After his restaurant emerged in one piece after the lockdowns, Sami Rahman embarked on a mission: to be #1 in Cardiff on TripAdvisor. The 31-year-old owner of Empire in Roath had dreamed of the accolade for years. The restaurant had yo-yoed up and down the website's coveted ranks - sometimes in 5th place, other times in 10th - out of the 816 businesses in the city listed on the website.
It wasn't until two months ago that Sami and the team finally succeeded. It had been hard work, but entirely worth it. "I didn't notice it, until a customer came in and said: 'Oh, you're number one!'" Sami laughs. "I felt like shutting the restaurant for a week just to celebrate. It was a good feeling."
I'm sitting with Sami and his father, Mohammed Mujib, 55, in the restaurant, which has stood on Albany Road since 1992. Though Empire's ranking on the list has fluctuated between #1 and #2 recently it's still the best-rated Indian restaurant in the city and at time of publication holds the top spot.
