[Swlug] Cardiff Meeting Place

[Chris Jackson]

Another +1 for food.  I tend to hop over straight from work, so it
would mean not having to grab something horrid or waiting until later.
As good as the City Arms is, we could do with somewhere a bit brighter
and more open.  As much hate as Wetherspoon establishments tend to
get, the Gatekeeper is right opposite - it's reasonably cheap,
reasonably open and accessible, and there's no music.  (FWIW, the
Carmarthen branch had no issue with the coffee when I was there last
year, though that may not necessarily hold here.)  It also tends to be
quieter than Central or the Prince of Wales.

I can only really speak to two of the other suggestions:
Zero Degrees has very good food and some of their own brews are rather
good, but it's towards the top of the price range for somewhere we'd
want to meet regularly.
Urban Taphouse isn't short of drinks, though last time I ate anything
there the menu was a bit limited, and any time I've been in there it's
been rather full - two deep at the bar and nowhere to sit, even at 8pm
on a midweek night.

Understandably, most if not all of the cafes tend to close around
7-8pm, and my personal preference would be not to move from one place
to another, though I'm not averse to giving it a try to see if it
works.  However, it would appear that the only Costas still open after
7pm are the two inside St Davids (the one outside on Working Street
closes at 7), and rather ironically while some Starbucks close at 8-9,
the one surrounded by restaurants in the Brewery Quarter chucks out at
7.30.

Definitely needs a quick decision, though.


On 2 June 2015 at 19:33, Matt Moore <matt at matthewmoore.org.uk> wrote:
> Folks,
>
> There have been suggestions about moving the Cardiff meet to somewhere with
> food.  Despite the City Arms being an excellent real ale pub and a nice low
> key venue to meet at (as well as being near the train station) it sadly
> doesn't do food.  I really want to avoid going back to a spoons personally
> and don't really fancy the walk back to Central Bar. Personally I'm happy
> with the City Arms and can't really see the need to move, but if others are
> keen then I'm ok.
>
> So here's a few suggestions (which have been discussed on IRC):
>
> Cozy Club - food and ok beer
> Zero Degrees - food and good beer
> Urban Taphouse - food and good beer
> Corner House - food and ok beer
>
> Also I do think that there's some milage in going for a more inclusive and
> totally non-pub venue.  So as another idea:
>
> Starbucks (several of them are open till 8pm) followed by one of the many
> resturants in Cardiff for a meal.  But that does mean while there is no
> booze, you'll have to be able to buy food.
>
> Any other suggestions/thoughts?
>
> No replies means we stick with City Arms btw ;)
>
> Cheers,
>
> Matt
>
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-- 
Chris Jackson