The Sugar Shaker

Behind its slightly intimidatingly drawn blinds, The Sugar Shaker possesses one important facet that places it above all manner of greasy no-​nonsense eateries on City Road: alcohol. Which is either a dubious delight — say, if you like your morning-​after fry-​up with a side order of hair of the dog — or a genuinely refreshing extra feather in the café’s cap. The main tipple choices are straightforward: choose from the well-​stocked spirits rack or a small selection of refrigerated bottled beers. A touch weirdly, though, the alcoholic options are better value for money than popping in for a soft drink, unless a quid for a Coca-​Cola-​sized can is your idea of thrifty. The Portuguese flag painted outside betrays a continental bent, reflected in fairly friendly service. At points, however, the staff seem to outnumber the customers — always a kind of awkward balance for those who prefer relaxation over a feeling of being observed.

The fry up here is a great thing after a heavy night out. By comparison it stand up well to some of the other greasy fry ups around. They have a selection of baguette fillings and the price point is very reasonable.
I wouldn’t of naturally been drawn into this place as the weird colour schemes on the exterior really made me put off. It screamed of complete lack of taste and that’s how I imagined the food but it wasn’t half bad.
Next time though i’ll give it a miss, nothing really felt right, It’s just a greasy spoon that doesn’t have what it takes to keep me coming back. If it were price alone they would win. But I have a certain distain for visually displeasing architecture and décor and this place made me cringe, so you wouldn’t see me in there.

This small café in Roath has major colour clashing issues: its pink and yellow shop sign has the green, red and white Welsh flag emblazoned on it, and the two just don’t go well together at all. Call me superficial, but these things actually matter a great deal when you design your shopfront. A hideous shop front alone is not, however, enough to entirely put me off trying the place.
Inside you find a pretty bog standard café and take-​away serving all day breakfasts — plus other standard café fare such as baguettes, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and other predictable dishes. A lot of people seem to go here for their all day fry ups, but I’ve only ever had a take-​away sandwich from here; it was perfectly good, made with decent bread and plenty of filling, and very reasonably priced, so the food itself is okay — but to sit in and enjoy the ambience I’d go elsewhere.