Pen & Wig

Came here for lunch while on a business trip to Cardiff university. Great selection of beers and knowledgable bar staff. Great pub food and the steak with Abbott ale pie was delicious.

Lovely bar. Poor waiting times for food. Told 30 minutes on Saturday evening and ended up being 50 minutes and only came at that time as we complained and chased it up.
We wanted dessert after and told again another 50 minute waiting time. Dessert shouldn’t take that long. We left disappointed.

I stopped in with some friends while visiting the city. The night before we’d been to Goat Major, but my friends thought it a bit dingy. Wig and Pen on the other hand was more open, well kept, played good music and had a great selection for beer. One friend made the mistake of deciding to try a whiskey sour for the first time — I had to explain to the bartender how to make it, and it did not come out well.
I really enjoyed my stop here.

If you’re looking for a compromise between the city centre and a local pub then on the weekends this is a good place to choose.
Decent beer prices (haven’t tried the food) and an interesting mix of students and indie kids heading into town or just meeting up before whatever.
Stays open late enough Fridays and Saturdays (1am usually) by which time it’s usually chilled out a bit.
4 out of 5 for this boozer

Blink and you’ll miss this place, tucked as far back as possible and on street way behind the main road. (a backstreet if your down with the kids)
This place is pretty. I know a building probably wouldn’t want to be classed as pretty, but hey i’m the one writing the review! (i’m poking my tongue out and everything!)
Nice and decent pub type of establishment this place has a posh feel to it, i think that may have something to do with he solicitors in suits that hang out here, but, and here’s the twist in the tale, the Pen and Wig is reasonable… i mean, really reasonable which baffled me beyond upon entering. So, these nice price tags ensure the students swarm here to, but not really in a swarmy way, more like when their being respectable kind of way.
Food is good here, like, really good. Wholesome and hearty its the type of place your parents would approve of. It also offers beer, real beer, cask ales which make every pub goer happy, even if you don’t have the acquired taste for it.
With a lovely beer garden and really nice interior the Pen and Wig really is one of those ‘special’ pubs that should be in a city centre.

If it’s a big, traditional roast you want, then the Pen and Wig is the place you need. Experts at crafting meaty, wholesome meals to fill you up, this student-​friendly hangout has become an essential port-​of-​call for empty stomachs and Sundays alike.
Drinks prices are quite reasonable, and they also offer a welcome selection of soft drinks so that you’re not forced to down a beer because you don’t like coke and can never justify the price of a j20 (haven’t we all been there?!?).
An added bonus of this pub is its capability to swallow up large groups. Purely for the purposes of illustrating this point, at the end of last year we had a seminar tucked away in the corner here. The lesson went quite swimmingly, apart from a burger arriving just as we were getting to the core of a Freud-​influenced psychoanalytic interpretation of women’s underarm hair.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Make a new friend over a rented board-​game

This is a favourite with Cardiff office workers, I suppose its roots may lay with its proximity to law-​based buildings, but I’m basing that purely on things inside my head, which is rarely reliable. It’s a fairly large pub that has a big beer garden to sit around in if the weather’s any good and the inside is two levels high. Drink prices are reasonable and food prices are even more reasonable. In terms of pub grub I would place it somewhere in the middle on the quality scale, not too shabby but not phenomenal either. It tends to be really busy on a Friday lunchtime when office workers try to escape the monotony of another week by pretending they can have any sort of fun between the hours of 9am and 5pm during the week. When I walk in on a Friday lunchtime I am greeted by my horrific destiny.

The Pen and Wig is nicely situated just away from the main shopping precinct just off the main road on a side street where you really wouldn’t expect to find a bar. It’s not somewhere I would go to eat as whenever I have been there it is absolutely heaving. I usually find it full of students nowadays which does not put me off at all but I like to eat somewhere quieter. There’s nothing distinct about the décor of the pub as such, it always seems kind of dark there, if there was anything distinct I still wouldn’t be able to tell you as I usually head straight outside the back to the patio area as it’s usually a little less crowded. Even then I’ve known it to be rammed outside and I’m not one for standing up all night so there have been times when I’ve left to found somewhere else although, there aren’t many bars in Cardiff as good when it comes to the prices of the drinks

The Pen & Wig has been a favourite with student types who don’t really want to admit it for as long as I can remember. At the town end of studentsville, it is a good starting place for a night out, or a tucked away alternative to trashy bars and cheap boozefests.
However, I will warn you, don’t try and give directions to a visitor to this place as it is on a road that, by rights, shouldn’t really exist, other than to maybe hav a pub on it.
It is an original building, in the same lovely Victorian style of the rest of Park Place, and as such looks like a proper pub. When you enter, it continues to look like a proper pub, with a bar with pumps on, over-​patterned carpet and lots of old looking wood. But hang on, didn’t I just mention students?
This is where the Pen & Wig excels. The beers are all reasonable and the food ranges from real value meals for less than £3 to pub favourites. For the price, you’re not going expect much, but it is all edible and just what you’d expect of pub grub. For the slightly alternative student, the Pen & Wig does something often lacking in student bars; beer! They have a range of regularly changing guest beers, and I’ve not been disappointed yet.
Coupled with a large beer garden, with sociable seating, heaters and parasols, and the option for board games, this is the sort of pub you pop into for a drink after a lecture/​work/​gig etc. and find yourself in all evening.
And to top it off, they’ve started hosting live music. Brill!

There is a distinct studenty /​indie feel to this place but don’t let that put you off as it has a good little beer garden, nice bar staff and the prices are reasonable.
I’ve never eaten here but have seen other peoples food and frankly it didn’t tempt me. Having said that a mate of mine says they do a good Sunday roast.
There is a comedy on a Tuesday plus you can play board games supplied by the pub for a refundable deposit of £5. It’s a little off the beaten track so if you haven’t been here before it may take some finding its worth it and its a pub you would seriously consider being your local — if you lived local.

It may be hidden down a side street but if you can find it then this is a great place to go for a few drinks, especially in summer. The beer garden here is large and has plenty of tables so it’s perfect for a spot of lunch in the summer sun, and if the weather’s turned sour then there’s enough room inside to accommodate a decent crowd too.
I’ve really enjoyed the food here and have visited a few times for lunch with friends. If it’s busy then there’s a little wait before your food comes but it’s a reasonable one and tends not to be longer than 25 minutes. The menu is nicely varied with burgers, grills, pastas, salads and desserts on offer, so there should be something here for everyone. Drinks are good too; the bar has several draught beers and ales and lots of interesting bottles in the fridges behind it, and the staff are friendly an helpful as well.
The thing that really drew me to the Pen & Wig though was the location. It’s right by the student area so the prices are competitive, but it’s sort of hidden away so it’s not too busy and the crowd is nice and varied and not too studenty to put people off. The beer garden is especially good and if you’re looking for somewhere to eat on a sunny day I’d highly recommend it here. I’ve eaten inside as well and the place is nice enough, it is pretty standard pub décor but it does the job just fine.

This Pen and Wig is situated near Cardiff student’s union, but is very much a pub for all. I like to categorize this pub under ‘old man stylee’, the décor is generally, well brown and you have your standard dark wood tables and chairs, there’s nothing overly exciting about it.
What makes this a good place to go, is the cheap food and drink, which lets face is pretty important, who cares whether the walls have flowers on and upside down lamp shades to make it quirky, by the end of the night, all you’ll be caring about is where the nearest kebab shop is, after having had a thoroughly good time because you’ve had enough money to do so.
The outside seating is plentiful and they have patio heaters to keep you out there into the darkness. There are plenty of board games to hire out and TV screens for the football, a standard pub, but an excellent choice for the wallet.

The Pen and Wig is a favourite hangover haunt for myself and friends and is where I can be found almost every Sunday lunchtime, more often than not with Ham, Egg and Chips, a can of Red Bull and a palpable sense of regret.
A great menu, with curry nights and steak nights and the like. There’s a cheap section where you can get fish and chips, ham, egg and chips etc for just £3.99 but there are more substantial offerings aswell. Plenty of drinks too, and they will offer a varying specialist selection of beers and ales throughout the year. An example of this is when Neil Morrisey was in Cardiff for «Rain Man» in the New Theatre, they brought in Morrisey Fox Ale on tap. They always have different ones to sample though. On the whole, you don’t begrudge the prices at the Pen and Wig, but nor do they strike you as being especially cheap. There is a great deal for Rose though and for £5 you can get a decent enough bottle. If low on cash, or just intent on getting hammered, a great deal all round.
The décor inside is inside pretty standard fare, and, as mentioned previously it does tend to feel like you’ve been in this type of pub a hundred times before. Even though I must have been inside the Pen and Wig at least 50 times I cannot recall much of the interior decoration at all. I think of this as a compliment. If there is ever a traditional pub where I can remember specific features of decoration, it’s usually been because I’ve been so bored that I’ve had to resort to staring at pictures on the walls.
It tends to have gotten a little too busy for me these days, and, although it’s got a great, large outdoor seating area, it’s a rare occurence that one is available for long enough to be snapped up. For that reason, nowadays I mainly tend to visit the Pen and Wig for a mid-​week drink and it is truly one of the best bars in Cardiff to enjoy a pint outside on a sunny day.

The Pen and Wig is a cosy pub in the centre of Cardiff, albeit tucked away down a side street. As well as serving up lagers, ales and spirits, the pub provides a wide-​ranging menu until 10pm. Also on offer are a variety of board games for hire and a quiz from 8pm on Tuesday evenings and comedy nights on Mondays from half 8. There’s also televisions, usually tuned into bbc news 24, darts, a pool table and a beer garden out the back, for lazy summer evenings or just a crafty cigarette.
What really appeals to me about this pub is its cosy nature; the place is almost like a warm blanket on a chilly winter evening, giving you a lovely comforting hug. The staff are always cheery and happy to help, the food is better than most regular pub grub and the atmosphere is friendly, with a variety of patrons frequenting the venue, from students, to young professionals to adults alike. It’s a great place to hang out with your mates, take your parents to or chill out on a date at. It lends itself to all occassions.

Popular with students, former students, and people working at the University and in other offices nearby, the inexpensive Pen & Wig has a really laid-​back atmosphere and is just far enough out of the centre to feel local.
It serves up classic pub grub such as steak and ale pie for a very reasonable price, and while the food is nothing extraordinary it’s not bad for the price.
The board games that you can borrow from behind the bar give you the sense that you’re very welcome to while away several hours here over a drink or two, at your own pace. It can get pretty crowded, but even when it’s rammed the atmosphere is good and there’s plenty of space to spill outside into the big beer garden for a gasp of air (although be prepared to inhale lots of smoke at the same time!).

I quite like this pub, I have to say.
Although I’m Cardiff born and bred, I was never a student here, which means that I did not enjoy this pub as a local student. Instead, I was brought here by student friends who were in love with the place and clearly had an excellent collection of great memories gathered under it roof (and, indeed, out in the beer garden).
I have always enjoyed this place during the summer, and so have never actually sat inside, although the decoration is nice enough and pretty standard, but well kept. The outdoors is well heated and maintained and is very large, there’s even a couple of benches out front to.
The drinks are set at good prices, and the food looks decent enough, although I’ll admit that I’ve never actually tried it. But the best thing about this pub is its atmosphere on a popular night. People are very friendly and clearly often know one another.
Although not to everyone’s taste, this is a nice vibrant pub. Good with the students.

My opinions take a little from column Chris and a little from Column Laura. It’s alright.
LIke Laura says, it’s all pretty standard looks wise and you could be in any number of pubs in the country.
I had food too and found it to be fine, nothing great but serviceable. Staff were pretty nice too. Just couldn’t help feel I’ve been and done this a million times in any other ‘traditional’ pub.

The Pen and Wig, I found, was a nice pub to visit for a drink. It was pretty much standard with regards to décor. There were a lot of places to sit and there was a good mix of people. I went in winter, so I couldn’t go outside but I appreciate that there was one.
However, the food was not up to par at all. I had a veggie burger and chips, so I wasn’t expecting anything that amazing. I just wanted some good hearty food. We didn’t have to wait long to get it but then I bit into it.
I was so disappointed.
It wasn’t hot and there was not much of it at all. I felt that it definitely wasn’t worth the money to eat there. It wasn’t even as though I could understand a slight dip in quality because it was busy. There was only one other table eating.

This is a lovely pub about two minutes from the bottom end of Queen Street, (kinda) just up the road from Buffalo and 33 Windsor Place.
It’s part of a chain, but the atmosphere is really cosy and it’s feels very nuch like a golden oldie.
The food is really good value. I had steak and ale pie with mash and peas for £2.99! It’s hardly a gastropub, but it’s got such charm that it’s definitely worth a look. The drinks are very reasonable to with a good selection of real ales — plus a collage of all their guest ale badges is displayed opposite the bar.
Just to forewarn you, parts of the bar are sectioned off after 7.30 on certain nights for The Law Society — so best ring ahead if you can’t wait for a table.

Great food at great prices. The beer garden is well covered and heated, with outdoor speakers to match. I really enjoy visiting in my lunch break or as a place to socialise in the evenings. Bar staff are extremely relaxed without being ignorant or rude or worse — fakingly nice!
Events throughout the week (Comedy night, Quiz night etc.) with promotions on food and drink.
This pub is not just for solicitors.