The Queens Vaults, Cardiff

Half pool bar, half trad pub, one large open space, lively vibrant and popular, high ceiling, velvet curtains and a couple of real ales

One of a series of good drinking venues along this stretch of Westgate Street, the Queen's Vaults is a smart, traditional pub set up to appeal to a wide range of customers. The pub's exterior is certainly worthy of comment, with a fine ceramic tile façade that gives the Golden Cross a run for its money. Entering through the corners doors, with quirky rugby ball shaped handles (in a nod to the neighbouring Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Arms Park), you emerge into a large bare boarded room with several distinctly different areas. The front space is a typical seating area with U-shaped banquette booths running down the right hand wall and a slightly raised carpeted area under the front windows with standard tables and chairs ideal for diners. A series of large pillars throughout the pub, each covered with patterned wallpaper, break the large space up very effectively. High tables and stools and high backed padded chairs fill the mid section of the room, with plenty of vertical drinking space further back, in front of the servery which runs in an L shape along the back wall and towards the rear. The dark wood counter and bar back has been covered in a healthy collection of pump clips which hints at a strong ale range. To the rear left there are no less than three pool tables plus a huge screen showing muted football highlights - with other smaller screens dotted around the rest of the pub. A shelf towards the rear has been decorated with all manner of unusual and unrelated items, with a French horn being the most memorable. The pub has been nicely decorated with various old pictures, cigarette cards, mirrors and bits of breweriana, which help give it a traditional feel. A very good selection of predominantly Welsh beers was available at the bar, comprising Brains SA and Bitter, Grey Trees JPR Pale Ale, Kite Try Time, Vale of Glamorgan Fe Fi Fo Fum and one English interloper - Wadworth 6X. The barmaid was very friendly and offered me a taster of the Try Time when she realised I was dithering. It turned out to be a pretty good beer and in good condition. I really liked the feel of this pub and thought it was exactly the sort of place you could find yourself losing several hours in. The pool tables and large screens could be viewed as unnecessary distractions, but I took a seat towards the front of the pub and didn't notice them at all. Well worth including on any crawl around the city centre.