Ernest Willows (JD Wetherspoon), Cardiff

Unremarkable 'spoons located in a quieter location on the east side of the city centre (but easily walkable if you're minded to). Mid-brown woodwork, but very light in a slightly raised corner area with full-height windows on two sides. Also has a patio beer garden at the back. Duplicated selection of the expected Ruddles, Doom Bar and Abbot plus the local Glamorgan Thunderbird (£1.99) and Kirkstall's Dissolution IPA on the two banks of five handpumps.

Pretty standard Spoons, with a raised area to the right of the pub. Not really much to shout about here and it's probably not worth the walk from the centre of town to get here. Seemed fairly popular with the locals though.

Traditional Spoons, large rectangle with a raised “dining” area to the right of the entrance.Large window onto the busy road that is awash with restaurants and cafes. The long bar is on the wall opposite the door and has a slate like tiled floor in front of the bar before it becomes Spoons type carpet that has seen better days throughout. Venue was mega busy on my visit towards the end of the England Euro QF. There is an outside seating area at the back. Loads of keg offered, most of not all ever present in Spoons. The cask offering was pretty poor. Two banks of 5 hand pumps with identical offering including the ubiquitous Ruddles Best, Doom Bar & Abbot. The two others on offer were Bays Devon Dumpling and Grainstore Rutland Beast. I had the Ruddles and a packet of salted nuts for £2.49. Would have been happy with something better for double the price! This is definitely not one of the leading lights of the JDW empire. It obviously carves out a decent existence for Tim. I hadn’t visited previously and doubt I ever will again.

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.