Cosy Club, Cardiff

Visited 06/08/24 Last venue in this rapid fire of City centre bars was the City centre branch of the Cosy Club. This one has a small outside area that was popular on my visit. But the somewhat large and grand inside area was up a flight of stairs immediately inside the entrance. A reception desk greets you at the top of the stairs, but you merely get ushered to the bar along the back wall if you are a drinker. There is plenty of seating at a mixture of arrangements around the bar including some leather sofas if you want to sit at the floor to ceiling glass windows looking out onto the street either side. Illumination (not needed today) around the bar is via grand chandeliers. Big frilly shades you would see in your nan's front room in the dining areas. There are bare boards throughout and a large part of the space is taken by tables set for diners. It is a mixture of art deco and industrial chic so a somewhat unusual vibe. Music at tolerable volumes. Again, as expected, keg only with Moretti, Menabrea, Cruzcampo, Brixton Reliance Pale Ale and Henry Weston's Vintage cider. Nothing interesting on the bottled beer front. Right, that's quick bar crawl in City centre done with and so off to get an Uber to get to some more traditional unvisited pubs out of the City centre! This one again perfectly tolerable but absence of a single cask offering so far means nothing vaguely in the above average range in my scoring on here!

What a funny little place. Newly-opened and situated in the new St Davids 2 shopping development – it looks like a clothes shop from the outside. Up a staircase to get in (surrounded by old doors nailed to the walls) and enter to a large bar area, with a restaurant section beyond. King of the décor is the lovely Art Deco-style bar (see pics) which was worth the trip on its own. The rest of the interior is pretty eclectic and a trip to the gents will find a selection of Country Life ‘girls in pearls’ adorning the walls. Clientèle are upmarket urban (and urbane) types. Two pumps, just Dark Star NHA Pale on (good nick). Bath Dark Hare and Orchard Pig cider on keg. One downer was the incredibly sticky tables; in a new upmarket bar you’d expect better. Off-beat and worth a quick visit.