Spudulike has been serving hot baked potatoes since 1974 and has over 40 restaurants in Britain, continuing to open in new locations around the country. The baked potato connoisseurs will further add to the variety of food available in Eastside, which currently has 17 cafes and restaurants across two levels, totalling 30 food outlets in the whole of St David’s.

Tony Schlesinger, chairman of Spudulike Group, said: “We look forward to providing Cardiff shoppers with our quality baked potatoes, and we’re confident that St David’s will be an excellent location for our first store in the city.”

Joanne Skilton, of St David’s Partnership, a joint venture between Capital Shopping Centres and Land Securities, said: “A concerted effort has been made to offer a diverse range of catering options at St David’s and an outlet such as Spudulike not only helps to achieve this but adds to our range of quality, healthy, fast food offerings.”

Spudulike joins other restaurants on the lower level such as Prêt a Manger, Yo! Sushi, Bellini’s Express, Cadwaladers, Martin’s Chocolatier and French restaurant Boof.

Steven Madeley, centre director for St David’s, added: “The announcement of Spudulike completes the line up at Eastside offering a variety of well known brands, local independents, large restaurants and small cafes. Visitors can make the most of late night shopping until 8pm at St David’s followed by late night dining with cheap evening parking as well as everything else the city has to offer.

“We have spent a lot of time perfecting the offering within Eastside with contemporary dining in a vibrant atmosphere. The area was carefully planned to be a dining destination to complement the top fashion line up that St David’s is becoming well known for. It is fantastic that the offering of Eastside is now complete and we will continue to bring new fashion names throughout the rest of the shopping centre throughout 2010.”

The latest report by Experian, who provide an in-depth analysis of the UK’s retail centres, shows that Cardiff has jumped impressively from 10th place to 6th.

The news comes on the back of the last month’s opening of St David’s, which according to Experian could potentially move the Welsh capital into the top five retail destinations by 2014.

The opening of St David’s saw an extra half a million people pass through the city centre in the first three days, with millions of people now travelling to the Welsh capital every week. This has seen Cardiff leapfrog Nottingham, Leeds, Edinburgh and Bluewater in Kent, putting it firmly on the map as one of the major retail players in the UK.

Extended shopping hours, new park and ride facilities as well as the new Freeb bus offering people a free option to travel around the city centre have all contributed to help make Cardiff a special retail destinaton.

Cardiff Council leader Rodney Berman said: “I have been confidently predicting that on the back of St David’s, Cardiff would move up into the top 10 retail locations and now these figures show that we’ve clearly achieved that. When you look at the cities around us in the league table it is a clear indication of just how far Cardiff has come and underlines our status as a true European capital.

“When you add to St David’s and John Lewis, the popularity of Queen Street and the city centre’s Victorian arcades you have a unique retail destination and I’m proud that Cardiff is now getting the credit it deserves.”

Executive member for Economic Development, Councillor Neil McEvoy, added: “These latest figures show the economic impact of retail tourism on the city which is a huge boost for Cardiff in the current financial climate. When you look at the mix Cardiff now offers in terms of culture, retail, leisure and sport, coupled with its accessibility and compactness, Cardiff is a city that people clearly want to come and visit.”