Walkabout

65-74 St Mary Street, Cardiff [map]


We've resisted (if that's the word) going here for ages. It just looks awful, doesn't it? But we're strolling past, we realise we have a pint-sized window to fill, we brace ourselves, we go in.


Being the middle of a weekday afternoon, it's almost entirely deserted.

Come here on a Saturday evening and you'll have a somewhat different experience, given that it'll be packed full of the sort of people who go out for the night without even putting a proper coat on.

That said, even at this time of day, the bloke you can just see on the far left is offering to buy us a Jägerbomb. We're all for getting the party started but doing so at 2pm on a Tuesday doesn't seem quite right.


Another shot of the headache-inducing main bar. Above one of the fridges is the slogan "Sip it or rip it!" We have absolutely no idea what this means.


The voluminous downstairs area consists of an enormous bear pit, with a second bar that runs along its entire length, above which is a near cinema-size big screen. Which currently appears to be displaying some form of 1960s psychedelic animation.


If you like pubs to offer a bit of charm and character, this isn't really the place for you.