The Dock, Cardiff

This is an enormous Brains pub in a striking building on Mermaid Quay. Despite the very modern exterior which seems to have been designed to resemble a boat with a bow and sails very easily identified, the interior has been fitted out with a lot of traditional materials. There is plenty of dark wood throughout, as well as quarry stone walls, tiled floors and exposed beams and supports. The overall effect is a pleasant blend of a modern bar within a traditional British pub setting. The place is so big I only managed to explore a fraction of it, as we had booked a table on the upper level which has balconies giving excellent views out across the bay. We all ate here and the general consensus was that the food was very good and value for money given the location. The staff were also very helpful, especially as we caused the kitchen staff all sorts of trouble by arriving late, just as the kitchen was about to close. On the bar, I noted Brains SA, Bitter, Dark and Farmers Walloon on handpull, with additional Brains brews on keg alongside other more commonplace lager and cider options. The Farmers Walloon wasn’t really my cup of tea, but I managed to get through a not inconsiderable amount of the Dark before we all staggered out to party the night away elsewhere. This place struck me as a great, multi-purpose venue capable of simultaneously accommodating our noisy stag-do crowd, casual diners and drinkers, large family groups and everything in between. It’s worth a visit just to sit on the balcony or on the seats out the front, but I’d happily return for food or drinks without the need for a view.

A cavernous pub right on the waterfront in Cardiff Bay that seems to go on for ever. Every time you think you’ve finished exploring, there is yet another room further on again. It’s split over two levels, and in addition to this there is outside seating on some decking at ground level, and two balconies offering great views across the bay. The downstairs bar has a part tiled, part wooden floor and various painted arches that seem intended to remind you of a castle. Two sweeping wooden staircases lead to the wood floored upper bar, and here the castle theme continues with some fake stonework. Further stairs lead to a “crow’s nest” which looks to be a reasonably decent seating area with an attractive painted ceiling. Various nautical memorabilia is scattered around. Unusually, a Costa coffee is attached to the pub, and is effectively another room off of it. There was a decent enough “pub grub” menu at reasonable prices. This was divided in to sections such as Light Bites, Burgers, Favourites, etc. A Ham, Egg & Chips was decent enough value at £6.95, especially bearing in mind the location, and came with a thick wedge of ham and a couple of eggs. Service at the bar was a bit slow, but other than that I’ve got no complaints. Beers on tap were all from the Brains stable, with their Bitter, Dark, SA and SA Gold. The solitary cider was Strongbow, unfortunately.