The Rummer Tavern

14 Duke Street, Cardiff [map]


It may be flanked by a sandwich store franchise on one side and a recruitment agency on the other. But even that can't detract from the sheer beauty of the Rummer. It's like a beer-filled oasis in the midst of a nightmarish corporate desert.


And if that's not enough to tempt you through its doors, then surely this is. "Sorry no under 18s," reads a sign next to the entrance. "No children or babies permitted on these premises." Sheer poetry.


Once inside, you're struck by the tavern's long, narrow shape and the fact that none of the chairs match. There's also a whole lot of wood. So it's all very brown - but that's the colour pubs should be, isn't it?

The place was originally built in the early 1700s and, all those lights aside, you're left with the reassuring feeling that it hasn't really changed much since. Although whether you could order a mushroom stroganoff here in the 18th century remains to be seen.