Dempseys

It’s an ok kind of pub feels quite empty few tables chairs, supposedly an Irish Pub, NO !!! It’s a basic Brains boozer with their range nothing else. It lacks atmosphere and is out of its time. You can be out of your time if you are unique this place isn’t but for all that if you want a pint it’s clean and the beers ok.

An English Lass, drinking a Cornish pint, in the oldest pub in Cardiff, which happens to be Irish.
Pretty much sums it up.
We popped into Dempseys after a little trip to the Castle. We were the only ones there on a Tuesday afternoon but it soon started to fill.
It’s a big old fashioned pub, but clean and with some decent sofas in the back,
The place seems popular, not just as ‘The oldest pub in the City’ tourist destination, but also with the locals with regular live music, particularly Jazz.
Definatley worth popping in for a good, clean and simple pint without pretentiousness and a bit of history.

Rain. Not really rain, but certainly condensation. Mist is maybe the better word. Mist is what drove me into Dempseys on the Friday night I spent in Cardiff.
Mist was obscuring all the buildings, but put a light sheen on the warm windows of Dempseys to invite me in.
Mist was coating my hands and hair to make me chilly, but quickly dried as the warmth of the atmosphere and a pint from the bar helped me get toasty.
Mist was waiting for me as I went back out into it, to watch rugby with all the other Wales fans from the pub, where we’d been watching highlights on the TV.
It wasn’t really about the mist you know. I don’t really need an excuse to have gone to Dempseys. All of the good things are there, no matter the weather. Don’t make excuses, just go.

Dempseys smells exactly as a pub should smell. That mix of stale beer and inexplicable stains. But one can’t help but feel that these smells have been added as an afterthought, because it has a sort of faux-​old-​fashioned feel about it. This is probably because it’s a Brains pub and so it has had to adopt the style the brewery wants. As a consequence, it’s something of a forced style and a forced Irishness in this Irish Pub.
But it’s still a pretty decent pub with a good atmosphere, particularly on a match day in Cardiff. They’ve got a good array of beers, ales, spirits, and wines, and it’s somewhere in the middle ground in terms of price, this is the centre of Cardiff, opposite Cardiff Castle, after all.

Dempsey’s is one of the great conundrums of Cardiff.
It’s an Oirish pub. It has sticky tables. It’s dark. It’s hot. It’s ruddy loud. It has the beers that every other Brains pub has. They don’t do food. They don’t have a nice garden. Or any garden for that matter. The smoking area is the street outside. Its toilets are rubbish.
And yet everybody comes here.
Seriously on a Friday or Saturday night there isn’t a seat free, it’s rammed with Clwb kids and rugby boys, the blue check shirt brigade and the odd hen party. I can’t understand what the appeal is. Or why I keep coming back here. OK they always have SA Gold on, they have a decent music BLARING out (think The Clash, Bowie etc.), they have the lesser-​spotted Brannigan’s crisp selection (Beef & Mustard every time) and Monopoly on the It-​box. But is that all it takes to buy everyone’s loyalty? To buy my loyalty?
There must be something sinister going on.

Don’t you just love it when a bar taps into that tired old Irish cliché of shabby-​chic rusticity? No, I can’t say I do either and Dempsey’s unfortunately fails to provide the atmosphere or charm to work with its tedious associations and make itself worth a trip.
The pub attempts rustic style with scruffy tables, sparse furniture and tatty old odds and ends hanging on the walls. It’s made an effort to make some kind of statement, but I’m unsure as to how the translates into a place worth a visit.
As a result of this, you often find yourself standing in a corner wondering why you came all the way into town just to mimic the movements of a drunk man waiting for a bus.
Although bands are often on, Dempsey’s certainly seems to adopt more of the atmosphere of service station than destination. This is unfortunate, as its spiritless atmosphere can often kill the vibe of a good night in the making.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Persuade the bar staff to put a shamrock on your drink (whether it’s Guinness, or not!)

Ok — I admit it — I’ve only been to this pub three times but and had a good time on at least one of those occasions — I think.
One of those times was the night of a big boxing match between Joe Calzaghe and somebody he beat (not hard as he hasn’t lost) at the millennium stadium. It was full to the rafters but getting served wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. So they’re obviously used to crowds here.
The other 2 times we used it just as a meet up bar from where we’d move on and both these times it was full too (I think it was international day). It’s a traditional looking Irish bar — or a bar meant to look like a traditional Irish bar with stools, lots of dark wood, hard floors etc
I’m quite happy to pop in for one or two but unfortunately apart from using it as 1^st base from whence you make plans to go elsewhere I’ve no idea why people would want to stay here all night — not on a weekend anyway.

I was trying to explain Dempsey’s to a visitor to Cardiff recently. Here was the conversation:
Him: So what is Dempsey’s like?
Me: Well, it is an Irish Bar.
Him: What, like O’Neill’s?
Me: No, like a bar that Irish people might actually go to. I think it might have been an Irish bar since before Irish bars existed. If you know what I mean.
Him: But I heard it was a good venue for Jazz.
Me: Oh yeah, it is. It has a regular Jazz night. I saw a great band there recently — contemporary wind group with electronics and stuff.
Him: But you said it is an Irish bar.
Me: Yeah it is. They use the big room upstairs as a music venue.
Him: Oh. Is it nice upstairs then?
Me: No, its horrible, but for some reason it kind of works.
Him: Oh. Ok then.
Dempsey’s has been a well known music venue in Cardiff for, well, seemingly forever. With regular events ranging from Jazz to Ceilis and private functions upstairs, it is such a stalwart of the Cardiff music scene it doesn’t even have to try. And I don’t think it does.
That being said, I have heard that the dingy, and I mean pub back room style dingy, upstairs venue has been done up. What? I should pop in and check it out and maybe have a pint as well:? Oh go on then, you twisted my arm…

Dempsey’s is situated at the top of Womamby street, it’s basically a mildly Irish pub. It is a little manky looking inside and sometimes has gigs on it’s 2^nd floor. I went there last Saturday when they had a bit of a disco going on upstairs and they wanted to charge us £6, there were about 2 people in there so wasn’t really that appealing.
Down in the main pub area you will find your TV screens showing the sport and some scattered quiz machines. Someone was playing kerplunk so looks like they rent out games as well. The atmosphere is friendly and you know it’s somewhere you can while away a few hours and get a little squiffy.
This is a good place to go if you want to go for some cheap drinks before a hardcore night out at Welsh club or you just want to cover a few classics pubs in Cardiff.

Dempsey’s is everything I want in a pub. It’s inviting, it plays good music, it’s one of the best places to watch football and they’ll make you a gimlet! For those of you that don’t know that’s a deceptively tasty combo of gin and lime cordial which gave me one of the worst hangovers I have ever had. Top drink, though I’d advise you to learn from my mistake and stop once you’ve had six.
The staff are friendly here and the doormen are also sound aswell. Probably the most reasonable doormen in Cardiff. They have an upstairs area which can be used for gigs. They have Twisted by Design nights which are free entry and were vote the best alternative night in Wales by BBC Radio 6 listeners.
The clientele varies depending on what’s on around Dempsey’s. It gets as packed as everywhere else on match days but also packs out with alternative music types aswell. There’s a great atmosphere inside, although it can be pushed for space a little on the busier nights. Expect alot of standing.
One of the best pubs in Cardiff hands down.

I’ve never really understood the allure of Dempsey’s. A lot of my friends consider it the go-​to place for a night out but to me it always seems cramped, cloistered and expensive.
Whenever I go, the place is always completely packed out, which is great for business but is less than ideal for a place with such an awkward placing of tables. The only way to get to the bar or to the exit is via the main section which is peppered with annoying tables seemingly placed to create bottlenecks of people making it as awkward as possible to leave.
Another annoyance is that I have never had a good conversation in that place. It’s very much a «hold your pint, be quiet and try not to get flattened by a very fat man who seems to have taken a shine to you and now wants to inhabit the exact space you’re inhabiting» kind of place. This is partly due to the volume of the music; in clubs, this isn’t really a concern as there is a dancefloor where the music is loud and everywhere else where you can at least talk over it without too much trouble. Dempsey’s doesn’t have a dancefloor. Or rather, all of it is a dancefloor. The music is so loud everyone is yelling at one another, which of course raises the volume so everyone else has to yell ad infinitum.
But then, everyone else seems to like it, so maybe I’m the odd one.

I’ve been going out in Dempsey’s for years and, despite a crop of new bars opening that I live, I still have a soft spot for the place. It is a traditional Irish pub selling plenty of the black stuff as well as the expected Brains beers. It lives across the road from Cardiff Castle. The crowd changes with city events, surging full of sports fans, stag dos and women on their way to scream at Take That early on weekend evenings before returning to the usual mix of youngish locals and gig goers on their way to Clwb or Barfly, or one of the many good live gigs Dempsey’s and local promoters put on in their upstairs function room.
I like the back ‘room’, great for a quieter drink, I also often like to use the place when interviewing DJs, musicians and other local personalities for my other journalism jobs. The booth-​like space gives a little privacy and the background noise is low enough not to disrupt my dictaphone too much. My half-​Irish mate disagrees, he thinks the church benches remind him of school trips to St Fagan’s. I don’t care, I say go. You can also pick up Buzz and other local listings mags and fanzines from the rack at the back.

This is a busy Irish-​style pub with reasonable bar prices sat right opposite Cardiff Castle. It’s popular for indie music nights, live jazz, and watching the rugby, generally amongst a good mix of people — you get students, professionals and tourists in here, both young and old.
They have a lot of jazz gigs on, ranging from the Royal Welsh College Big Band to jazz trios and solo artists. Tickets cost from as little as £2, and the atmosphere is relaxed.
Dempsey’s also hosts the excellent and long-​running Twisted By Design alternative nights — weekly on Thursdays (9pm-​2am) and fortnightly upstairs on Saturdays (also 9pm-​2am) — which was voted Wales’s top alternative night by BBC Radio 6 listeners.

This is quite a nice relaxed pub on the outskirts of the city centre, this is a lovely place to have a quiet drink after work.
But there is a real sense of community in this place, in the Irish kind of way, if you know what I mean. Think friendly conversation and live music, with sports (but not overly) and young men and women. If you’ve seen P. S. I Love You, then you’ll recall the type of bar I mean.
Although this is a traditional pub, with its wooden floors and tables and chairs, there is quite a young vibe in the place. This is probably due to the good prices and Indie nights that they put on, which are a little notorious amongst the right crowds.

Dempsey’s certainly isn’t all about sport, although it is a great place to go and watch the rugby. And there’s always a fair crowd watching football in there on a Saturday afternoon.
Its a really good place to go for live music, especially if your after something a bit less chart! I’ve been there before for a jazz night and anyone who loves ‘alternative’ music should check out the Twisted by Design (every other Saturday) nights which are by far the best Indie night you’ll get in Cardiff.
Drinks are pretty cheap and you’ll always get a warm welcome and a good pint. Great mix of people too.

Like most pubs I visit, I generally only go in different ones for the rugby/​football.
Demspeys is billed as a traditional Irish pub and it’s décor of red, cream and dark wood gives it that old school spit and sawdust look, just cleaner.
Atmosphere is great on match days as there are a lot of locals that visit this place. The staff are great aswell and really do add to the friendly feeling that alludes throughout Dempseys.
Prices are okish, I’m not sure if they are the same price as on non match days but there cheaper places around.
They also do traditional pub means too, but haven’t tried them to comment on them.
So yea, if Wales are on and your looking for a good atmosphere, I’d say this is one of the better places to go.

Dempseys is a great place to meet up with friends before going to a gig — or to go to if they’re staging a gig there themselves. There’s a great atmosphere to the place and it’s great to huddle together on the long benches or crowd around the high tables.
The food is cheap and cheerful and there’s a good range of drinks on offer. They often have music nights, Twisted by Design being very popular. They have also hosted drama nights called Cardiff Bites which proved to be very popular.
It’s a great place to go on match days as it’s just around the corner from the Millennium Stadium and there always seems to be sport on the big TVs no matter how obscure!