{"id":1989,"date":"2014-02-21T10:34:15","date_gmt":"2014-02-21T10:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=1989"},"modified":"2014-02-21T10:34:15","modified_gmt":"2014-02-21T10:34:15","slug":"a-shot-in-the-dark-cardiffs-hidden-gem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/21\/a-shot-in-the-dark-cardiffs-hidden-gem\/","title":{"rendered":"A Shot in the Dark: Cardiff&#039;s hidden gem"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2050\" alt=\"A shot in the Dark\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-3-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-2050\" alt=\"A shot in the Dark\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-3-1024x768.jpg\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><br \/>\n<strong>Francesca Gillett spent an evening at <em>A Shot in the Dark<\/em>, a hidden bar on City Road for a drink and some food and came back quite happy.<\/strong><br \/>\nAt 6pm on a Wednesday, most cafes will be winding down with their last few cappuccinos while the majority of bars will be yet to welcome their first customers. But not for <em>A Shot in the Dark<\/em> on City Road.<br \/>\nThe stylish, dimly-lit coffee bar was heaving with both large groups of students and older couples when I walked through the doors not knowing what to expect.<br \/>\nIts dark exterior means the cleverly marketed caf\u00e9-stroke-bar is easy to miss amid the endless takeaways and spice shops, which are part of City Road characteristics.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2052 alignleft\" alt=\"bar review shot\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2052 alignleft\" alt=\"bar review shot\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-225x300.jpg\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/><\/noscript><\/a>But inside the bar, it is warm and welcoming with sounds of lively chatter rising above the busy noise coming from staff at the coffee machine and kitchen.<br \/>\nLike a fancy independent caf\u00e9, <em>A Shot in the Dark<\/em> offers a wide range of coffees, teas, hot chocolates, milkshakes, smoothies and cold drinks \u2013 but some with a twist.<br \/>\nI ordered a hot chocolate with Malibu off of an extensive menu of hot drinks fused with alcohol and was served an extremely generous ration of rum \u2013 almost two and half shot&#8217;s worth &#8211; which filled almost half a glass.<a href=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2051 alignright\" alt=\"bar review shot 2\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-2-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-2051 alignright\" alt=\"bar review shot 2\" src=\"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/bar-review-shot-2-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><br \/>\nFor a slightly pricey \u00a34.50, it was a surprisingly tasty combination and went down a treat while I perused the food menu which was remarkably varied for such a small kitchen.<br \/>\nPlatters of cheeses and tapas were up on the board as well as traditional caf\u00e9 lunch favourites like jacket potatoes and toasties.<br \/>\nPrices might look a tad expensive but I was told the portions, like my shot of Malibu, were incredibly generous.<br \/>\n<em>A Shot in the Dark<\/em> has cracked a niche with their clever marketing fusion of caf\u00e9 meets bar.<br \/>\nPeople check in to the stylish caf\u00e9 around the clock, for a cooked breakfast at 8am until a boozy close at midnight or 1pm on Fridays and Saturdays.<br \/>\nWith creative drinks ideas and a chilled-out atmosphere, the caf\u00e9 bar is a welcome relief from the hustle and bustle of City Road.\u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Francesca Gillett spent an evening at A Shot in the Dark, a hidden bar on City Road for a drink and some food and came back quite happy. At 6pm on a Wednesday, most cafes will be winding down with their last few cappuccinos while the majority of bars will be yet to welcome their first customers. But not for A Shot in the Dark on City Road. The stylish, dimly-lit coffee bar was heaving with both large groups of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":248,"featured_media":2015,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,14],"tags":[1916,1291],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-and-drink","category-longer-reads","tag-bar","tag-cardiff-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A Shot in the Dark: Cardiff&#039;s hidden gem - The Cardiffian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/02\/21\/a-shot-in-the-dark-cardiffs-hidden-gem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Shot in the Dark: Cardiff&#039;s hidden gem - The Cardiffian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Francesca Gillett spent an evening at A Shot in the Dark, a hidden bar on City Road for a drink and some food and came back quite happy. 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