The Pen & Wig, Cardiff

Quinno _ left this review about The Pen & Wig

Pretty much the same as the last time - the wood panelling at the front remains and it's a mid-market venue straddling the students and staff of the Uni, local legal office workers and middle class locals. 10 pumps remain as per 2015 though once the ciders and ‘coming soons’ were stripped out we were down to five local ales. GBG listed, my Tomos & Lilford Nash Point was in fair shape (NBSS 3); advanced pricing at £5.45pp and I played the CAMRA discount to get it down to £4.95. The COVID enhanced garden with cast iron column seating area is impressive. 7.5

November 2015
Not far from the immediate city centre and worth putting on the crawl list. It’s a fairly traditional place in a large knocked-through Victorian terrace building (you can enter from either end). There are plenty of discrete seating areas with a large traditional bar area and back. Clean and tidy inside with a welcoming furnished feel. Busy on our late Saturday afternoon visit, with a pleasing mix of shoppers, locals and students though the music was over-loud and not really required. Ten pumps at the bar with eight ales and two ciders. A pretty good selection of micros and regionals to choose from. I stayed local and went for Cwm Rhondda and Otley O6; the Cwm Rhondda had seen better days but the Otley was much better. 10% CAMRA discount is offered and clearly advertised at the bar. Food available and we decided to eat; it’s mid-range pub grub but it must be said that the quality and service were a notch above what I expected and we all enjoyed our food (they even did Mrs Quinno’s steak properly medium as requested). Really enjoyed my visit here and would make sure I take it in again next time I’m in Cardiff. Rated 8

On 5^th December 2024 - rating: 7
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