The New Conway, Cardiff

Local pub with a slight gastro slant in a pleasant, leafy suburban residential area. A number of people were gathered drinking outside. Inside, the bar is L-shaped, with a further room beyond seemingly reserved for diners. Two Glamorgan ales were on - Cwrw Gorslas & Jemima's Pitchfork. We both chose Jemima's Pitchfork and found it to be in excellent condition, something that sadly many Cardiff pubs were falling down on. The young staff seemed approachable and friendly enough. Overall, a decent pub in what appears to be a well-heeled area of the Welsh capital.

Official site of The New Conway - knifeandforkfood.co.uk

This back street pub in the fancy district of Pontcanna has been given a serious gastro makeover that left the place feeling a bit cold when I popped in for a pint on a quiet Friday afternoon. The bar area is located on the street corner and has a modern dark tile floor, gastro-grey walls and some admittedly nice stained glass panels above the servery. There’s not much space for the punters to move around, with the room restricted to a narrow L shaped space with bench and low stool seating on one side and tub chairs on the other. A few seemingly random, obscure indie record sleeves were framed on one wall, apropos of nothing. Past the bar, the pub opens out into a large restaurant style space, full of formal seating and set tables between some low partitioning screens. It looked like a fairly nice, modern dining space but it didn’t look like you could wander through with your pint and plonk yourself down at one of the tables, so I grabbed a bar stool and settled down to watch the TV which was showing Grand Prix practise sessions. A few benches were available at the front of the pub, and despite the light drizzle, half the customers persisted in sitting on them. An A-board, packed away in the porch, hinted that the pub had just run a beer festival and I was pleased to find four ales on the bar, in the shape of Greene King IPA, Vale of Glamorgan No1 Original, Otley Colomb-O and Wickwar Real Stout. I gave the Colomb-O a try and thought it was a very well kept beer, although service was lackadaisical at best. Thatcher’s Heritage Cider occupied a final handpull. I can’t fault the interesting, well chosen, Brains-free beer selection here, but the pub as a whole didn’t really do it for me and I think I would view this as somewhere to enjoy a meal or pop in for a quick pint rather than staying for a session. Worth a look if you’re in the area, but not worth the trip out of town unless you plan to visit a few others nearby.