Walsall:
We were at the beer festival at the town hall, and this was the nearest place to watch the Grand national. It’s typical town centre pub with a sports bias- loud, crowded, but it served the purpose- I’d usually avoid it. Service with a scowl too- the young lady serving me was verging on hostile, but I’d guess a day of serving beer to hordes of pissed-up people might do that (along with being asked to top mine up…). Beer was decent and cheap though.
Penarth:
Pretty standard ‘spoons, but I’m having less of a problem with that these days: after all, a ‘spoons is usually a good chance of decent beer and wine, and at least reasonable food. We didn’t eat here, but the beer and wine were up to standard, everything else as you’d expect. Friendly locals, who seemed surprisingly not that keen on their home town…
Penarth:
An afternoon’s break from my work in Cardiff, we’d popped to Penarth to see the pier, then after a quick drink outside the Glandale Hotel (not quite pubby enough for inclusion here), we walked into town, and this was the first pub we passed.
It wasn’t bad. Not plush, but the locals were friendly, and the beer was fine. There was ale, and the wine was OK too.
Cardiff:
Busy Greene King pub in the entertainment area, it’s a kind of posher attempt at ‘spoons, with a typical slightly posher pubfood menu, and a good beer selection (including the wonderful Goose Island IPA as a welcome alternative to GK’s own). Staff friendly, but it was a little soulless, I felt: bright lights, stripped floor, modern furniture, but one colleague loved it.
Cardiff Bay:
Pleasant traditional pub: a lot of the surrounding area is modern, and a little plastic, but The Packet is a delightful, well, packet of traditional pub in it’s midst. It was rammed when we visited with some of my colleagues, late on Good Friday afternoon, and hence noisy, but a prior visit by stymistress saw it quiet and refined. Staff and beer were both fine, the building lovely.
Cardiff:
We’d seen this near our hotel, and dropped in. Not that it matters, or we noticed, this is apparently a gay pub. Outside is a lovely listed building, the inside decor is a bit of an 80s disaster, and there was terrible pop at high volumes in one area, which spilled through to the bar. No ale, but decent lager, and the staff were friendly enough and the prices OK..
Cardiff:
On business in Cardiff, this was the closest thing to a local for a few days.
It’s a grand building outside, with a good location in the centre of town. Inside, it’s standard pubchain decor for old pubs: stripped floor and plain walls, but pleasant enough. Great beer and food, friendly staff. It got very busy on a Friday or Saturday night.