The Village Inn, Swansea

Of all the pubs down the Mumbles, this one has always been the most food-orientated and a recent visit found that not much has changed on that front. Despite this, there is still a very clear bar area over to the left as you enter, with enough seating provisioned for those just wanting a drink. The servery sits in the rear left corner, with a tile fronted counter and a series of shelves on the bar back. The space is bare boarded with a mix of standard and high stool seating available under stonework-effect wallpaper. A huge Buddha statue acts as a strong focal point and there is a lot of greenery, including some nice bamboo plants, as well as a few mini Christmas trees in the front windows and literally hundreds of baubles hung from the ceiling. Some floral lamp shades looked very pretty, yet the décor contrasts from the ancient looking wooden beams and pillars, some of which have old ropes wound tightly around them and are also decorated with road signs and fairly lights. The right hand side of the room has more of a restaurant feel to it, although the décor is much the same as seen in the bar area. The far end is slightly raised and partitioned by some more aged timbers, with large mirrors on the end wall. Piped music was playing on arrival, but this was soon replaced by live music, in the shape of a young lady singing from a stool at the rear of the room. As with the neighbouring Kinsale Irish Pub, the only ale available was Sharp's Doom Bar, and having just drank a pint, I felt I could only cope with a half here, which turned out to be a good idea as the beer was in pretty poor condition. The landlady was very friendly however, with a friendly welcome and happy to crack a few jokes in passing. This is quite an attractive pub in many ways, with the traditional interior proving to be the highlight, as the beer was not up to much and the predominance of diners meant that atmosphere was notably lacking. One to scratch from future crawls I think.