Zerodegrees, Cardiff

This was my first experience of the Zerodegrees chain of brew-pubs and overall I was quite impressed. Strolling in on a Tuesday afternoon, I was greeted by a very friendly chap who asked if I wanted to eat or not. With only 30 minutes until my train home, I explained I just wanted a quick drink, so he pointed me in the direction of the bar – no pressure to eat or awkwardness, just a very pleasant welcome. As you enter, you can’t help but notice the large brewing vessels at the front of the pub, behind which stands the servery in a room with a concrete floor and plain walls with a colourful frieze running around it. The overall look is very industrial, which I suppose makes some sense, given that it is a fully functioning brewery, but I imagine the look would leave some people cold. Opposite the bar there is a seating area with some very heavy chairs and a few small sofas, most of which were turned to watch the rugby on the TV screen hanging on the back wall. To the left is an open kitchen with a huge pizza oven, whilst the right hand side of the room has more brewing tanks, each individually numbered. The room curves round past the servery, towards the front windows, providing a second seating area with more brewing equipment on view. The high corrugated ceiling has a large skylight with brightens the bar area during the daytime and prevents the place from feeling too gloomy. The meet and greet bloke was directing diners upstairs, where a dining room looks down over the main bar area. The menu is focussed around pizza and pasta dishes, with most main dishes between 10-12 quid. I counted seven or eight house brews on the various taps around the servery including Kolsch, Mango and Wheat. I plumped for the Pale Ale which was a rather pricey £3.90 for a pint. It was a fairly tasty beer and I wouldn’t have minded trying a few more had time permitted. These industrial style brew-pubs can be very impersonal and devoid of character, but I found this place to be welcoming, with plenty of interest going on and some interesting beers on offer. As I left, the cheery meet and greet bloke bade me farewell and hoped I would visit again. Based on this visit, I’d certainly be happy to take him up on that.

Bizarre place. You drink in the Brewery, there is chrome everywhereand a huge pizza oven at one end. A large semi-circle bar and basic modern seating all in a former car sales room. An interesting experience, very clean, freash, sleek and modern and would not be to everybody's taste. The brew kit is German and it has a feel of German efficiency here rather than English (Welsh) eccentricness. There is a large telly showing sport. There are 4 craft beers on tap which are spot on.

The fourth in the ZD chain. As with the other ZD pubs the brewing equipment forms part of the pub décor which veers towards the industrial as a consequence. Unlike the Reading and Bristol branches however, this one is a bit less grimly utilitarian, helped by the high plate glass windows allowing in plenty of light. The overly large chrome fonts make for an irritating experience if you happen to be standing the wrong side of the barman at semi-circular bar who fails to notice you amongst other customers. Beer range is the same throughout the chain but it is brewed on-site. It’s continental-style (lightly carbonated and cold) but according to CAMRA qualifies as real ale. Good food is available. I’m not a fan of ZD pubs generally as they feel like an impersonal canteen in the industrial zone of the Crystal Maze, but this place is OK. If you haven’t tried one, give it a go.