cakes, tapas, coffee, beer and cocktails. In short, there really is something here for everyone. At night time the whole place is lit up with candles in a cosy and personable air, which is romantic, comfortable, classy and relaxed.
One of my favourite things about this chain of cafes is the interior design. It’s completely to my taste; think old churchy interiors with cosy sofas, candles and chit chat-​able tables.
The food and drinks here are wonderful; slightly on the expensive side, perhaps, but I’ve always found that it’s worth every penny.
A choice selection. Go and enjoy.

Like its big sister Juno Lounge (Wellfield Road) Fino Lounge is the perfect place to visit if you’re after a drink but don’t fancy the trek into town. It’s busy most nights of the week, (packed on the weekend) with locals both young and old made to feel welcome. Whilst the Cocktail options aren’t particularly adventurous or extensive, at £5.50 you can’t really go wrong (the prices in town are really hiking up). Come daytime Fino lounge becomes the perfect place to sit and read the paper, a book, or even play a board game (all of which are provided). Food is available at all times and is your typical Brassiere affair (nothing too fancy). I would highly recommend trying out the tapas or even the vegetarian brunch (you won’t need to eat for the rest of the day). However you’re also welcome if you just fancy a coffee and maybe a cake or muffin (which are always temptingly on display). One of the great things about Fino Lounge is its real community feel, there’s a notice board which advertises local classes and you can even sign up to be a Lounger and receive constant updates on what’s going on. My only slight niggle with Fino lounge is that it perhaps can’t decide what it wants to be. Sophisticated Cocktail bar? Or the Whitchurch version of Starbucks? But due to its obvious popularity I doubt anyone’s complaining.

Nice bar/​lounge, great for coffee, breakfast, lunch or drinks.
Downsides are that the bar service is a bit slow at times, cakes can be a bit dry and the only menu is on a huge blackboard in the front.
Upsides are the wide variety of light bites, free newspapers and WiFi, great seating and décor and the relaxed vibe.
I normally have tapas (3 for around £7) or salad for a weekday lunch. It’s also great for post-​work drinks or weekend brunch.

I think I may just possibly have eaten the bestest mostest joygasmicest burger of my entire life here at the Fino Lounge in Whitchurch. That coupled with an invitation to free wifi, chilled environment with nice tunes, an the lovely smiles of the young ladies who took my order and delivered my food means I’ll be sure to return here I certainly hope I’ll be seeing you here when I do!

It’s great to have somewhere a bit different to go in Whitchurch and as a place to go for a drink it’s fine if you avoid busy times. At busy times the bar service is very poor, you can wait ages for a drink, watching the bar staff chatting amongst themselves and contributing to the chaos by letting the customers decide who’s next. The food is fine, but again at busy times you often wait ages and will usually find your parties meals all arriving at different times.
If they could get some experienced bar staff who look like they care about their customers and know how to handle busy times then I’d give it five stars, but until then it’s a place I only visit on quieter week nights.

This I think is the latest in the small chanin of ‘Lounges’ café bars. I went recently with my 4 children for lunch and was impressed.
Its quite large for a café bar so I didn’t feel too obvious making my way through with a very large pushchair and 4 children. Lots of highchairs too and baby changing facilities.
My children had ‘eggy’ bread (egg and bacon stack I think its called on the menu), and they loved it, although put syrup on anything and my children will eat it. I had a burger which was homemade and really nice, and not too expensive at £7.50. THere menu had lots on from paninis to full ‘proper food’ and they have a nice display of home made cakes — very tempting!
The staff were helpful even when I decided I would prefer to sit upstairs, and they helped me carry my pushchair up. They then followed me with my drinks.
Next time I’m visiting my mum in Cardiff I’ll definately take her there for a coffee and slice of cake