Callaghans

Castle Street, Cardiff [map]


This Irish pub is actually part of the adjacent Holiday Inn (a corridor links the bar with the hotel reception).

But step inside and you'd never guess as much - there's nary a garish green-and-yellow logo in sight.


Good to see the barman doing his best Pub Landlord impression.

A fine array of drinks on offer, although there is something of an emphasis on (predictably enough) Guinness and (less predictably) Beck's.

Having recently endured the comically overpriced Pica Pica, we were delighted to discover that a pint of the pale German lager is a mere £2.


Look at all that lovely, recently polished wood. Doesn't it just make you want to lie down on it and roll across the floor?

Or is that just us?


There are loads of little cubbyholes around the place, including this risibly undersized seating area.


Head down the steps to the outside area and you'll find a discomfiture of punters guzzling pear cider.

How very 2008.