This O’Neills in the middle of town is smaller and cosier than its bigger sister in St Mary’s Street.

The Venue
Called 'little O’Neills' to differentiate it from the St Mary’s Street branch, this pub sits prettily in the shadow of the beautiful St John The Baptist Church, right in the centre of Cardiff. It’s characteristically blue from the outside and has two entrances, one which leads more directly up to the upstairs bar which is used for comedy and music nights.

High tables and tall chairs cluster you as you come in to the main bar, which is indeed small for an O’Neills. It has a pale wood floor which, together with the yellowy and subdued lighting and the wood panelled walls give the place a suffused warm glow. There’s background music, but it’s not too loud and you can sit outside and hear the birds chirping in clement weather, or stay inside and experience some of that faux Irish charm.

The People
Being so central - and adjacent to Cardiff’s covered market and the church - O’Neills pulls in saints and sinners of all ages and backgrounds and no one crowd dominates here. There’s a semi-separate snug area right at the back which is ideal for a first date or an illicit encounter far from the eyes of the world. It gets very busy during the evenings, and as you'd expect, the busiest of these are Fridays and Saturdays.

The Food and Drink
On tap there’s Guinness, Peroni, Beck’s, Magner’s, Amstel and Smithwick’s (a smooth red ale brewed at St Francis Abbey in Kilkenny). There’s also Newcastle Brown, Magners and Heineken in bottles. There are half a dozen each of red and white wines and then you’ve got classic pub dishes like ploughman’s lunch, sausages and colcannon and Irish stew - all for an eminently affordable £3.50. There are teas and coffees too, including, naturally, Irish coffee.

The Last Word
Perhaps the best thing about it is the almost pastoral location in the middle of town. But with 10 Feet Tall and The Old Arcade just around the corner, there’s some quality competition around here.