Juno Lounge, Cardiff - Not as relaxing as the name would suggest...

The end of term crept up on us university students once again as if this past year of lectures, exams and the odd tipple was distant blur. To celebrate the end of term and to say goodbye to one of the Blair House girls, my house mates and I decided to venture for a rare evening out just the six of us. We decided to try Juno Lounge in Roath (Cardiff), as a few of us had heard great things about their brunch menu and took a fancy to a number of the dishes on the evening menu posted online.

Arriving at the popular establishment at eight o’clock on a Monday evening (a little later than we had planned, but living in a house of six girls what do you expect?!) we were surprised to find it was really busy, struggling to find a table at first. However after a few minutes of hanging around blatantly finished diners making small talk, we managed to grab a seat upstairs. The ‘café – lounge’, as described on their website,  has a laid back décor which I can only describe as shabby chic, with odd tables and chairs and vintage style pictures frequenting the walls. Knowing that Juno Lounge is part of the Cosy Club chain I couldn’t help but feel that the style of the eatery was very forced, and that these items of furniture weren’t stumbled upon at a vintage fair or boot sales but probably mass produced, which for me made the whole feel of the place a little false.

Browsing through the menu there were loads of dishes which called to me, the only problem was choosing what to have as I am extremely indecisive when it comes to eating out, I'll admit it I have serious FOMOOF (fear of missing out on food.) After about ten minutes of tough deliberation we all decided on different things, personally opting for the falafel, halloumi & squash salad (£8.75), with a cheeky half pint of Stowford Press cider on the side. Ordering our chosen meals was my next annoyance about Juno Lounge. Okay, call me lazy but I hate having to go up to the counter to order your food and drink, especially in a place such as this, yes they call themselves a ‘café-lounge’ but everyone that was there was eating, this is a restaurant, there should be waiters (rant over.)

Placing our requests at the bar meant that we all paid separately, however were informed that our food would be served at the same time as we were all still one table. This was not the case. As a last meal together as a house I feel the evening was somewhat spoilt by the long delay between the first meal to be served and the last. After placing our order we happily chatted for around twenty minutes until me & Lizzy’s salads were brought to the table, patiently waiting for the other four dishes our friends advised us to start, unfortunately it was another five to ten minutes until three more of the meals arrived and poor Cath had to wait at least fifteen minutes, I had finished my meal before she had even received her gnocchi from the specials menu. I understand that it was a busy evening; however we didn’t even receive an apology for the delay in the service and I think that is unacceptable for any eating venue, ‘café-lounge’ or not.

Nonetheless most of us still enjoyed the food. My salad was really tasty, the salty halloumi went perfectly with the sweet red pepper chutney and the sweet potato falafels were nicely flavoured too (if not slightly cold). Although I liked elements of the dish, I feel it didn’t work as a whole. The roasted butternut squash didn’t really have a place in the ensemble and the actual salad leaves were seriously lacking (when I order a salad I expect more than a couple sad looking leaves). Cath’s gnocchi was also a disappointment, although the pasta plate was advertised with a Dijon mustard sauce it was so strong it was almost inedible, the chef had obviously not even tried the sauce before serving it. However, the pulled pork burger was greatly appreciated by Meg (it did look mouth-watering) and Julia raved about the vegetarian curry.

Sadly, our last meal out as a house at Juno Lounge was quite disappointing. Although my salad was quite appetising, it wasn’t worth the £8.75 price tag, and with the mediocre service I definitely will not be rushing back to one of Roath’s most popular student hang outs any time soon.