The Butchers Arms, Cardiff

Visited 08/08/24. Very traditional pub that was, I believe, closed for a while post pandemic but has been reopened for a while. Front bar inside the corner building entrance was where the action was at during my visit. It is a quite small room with bar in the corner opposite the door. Actively used juke box and a couple of screens showing the Olympics. Off the end of this bar was a small corridor leading to a pool room and another smaller bar not operational during my visit. No cask as awaiting delivers of the three Brains bitters that they normally have on. Keg options were lagers (Stella, Carling, Cruz & Carlsberg), ciders (Thatcher’s Haze & regular Strongbow), Guinness and Brains Smooth IPA. Enjoyed spending some time here, friendly staff and friendly regulars. Customer base not likely to be flirting between this place and some of the strong craft beer places nearby!

With the excellent St Canna's Ale House just opposite, it's very easy to pass this corner Brains pub by. In fact, we did just that on our last visit to Cardiff in 2019. However, this was a visit to fill in some of the gaps, some of the pubs I hadn't previously visited in the capital. The Butchers Arms is a completely different experience to St Canna's. It a really traditional backstreet boozer with its public bar on the corner, having just 2 other male customers and the landlord. We were immediately engaged in conversation as soon as we set foot in the door. Although our bedraggled state after walking from the Romilly through a heavy downpour was always going to provide a conversation starter! 5 handpulls had 4 Bitter clips and 1 Dark clip. Although the pub no longer stocks the Dark, as there is not enough call for it these days, the landlord saying that a cask has to be drunk within 3 days before it goes off. The clip is just kept for posterity. So Brains Bitter was the only real ale. There is a lounge at the rear that was closed and in darkness. A corridor connects the bar with the lounge and the toilet facilities. Whilst St Canna's will provide you with a decent beer experience, the Butchers Arms is more of a proper pub and as Aqualung has said, it is a good example of a traditional city local.

This is an original Brains pub as shown by the stained glass windows. It has a basic public bar and a rear lounge that I didn't venture into. The public bar is small and roughly square with two speakers on tripods at one side and a dart board. Two large TV screens were also present, one off and the other silent. The bar has five hand pumps which had just Brains Dark & Bitter on. I went for the Dark (£2.85) which was probably the best pint of it I had on my Cardiff visit. This is a real old school pub and if you visit Canton for the micropub opposite or the Crafty Devil bar then it's worth a look just to see what virtually all pubs used to be like.