The Roath Park

170 City Road, Roath [map]


Now here's a pub that's not messing about. A big, boxy, Victorian building that's brazenly named after a park it's nowhere near.


At first glance, the booze options appear to be entirely conventional. But then you notice all those undersized bottles of red wine that are so neatly lined up, the enormous flagon of orange squash, the Cointreau in pole position.

All of which suggests that The Roath Park is home to some truly avant-garde drinking habits.


It's fairly calm in the lounge bar as everyone wearily surveys Wales's latest Six Nations loss, while imbibing their ludicrous orange squash and Cointreau-based concoctions.


Venture through the loos and you'll emerge into this peculiar holding area.


Keep going and you'll end up in the public bar, replete with the landlord's friendly black Labrador (not pictured) and a phalanx of resolutely unfriendly locals, who immediately suggest that we scurry back round to the other side of the pub.

To be fair, they were probably all off their heads on miniature bottles of red wine at the time.