Ernest Willows (JD Wetherspoon), Roath, Cardiff

Cardiff isn’t short of a Spoons. This one has an unusual interior, has got the vibes of a converted Oriental restaurant in terms of the lattice woodwork dividers. Also unusual for a JDW in a) having the FA Cup semi-final on and b) with the volume up loud. Two guest cask, my Kirkby Lonsdale was fair (NBSS 2.5). Chronically understaffed, the single overworked barmaid forgot to give me any change as she tried (and failed) to juggle three orders simultaneously. There’s no compelling reason to walk a few minutes out of the immediate city centre Timbo Taverns to do this one aside from the ticking aspect.

Ernest Willow was some geezer who built an airship and flew it over his home town of Cardiff. He was subsequently killed in an air accident. It's only just outside the city centre roughly half a mile East of Queen Street Rail Station. It consists of a wide rectangular room with smaller areas either side of the bar. The decor involves lots of light coloured wood but the furnishings are fairly typical. The Gents toilets here are quite ornate. There was a mix of folk in on my Wednesday evening visit. The bar has two sets of five hand pumps which had the JDW Trio Of Doom doubled up, a cider, Glamorgan Thunderbird & Jemima's Pitchfork and Boss Brave. I went for the Boss Brave (£2.05) which was in good condition. This one seemed pretty reasonable to me.