Salt (Formerly Bar 38)

38 reasons to drink here...

1: Trendy, light, airy (sp?) bar in the heart of Cardiff bay.
2: Good selection of beers and wine to suit all tastes and pockets.
3: excellent location overlooking the water.
4:Big windows make it excellent for people watching if that is your kind of thang.
5: Good mix of customer from the trendy 20 something bay resident all the way over to your valley pensioner after a ginger ale and a sit down.
6: plenty of seating including a couple of nice comfy booths that could quite easily swallow a man whole with their big red sofas.
7: Seperate toilets but a communal Ally McBeal style (so i have been told) wash area. Unique in cardiff as far as I know?
8: I haven't tried the food but the menu looks really good. A good range of light meals with some mains thrown in.
9: Close to the cash point (can you tell I am running out?)
10: Bar staff are usually friendly but sometimes a little over worked - it can get fairly busy on Friday and Saturday nights.
11: Cool name.
12: Upstairs balcony that is very very nice in the summer. Unfortunately it is not always open to the public.
13: close to the cash point...

Enough already I hear you cry. Okay, but this is a really nice place and equally good for a night out with mates as a relaxing drink with your significant other.

Posted 11th Apr 2003 1:52pm by Mark

useless

I have given this bar many chances at both busy and quite times and have decided it is not worth anybody's time or money!
The last occasion was the worst. Bank holiday weekend at 3:30. 2 bar staff downstairs, one upstairs. (they were clearly under alot of pressure and were rude and abrupt because of it... I'm sure this is not their fault and is a management problem.)1 hour waiting time for food, which was disgusting. toilets filthy with no toilet paper, communal sink hardly works and most hand driers faulty.

shame because the layout is bright and fresh, but i definitely wont be wasting my money there again.

Posted 5th May 2004 9:14am by yabayee

Great

I have been to Salt on few of the busiest sunny days this year and have found the service to be excellent. They offer full table service, even if you are only in there for a drink. Some how it doesn’t matter if you drink takes over 5 minutes to arrive (which it rarely seems to) if you can relax in the sunshine. And I have also noticed that several items on the menu are the same as Terra Nova but for a few £’s cheaper, strange but true. All in all, well worth a visit.

Posted 5th Aug 2004 12:22pm by blahblah

I think it should be more along the lines of 38 reasons why NOT to drink here. I've been there a few times and the service is appaling. How can a bar and restaurant the size of Salt possibly run, on a gorgeous bank holiday weekend with 3 people at the helm? We waited an hour and a half for the food which was nothing special and over-priced. More irritatingly than that is the type of clientele that it seems to attract in their droves. It's full of wannabe footballers wives types constantly screeching to each other. A relaxing and chilled place to drink this is not. I can't not recommend it enough

Posted 25th Mar 2005 3:49pm by Beth