Y Fuwch Goch

Yes, yes, yes it’s owned by the same peeps that run Clwb Ifor Bach but it’s an entirely different proposition, with a very different vibe. You’ll see every different type of person on a night out in Clwb over the space of a week but while there is some overlap in audience, you’ll only find the twitterati and Welsh music scenesters in Y Fuwch Goch.
That may change now they’ve sorted the kitchen out. I can’t believe no one’s done it before in Cardiff, but they’ve brought in the Pieminister boys from Bristol. If you’ve never had a Pieminister than you’ve never really had a pie at all. They are the bomb. Behind the bar you’ll find lots of Tomos Watkin’s brews in bottles and Gwynt y Ddraig cider in the fridge and Amstell and Brains Cold Smooth on tap amongst others. It’s a bit pricey but then this keeps hoi polloi next door in the Gatekeeper I suppose.
You can hire the place out for functions, which I did for an awards ceremony I organised and they were more than helpful and quite cheap to boot. The music quiz is meant to be a right proper test of musical chops and the odd gig I’ve seen here has been pretty good.
Overall Y Fuwch Goch is a curios bar, at times rammed, other times completely dead.

Oh how I hate this bar’s name, I am repeatedly mocked by my boyfriend for not being able to say it properly. This is the problem when you’re an Englander visiting Cardiff’s night life sometimes, the Welshies trying to make me sound like a complete idiot. This pub has a good place in Womamby street amongst a variety of bars, it offers you a quiet drinking atmosphere that feels quiet and cosy.
They can put on a variety of events throughout the week including quizzes, live music acts and welsh produced drinks. This place is more upmarket than most bars in Cardiff and not really good for those looking to watch sports or get off their heads, it’s just not that type of place. Drinks will be slightly on the pricey side, but you pay for your surroundings.
All in all, a lovely place to relax and have a good olé natter.

Womanby Street had been missing a pub with a semi-​local feel (albeit transplanted into the city centre) since the Horse & Groom shut its doors many moons back. Y Fuwch Goch doesn’t quite recreate that loveably dingy atmosphere, although it does nod to the area’s history translating the name of a previous establishment, The Red Cow, into Welsh. The mother tongue link makes perfect sense, given the fine folks behind adjacent Clwb Ifor Bach are responsible. Clwb keeps it simple with drinks, DJs and bands, something Y Fuwch Goch continues in a bar context: no fancy menus, just Pieminister pies, complementing an uncomplicated bar and big screens are about the only frills. It gets busier than Piccadilly Circus on international rugby matchdays, mind.

I always find sister bars to the major clubs to be a little too mercenary for my tastes; I can’t seem to divorce myself from the idea that they are trying to sucker me in a get my money twice. When I go out, I like to have a little variety; take in the nightlife and dip into a range of bars, and the intended set up here, with Y Fuwch Goch playing primer to it’s big brother Clwb Ifor Bach seems to be the anti-​thesis of that.
However, much like the Old Library/​Metros combo further up St. Mary’s Street, this place happily avoids that. The atmosphere in Y Fuwch Goch is relaxed, and calm. There’s a certain element of pretension in the air (it is a hipster joint, after all) but nothing so offensive as walking into Buffalo at 10pm on a Friday. All in all, it provides a welcome contrast to the other bars surrounding it. Ifor Bach is the place to be seen. Pica Pica is for the hen parties. Dempsey’s is for the 20-​something graduates. Gatekeeper is for the yardies and the students and Y Fuwch Goch is for those who like delicate conversation and quite contemplation with their drink of choice, plucked from a fine selection of local beverage.

The Welsh Club (Clwb Ifor Bach) has a sister. This sister is a pub that sits across the lane. A stone’s throw. A stagger. As such it aims to rival Dempsey’s as the closest pub and therefore ideal pre-​Clwb meeting point for drinks and giggles.
Like Clwb, Y Fuwch Goch is bilingual — ‘A Welsh pub in the heart of the city’. There are few rivals on this front. It is newer, so less shabby and lighter and brighter. The pub hosts a range of live music nights as well as playing festival venue for last year’s Swn.
It doesn’t just serve drinks, although it does do that too. Y Gegin (The Kitchen) serves up my favourite festival grub all year round — Pie Minister pies. DE-​LICIOUS.
Here comes the history bit:
‘a pub by the name of The Red Cow was established on the same site back in the eighteenth century, and Womanby Street was also known as Red Cow Lane at one stage.‘
If you want to find out more there are information panels at the bar which outline the history of the inn and the surrounding areas. If you prefer to look at men running around pitches on big screens, they cater for you too.

This smart new bar sits tucked away along Womanby Street, a lane just opposite Cardiff Castle, and is run by the same people as Clwb Ifor Bach (The Welsh Club), which is just across the lane from it.
It’s stylish and has strong Welsh links, even playing host to Welsh conversation classes. On other nights, they have DJs, music quizzes, film screenings, and small acoutisc gigs — while the venue is also available on some nights for private parties.
The bar stocks lots of Welsh-​produced drinks and a wines from around the world, and has two big screens aimed at drawing in sports fans wanting to watch the game.
A pub by the name of The Red Cow was actually located in this spot right back in the 18^th century, giving this bar its Welsh-​language version of the same name (in fact Womanby Street itself was known as Red Cow Lane at one stage!).