The Albany

105 Donald Street, Roath [map]


Now that's what a pub should look like, isn't it?


We could live without the lava lamp but, otherwise, this has everything you want from a bar: a selection of cold lagers, some freshly polished brass (er, that sounds odder than it's meant to), a few bags of peanuts, and an emetic line-up of garishly coloured concoctions on the top shelf.


"Buy 9 pints get 1 free," reads the sign. In the circumstances, it seems like the sensible thing to do.

Admittedly, buying one-and-a-quarter gallons of beer at a time is rather excessive. But, hey, we're thirsty.


The place is decorated in pretty much every shade of brown you'd expect to find in a Pantone colour chart. As, indeed, all proper boozers should be.


Through a corridor to the lounge, where there's some serious telly watching going on.

You've rarely seen a group of blokes so rapt in the EastEnders omnibus.


Amazingly, The Albany's beer garden does actually constitute being referred to as a garden. You can't beat a nice bit of foliage with your pint.


In contrast, the smokers' area is somewhat less inviting.


We definitely didn't spend our time here sitting in front of this sign without even realising it, and anyone who says we did is lying.