Not already a member?
Join our community and
- Rate & review pubs
- Upload pictures
- Add events
JOIN for free NOW
Chat about:
Random news of the day with Tris39
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Just a quick pint, then I'm off
Submitted on Friday, 4th August 2017
With picture contributions to 9888 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (13 more images)
Detail Pages
The Golden Cross, Cardiff
Cardiff
CF10 1GH
Served areas
Reviews of The Golden Cross (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Golden Cross
Interesting-looking Brains pub with some bold exterior tiling and a little stained glass in the main windows. Inside, it retains three main rooms: a fairly uninteresting corner bar, the somewhat faded glory of the main bar - with its feature tiled picture of the castle and the imposing tilework beneath the counter - and a small pool room in the other corner with a smaller (but still impressive) tiled picture of the town hall. Otherwise, it is very plainly furnished. On the beer front, there were only reversed clips on the various handpumps, so I made do with a half of Smooth (£1.75) whilst admiring the various interesting features (and ignoring the rest).
On 30th July 2017
- rating: 5
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Golden Cross
The Golden Cross was built in 1903 for the Brains brewery and is generally regarded as having the most impressive pub interior in the whole of Wales. The exterior can't be ignored either, although the beautifully tiled façade is certainly looking a little worse for wear, with plenty of damage visible in passing. Entering through the right hand door, you start to wonder what all the fuss is about, as this brings you into a modernised corner bar with floor tiles, brightly painted walls, modern art prints and plush curved banquette seating. The lattice leaded windows with stained glass Brains inserts give a hint that you are in a special pub though and this is confirmed by making your way into the central room, where an amazing ceramic bar counter takes pride of place in the middle of the back wall, with a repeated dragon head motif. The dark wood bar back has been spoiled somewhat by replacing the centrepiece clock with a modern device and covering sections of the bar back with a large TV screen and a rainbow flag. The room is bare boarded and boasts further fine tile-work, many with intricate relief patterns. A row of high stools stand under a ledge that runs the length of the front windows, but otherwise seating options in this room are virtually non existent. A stage area can be found to the left under an incredible tile painting of Cardiff Castle - another extremely rare surviving feature. Amazingly, another tile painting can be found in the left hand room, this time depicting Cardiff Town Hall. The room has modern laminate flooring and a pool table, neither of which is really in keeping with the pub's look. There also seemed to be another bar behind the servery, but this was in darkness on my visit, so I didn't explore further. I was the only customer for the entire duration of my stay and the barman decided to celebrate my arrival by putting on some very loud pop music.
I'd not expected to find any ale on the bar, so it was a pleasant surprise to see Brains SA and Bitter both available. I tried a mediocre half of the Bitter, although it's fair to say this isn't the most thrilling beer at the best of times. Other than that, it was standard mainstream keg options and not a great deal else.
There's no doubting that this is a genuinely exciting pub survivor and one that should be safeguarded from loss or damage, especially given the sad demise of the Vulcan a few years ago. The current owners seem to have made several changes for the worst which have detracted from the pub's aesthetic appeal and whilst real ale might have been re-introduced, such thoughtless modifications are off-putting. I'm really glad I got to see this pub before things go too far and would urge others to do likewise.
On 18th April 2015
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Golden Cross
Popped in to admire the interior – however beyond the tiled bar and ceramics there wasn’t a huge amount of pull to stay and brave the cask-less bar, so I pressed on. This is now primarily a gay venue so at least it’s open.
On 1st October 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
View more reviews of The Golden Cross (5)
No known official website for this pub.
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Golden Cross - whatpub.com
- Historic Pub Interiors - pubheritage.camra.org.uk
Cardiff Queen Street, 0.43 miles, 8 min walk (show)
Cardiff Bay, 0.83 miles, 16 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Car Park : No last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Child Friendly : No last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : Yes last updated 22 November 2010 by Dave McNally
- Live Music : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Micropub : No last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Pinball : No last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Pool Table : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
- WiFi : Yes last updated 18 April 2015 by Pub SignMan
