Friday 7 January 2011

Kings Cross


25 Caroline Street, Cardiff [map]



No wonder there's uproar at Mitchells & Butlers' proposal to transform the Kings Cross into a fancy eatery.

Not only is it Cardiff's best-known gay bar, it also offers a steak and a pint for £5.99 on Wednesdays. Such recession-busting prices surely won't survive a gastropub relaunch.


The amiable bar staff are purveyors of both your standard cooking lagers (you can't go wrong with a reassuringly gaseous pint of Foster's, after all) and a smattering of more esoteric fare.

Although a session built around the consumption of something called Doom Bar is surely destined to all go a bit Oliver Reed.


Echo columnist Dan O'Neill reckons that "the survival of the Kings Cross as a gay pub is infinitely more important than the survival of the much over-hyped Vulcan."

We're inclined to agree with him.


Despite its odd shape - the building, which dates from 1872, is sandwiched between the twin lanes Mill and Chippy - Kings Cross still manages to feel fairly cosy.

It's like a lagery oasis of camp in an otherwise arid wasteland of scoffing, shouting, scrapping and, erm, sicking.

And it's got free Wi-Fi.

4 comments:

Sammyfax said...

Kings Cross Serves Doom Bar? *Downs tools and leaves house*

Anonymous said...

Dear Pint of 45,

Why is all of your photography of such rubbish quality?
Is it because you spend all of your money on lager and therefore cannot afford a decent camera?

In retrospect, I see some of your old posts have fine quality photographs, did you drop that camera into a pint of lager?

Yours,

Pisshead.

Anonymous said...

Ps.
Please enable anonymous commenting so that I can abuse you.

Pint of 45 said...

The Photographer got a new cameraphone that, sadly, doesn't seem to cope very well in low lighting.

But fear not, we're working on a solution. All being well, future pics will be slightly less rubbish.