The Kardomah brand began in Liverpool in 1844. There were once Kardomah Cafes across Britain. Now there is one. Marcus and Louise Luporini run it, the Luporini family have been here since 1970, and the 1957 dining room has not moved. Breakfast and lunch Tuesday to Saturday. Coffee by the bag, UK-wide.
Walk-in only · six days a week · the room earns the wait.
Full breakfasts, sandwiches, hot lunches, generous portions. Gower Butcher sausages, Coakley Greens salmon, produce from Swansea Market a five-minute walk away. The Telegraph put us in their top 50 coffee houses worldwide. Walk-in only. Saturdays queue from ten, every week.
No bookings · six days a week · last orders 15:00
Formica tables stamped with a coffee-bean motif, sputnik-style chrome coat racks, mosaic-tiled columns, dark wood panelling, mirrored walls. The room reopened in 1957 after the Castle Street original was destroyed in the Three Nights Blitz of 1941. It has not been redesigned since. Customers who came here as children now come with their grandchildren.
Sit in for breakfast · bring a book · the room earns the wait
Eleven Kardomah-branded blends, sourced through Gower Coffee Company, sold by the bag. The Dylan Thomas Centenary Blend, the House Blend, Italian, Mysore, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Crema, Java, Georges Blend, Full Roast, High Roast and a decaffeinated. Whole bean or ground to grind. UK delivery from the cafe.
500g bag · whole bean or ground · UK delivery
The dining room has been used for the Doctor Who Christmas special, the BAFTA Cymru "Set Fire To The Stars" Dylan Thomas film, and Netflix productions. Out-of-hours hire by arrangement. Production briefing, technical specs and the room as it shoots, on request.
Out-of-hours hire · production briefing on request
Eleven Kardomah-branded blends. The Dylan Thomas Centenary at 500g. The House Blend that has been on the counter every morning since 1970. Italian, Mysore, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Crema, Java, Georges Blend, Full Roast, High Roast, and a High Roast Decaffeinated. Whole bean or ground to grind. UK delivery from the cafe.
Smooth, dark, full-bodied
The cup served at the counter, every morning since 1970
Dark roast, espresso bedrock
Medium roast, balanced, daily drinker
Current pricing and the full range, including Mysore, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Crema, Java, Full Roast, High Roast and decaf, on the shop page.
The Kardomah brand was founded in Liverpool in 1844 by the Vey Brothers, tea dealers and grocers. By the 1930s the Swansea branch on Castle Street was the meeting room of the Kardomah Gang, Dylan Thomas among them. The Castle Street cafe was destroyed in the Three Nights Blitz of February 1941. Sixteen years later, in 1957, a new Kardomah opened around the corner on Portland Street. The interior was built that year and stands as it was built.
In 1970 Pietro Luporini, then a chef in London, asked his employer if he could move to Swansea and run the cafe. The Luporini family took it on. His son Marcus runs the kitchen today with his wife Louise. Some of the team have served the room for thirty years and more.
“The Kardomah cafe was razed to the snow, the voices of the coffee drinkers, poets, painters, and musicians in their beginnings, all lost.”
Dylan Thomas, "Return Journey", on the Castle Street cafe destroyed in 1941.
“A golden oldie. Fine brews, layers of history, its people watching potential, and atmosphere.”The Daily Telegraph, on Kardomah in their list of the top 50 coffee houses around the globe.
The cafe is on Portland Street, in Morris Buildings, two minutes walk from Castle Street and a short walk from Swansea Market and the Quadrant Shopping Centre. The nearest car parks are Princess Way multi-storey and the St David’s shopping centre car park, both five minutes away.
The honest answers. If yours is not here, call the cafe or write to hello@kardomahcafe.com.
No bookings, walk-in only. Saturday is the busiest day and the queue starts forming around ten in the morning, so arrive earlier if you can. Tuesday to Friday mornings are quieter. We open at eight, close at half three. Closed Sunday and Monday.
Not the same building. The Kardomah Dylan Thomas wrote about in his 26 May 1934 letter and in "Return Journey" was the Castle Street cafe, where the Kardomah Gang met in the 1930s. Castle Street was destroyed in the Three Nights Blitz of February 1941. The Portland Street site opened in 1957 and is the same brand, the same Welsh city, and the only Kardomah Cafe still trading anywhere in Britain.
Yes. Eleven blends, by the bag, whole bean or ground to grind. The Dylan Thomas Centenary Blend, the House Blend, Italian, Mysore, Nicaraguan, Colombian, Crema, Java, Georges Blend, Full Roast, High Roast and a High Roast Decaffeinated. UK delivery from the cafe. Order online or take a bag from the counter on your way out.
Yes. The room has been used for the Doctor Who Christmas special, the BAFTA Cymru "Set Fire To The Stars" Dylan Thomas film and Netflix productions. Out-of-hours private hire by arrangement. Email hello@kardomahcafe.com with the date, the company and a short brief, and we will come back with availability and the production notes.
Morris Buildings, 11 Portland Street, Swansea SA1 3DH. Two minutes from Castle Street, a short walk from Swansea Market and the Quadrant Shopping Centre. The nearest car parks are Princess Way multi-storey and the St David's shopping centre car park, both a five-minute walk.