The Conway, Cardiff

This back street pub in the fancy district of Pontcanna has been given a serious gastro makeover that left the place feeling a bit cold when I popped in for a pint on a quiet Friday afternoon. The bar area is located on the street corner and has a modern dark tile floor, gastro-grey walls and some admittedly nice stained glass panels above the servery. There’s not much space for the punters to move around, with the room restricted to a narrow L shaped space with bench and low stool seating on one side and tub chairs on the other. A few seemingly random, obscure indie record sleeves were framed on one wall, apropos of nothing. Past the bar, the pub opens out into a large restaurant style space, full of formal seating and set tables between some low partitioning screens. It looked like a fairly nice, modern dining space but it didn’t look like you could wander through with your pint and plonk yourself down at one of the tables, so I grabbed a bar stool and settled down to watch the TV which was showing Grand Prix practise sessions. A few benches were available at the front of the pub, and despite the light drizzle, half the customers persisted in sitting on them. An A-board, packed away in the porch, hinted that the pub had just run a beer festival and I was pleased to find four ales on the bar, in the shape of Greene King IPA, Vale of Glamorgan No1 Original, Otley Colomb-O and Wickwar Real Stout. I gave the Colomb-O a try and thought it was a very well kept beer, although service was lackadaisical at best. Thatcher’s Heritage Cider occupied a final handpull. I can’t fault the interesting, well chosen, Brains-free beer selection here, but the pub as a whole didn’t really do it for me and I think I would view this as somewhere to enjoy a meal or pop in for a quick pint rather than staying for a session. Worth a look if you’re in the area, but not worth the trip out of town unless you plan to visit a few others nearby.