Rummer Tavern, Cardiff

Situated in a row of shops opposite Cardiff Castle, this pub with its mock-Tudor frontage has a deep but narrow single room interior. The front section is a bare boarded seating area with standard tables and chairs arranged in rows down the left hand side, broken up by some partitioning screens in places. The walls to the front left are bare brick, eventually being replaced by tongue and groove panelling, whilst the right hand side boasts some lovely traditional dark wood panels that extend almost to the rear of the pub, where the servery eventually appears on the left hand wall. The counter has a series of drawers on its front, although whether they actually open or are just for decoration wasn't clear. Meanwhile, the canopy displays a mix of items including bottles, jugs, buckets and lamps. The bar back is also tongue and groove panelled and has a great Hancock's HB display shelf as a centrepiece. A couple of standard tables and chairs can be found opposite the bar and there is a slightly raised carpeted seating area at the far end of the room with three or four more tables, bare brick walls and a TV screen which was turned off in favour of quiet indie music. The whole pub is dimly lit, creating an atmospheric feel with the dark panels, which are decorated with lots of framed beer posters and some temporary St Patrick's Day promotional stuff. Menus on each table listed very reasonably priced food options with main meals, including steaks, costing around £7.00. On the bar, two house beers - Hancock's HB and Wye Valley HPA - were complimented by Wye Valley Butty Bach, Purity Mad Goose, Untapped UPA, Exmoor Ale and something from Otley that I couldn't make out from the pump clip. A final handpull was dispensing Thatcher's Heritage Cider. I gave the UPA a try and thought it was a tasty enough drop, if not quite in tip-top condition. I found this to be a well kept, traditional city centre pub and was a little surprised that it wasn't doing a much better trade given its prominent position. The pub makes a good bolt hole and the fact that it's not tied to Brains means its worth keeping in mind as a good bet for an interesting, varied ale selection.