The Beer-Meister's Pub of the Day #1 - The Cayo Arms, Cathedral Rd, Cardiff

Welcome to the first of what we hope will be a regular, if not daily feature on this blog, The Beer-Meister's Pub of the Day.

THE CAYO ARMS

Picture the scene.

It's Good Friday in Cardiff. Tomorrow is St George's Day. More importantly, tomorrow afternoon will see table-topping Queens Park Rangers travel to the Welsh capital to take on fellow Championship promotion chasers Cardiff City. I'm in need of a recommendation. A safe and friendly pub please Mr Beer-Meister?

Now my previous visit to Cardiff to watch my beloved Superhoops had ended in heart-breaking cicumstances. Defeat to the Bluebirds at the Millennium Stadium in the Play-Off Final. A whole season coming down to "Big" Danny Shittu's failure to flatten Andy Campbell in extra-time. Oh yeah, that and Tommy Williams' refusal to "SQUARE IT" to Paul Furlong.

The journey away from Cardiff wasn't pleasant. A hint of good old fashioned celebratory violence hung in the air, people shook imaginary coffee beans in my direction.

So it was with some trepidation that I stepped off the train half expecting similar heart-ache again and near violent ridicule. I need not have worried. Neither about the football, or about the welcome in the Valleys.

"Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."

In the spirit of this blog, Steve Colwell aka The Beermeister, recommended that if I along with my accompanying brother and good friend Tom, should visit only one pub in Cardiff, it should be the Cayo Arms. It was never likely to be the case that the three of us would only visit one pub, but visiting this wonderful establishment became a kind of pilgrimage.

Steve's recommendations are the stuff of legend. (I hope in time you will come to appreciate this by visiting this blog again.) Often there will be a 2 mile treck away from the train station and football ground, over and under viaducts, to find a pub with knitting patterns on the wall (Stockport County away).

Named in honour of William Julian Cayo-Evans, a famous Welshman who ran the 'Free Wales Army,' this seemed to be the kind of place where football talk should be kept to a minimum with accents remaining hushed and un-assuming at the bar. As it was, we met two more QPR fans outside in the large front beer garden.

"You three from London?"

"Shhh."

"What you here for? The football?"

"Yeah."

"Excellent, mind if we join you?"

Whilst trying to be as covert and respectable as possible I ordered a pint of Tomos Watkins'. I couldn't pronounce anymore than that. Fish and chips too as it was Good Friday. No complaints with either the beer or the beer-battered cod.

After a couple more pints of Tomos Watkins' the now extended group headed into the city centre where I have to confess to falling asleep whilst stood in the queue for a nightclub. Time to go back to the Travelodge then?

Still, the clue in how the evening ended should suggest that the welcome afforded to us at the Cayo Arms meant that we felt more than comfortable in our surroundings and happy to enjoy time in Wales.

I have to say that that "welcome" was similarly felt right across the City. I'm told that Cardiff is a much friendlier place to visit as an away fan now that Ninian Park has been replaced by the imaginatively titled Cardiff City Stadium.

As my father would say, you'll still need to keep your "eyes and ears" about you, but Cardiff and the Cayo are certainly wonderful places to visit if you come in peace, and leave with a 2-2 draw!