Black Lion Hotel, Cardiff

Visited 22/11/24 Brains pub with full range of their ales - Rev James, SA, Dark, Bitter and SA Gold. Keg was Brains IPA Smooth, Carling, Coors, Old Mount berries & cherries cider, Moretti, Carlsberg, Guinness and regular SB. Nice old school Brains pub with bar counter with tiled front facing, and just inside, the door and creating a U-shaped venue. Bare boarded throughout. Right hand side has banquettes around the sides and a fire grate on one wall. Interesting timbered apex ceiling. Some interesting mirrors on the walls. Left hand side had a few tables in the bay windows and a banquette at the back of that section. Had a lot more charm than the larger and plush venue opposite.

The Black Lion is a Brains pub that looks quite attractive from the outside. The interior is fairly simple with a narrow bar area opening up at one end to allow for plenty of seating. The CAMRA website describes many features that no longer appear to exist. The interior sounds like it was much more interesting at one time! The 4 Brains beers were Bitter, SA, Dark & The Rev James. As we were in Cardiff, it would have been rude not to have sampled a Rev James before the day was out. So, we ordered a couple of halves and the barmaid accepted my proffered CAMRA voucher. But I soon remembered that Rev James is really not a beer that I enjoy.