The Cottage, Cardiff

This pub has been well described by PSM below, and its conflicting styles, caught between traditional old pub and modern city bar, are what make it just miss the "must visit" category that it might otherwise have attained. It's still an attractive old building, with its incredibly narrow frontage emphasised by the fact that there are two doors (one disused); the bar is also an attractive one, and the row of hand pumps featuring Brains beers is impressive. Like so many bars in city centre shopping streets, there's a lack of character about The Cottage. I wouldn't mind calling in again, though, as my half of Brains Dark was in very good condition and at a pretty reasonable £1.45 too. Date of visit: 5th October 2017

Dating back to the mid 1700's, this traditional Brains house on the city's main boozing strip is reportedly one of Cardiff's oldest pubs. It has a similar deep but narrow layout to several other older pubs in the city centre, with a porch leading into a light front seating area with plenty of standard tables and chairs under the attractive latticed front window. The servery appears mid way into the pub on the left hand wall and has a nice dark wood counter and bar back, with the latter boasting a rather grand integral clock on top, flanked by some interesting ceramic pieces. High tables and stools run opposite the bar whilst further along there are some plush padded banquettes, including a snug little booth to the right. A couple of steps lead up to the rear, bare boarded area where more standard tables and chairs and a single curved banquette round out the seating options, with bell pushes still in-situ at certain points. A hatch on the rear wall allows a peep into the kitchen and the area is brightened considerably by a large stained glass skylight. There are loads of black and white photos on show throughout the pub, including many depicting local scenes and various mirrors enhance the traditional décor, although this is somewhat countered by the presence of numerous blackboards promoting various nights and TV screens showing muted daytime shows whilst music was quietly piped throughout. The bar offered a broad selection of Brains ales, with the options on this visit comprising Bitter, SA, SA Gold, Dark, Reverend James, Oat Natural and Bread of Heaven. I decided to try the ever reliable Dark, which went down very well and was served by a very chipper barman. This is a pretty solid city centre pub with no real outstanding features other than it being a respectable presence in a part of town where drinking barns prevail. It's probably the best place in the city centre to sample Brains beers if that's your thing, but there are more interesting places just a short walk away.