"Where we gonna go on a break, Levi?" I asked three weeks ago. We'd left it stupidly late to book anywhere in the UK and as we worked our way through booking.com our hopes of a holiday seemed to diminish before our eyes. We were looking for somewhere affordable, not too far and that we'd not been to before, and after some searching we decided on Cardiff, Wales' capital city. Not the first place you'd think of going on a holiday (reactions to this from friends and relatives included: 'Cardiff?' 'why?' and 'interesting...'). Still, we're positive people and with some excitement we packed our bags and headed off. And seriously, any doubts we might have had soon disappeared because Cardiff is frankly, quite awesome for a city break.
Reason 1: The Beer
Cardiff: Home of Brains Brewery and good solid, beautiful, drinkable beer.
By far the nicest pub in town for Real Ale fans has to be The City Arms (http://www.thecityarmscardiff.com/) near the stadium. It has wonderful guest ales as well as the usual Brains fare, its dark and dingy, has pump clips up the walls - a real old man pub and an absolute delight. By far my favourite pint there was Jolly Boat - absolutely delicious and Gorges Best by Cheddar Ales. Sweet and imensely quaffable - probably my best pint of 2014 so far. We liked the pub so much we went three times including Wednesday night with my friend Anna from university - it was lovely to catch up!
We also went to the Plymouth Arms (http://www.vintageinn.co.uk/theplymoutharmssaintfagans/) in St. Fagan. There is a big open air museum there with houses from all over Wales (http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/stfagans/) which is perfect for a nice sunny afternoon and the pub is right outside selling very good Brain's Bitter and SA Gold.
By the Bay there is The Packet (http://www.sabrain.com/packet) another good Brain's pub selling a good pint of Brains Bitter. If you fancy wandering around the bay with the Welsh Assembly and the Norwegian Church where Roald Dahl was christened, this is perfect for a quick rest stop.
Back in town, there are a number of other decent drinking establishments. The Goat Major (http://www.sabrain.com/goatmajor) has a very nice pint of Reverend James (and apparently good pies according to our friend Owain, though we didn't have time to sample them). Other places we enjoyed included The Cottage (great Brains Dark on tap - http://www.sabrain.com/cardiffcottage) and The Brewhouse (http://www.cardiffoldbreweryquarter.co.uk/) where we had a very hoppy American style ale and caught up with one of Levi's former colleagues from Exeter who lives in the area. There was also excellent beer to be had in Zero Degrees and The Taphouse, but more on those below.
Reason 2: The Food
Cardiff has great food on offer. It has a big indoor market with lots of fresh fish, meat and cake. I spied the most delicious Welsh Cakes (see below) and am planning on making some over the weekend (though I'm sure they won't be half as good as these babies...)
In nearby Caerphilly, I found some gorgeous Caerphilly cheese done in wax for freshness and I day dreamed about it all the way round Caerphilly Castle (http://cadw.wales.gov.uk/daysout/caerphilly-castle/?lang=en). God, I love cheese! We also picked up some delicious home made sandwiches at a local bakery called Glanmors, where the customer service was fantastic (I spent ages umming and ahhing over the delicious fare, and it was all taken with a big smile and easy humour).
Evening meal wise, our favourite place to eat was the Urban Taphouse (http://www.urbantaphouse.co.uk/) which has twenty four beers on tap (I particularly liked Titanic Black) and the most delicious pork burger made with minced pork, black pudding and bacon, topped with yoghurt and apple sauce, fantastic fresh onion rings and fried gherkins. The American style brewtap Zero Degrees (http://www.zerodegrees.co.uk/cardiff/) round the corner was also very nice, with American style beer and big pizzas - mine was Gorgonzola and caramelised pear. Scrumptious.
Reason 3: More Wild Garlic
Yeah... it doesn't rain, it it doesn't pour, it simply floods! Walking out to the gorgeous cathedral at Llandaff the sweet smell of wild garlic hung in the air and there it was in all its glory. If you're based in the area and want some, there's a load by the river at Llandaff Fields and a load more in the passageway as you come up to the Cathedral. Like bleeding tonnes of the stuff.
So there you go. Three fantastic reasons to visit Cardiff - its a hidden gem and we'll be back next year for sure (but don't tell Stanley).
No comments:
Post a Comment