Carib Vibes, Cardiff

Visited 22/11/24 No cask. Lots of keg options Madri, Guinness, Red Stripe, Inch's, Moretti, Carling, Coors, Strongbow dark fruits, Brixton Reliance, Heineken Silver and Cruz. Large ex JDW venue, very long bar against back wall away from the front door. Polished wood floor down the centre, tiles along the bar counter area and a sort of light green carpet elsewhere. A raised stage area on the left-hand side and right-hand side with some booth tables on the left-hand wall. The right-hand stage area had a big TV on the wall. The main floor area had loads of regular tables and chairs. A few large copper faced pillars reduced the sprawl somewhat inside. The lighting was rather dim and as the only punter in here at 3.30pm on a Friday afternoon to start my rugby weekend it felt a bit soulless. They even switched the music off after my arrival so could only hear the hum of the extensive fridges behind the bar! I’m sure this draws the crowds at the right time,but not clear what that would be.

Facebook page of Carib Vibes - m.facebook.com

Facebook page of Carib Vibes - m.facebook.com

Official site of Carib Vibes - www.caribvibesbar.com

Official site of Carib Vibes - www.caribvibesbar.com

The Crockerton is an unashamed Lloyds No 1 (it even says so on the outside). As such it has Sky Sports and had music playing on my Wednesday evening visit. It's a low ceilinged square room with a pointless lighting circle in the middle of the ceiling. The bar is at the back of the room but on the right up a couple of steps is the Lloyds disaster area with lights, speakers and idiot booth. The bar has a set of four and a set of three hand pumps where the beer choice was absolute rubbish consisting of the JDW Trio Of Doom with Doom Bore doubled, one unused, Brain's SA and Oakham JHB. I went for a "craft" option, Brain's Barry Island IPA for which I was charged just £2.25. If this is Brain's contribution to "craft" then they should stick to what they know, producing boring mediocre cask ales. It was hopeless, like drinking a pint of iced water. The whole thing was a complete waste of time.