Mocka Lounge
Mill Lane, Cardiff
After the successful relocation of Soda Bar from St Mary’s Street to Mill Lane, the team behind the relaunch look to be creating a monopoly on the capital’s sun trap with the opening of Mocka Lounge. It’s a wily move from the team, knowing full well the foot fall will surge when the adjacent shopping complex St David’s 2 opens for business in the autumn.

The entrance into Mocka Lounge is grand, literally rolling out the red carpet for incomers as our hosts beam with friendly smiles. The interior is dynamic, shifting moods and tunes across three different floors. The basement is fitted with crisp furnishings and varnished oak with a clientele that shifts between high society and relaxed families.

I order a Long Island Iced Tea from a waitress, saving time at bar and it’s dutifully whisked back to me within seconds - it’s incredible the number of bars in Cardiff that still don’t offer this simple, fundamental service. I venture up to the expansive middle floor where the DJ pumps out soul and funk, accompanied by an Octopus-like bongo player who batters the skins with manic precision.
The dance floor leads onto the ambient top floor, conceived for those looking for a little intimacy or just somewhere to admire what’s going on below them. After a few more cocktails and premium beers, we’re nicely warmed up for the night ahead.

Punters: High society thrown in with relaxed families
Ambience: Three floors with three changeable moods
Drinks: Premium lager £3.50-£3.80. Cocktails £5-£6
Contact: 029 2022 1292
Michael Took

The Funky Buddha Lounge
Charles Street, Cardiff
Nestled among Charles Street’s gay clubs, small businesses and café-sized bars, The Funky Buddha Lounge is a hidden gem squirreled seconds from Cardiff’s shopping epicentre. With five years experience in the student stronghold Cathays, the Charles Street location was originally The Funky Buddha Lounge 2 after opening in November. It recently claimed number one status after the Cathays arm shut in June, however, transferring the original Lounge’s heart and soul across town. The homely main room is chock with neat decorative East-meets-West touches, kooky Buddha decorations almost everywhere you gaze beneath charming chandeliers. The small but well-stocked bar is good news for wine and spirits lovers in particular, with a painstakingly selected range of the former, while early bird food offers make already cheap, heartily portioned grub even better for your wallet. Better still, almost the entire menu is locally sourced and cooked onsite. Smokers and fresh air seekers alike can escape to a cosy back garden or small on-street front patio, although inside is the prime destination most evenings, boasting a chilled range of bands, DJs and, on Sundays, the Funky Buddha’s successful open mic night. Happy Hour two-for-one cocktail deals – we can recommend their Cosmopolitans – are mighty enticing, too. All in all, you’ll be hard pushed to find a friendlier, more personal drinking hideaway in Cardiff city centre.

Punters: Demure party people to in-the-know office workers
Drinks: Cocktails £5.50-£6, draught beers £3.50-£3.80 a pint, £2.10-£2.20 a half, bottled beers £2.70-£3.50, spirits £2.50-£3.20 a single, shooters £5, wines £4.05-£5.50 a glass, £11.50-£18.95 a bottle, Sparkling wines/champagnes £16-£44.99 a bottle
Ambience: Warm and welcoming; relaxed without sending you to sleep
Contact: 029 2064 4311
Adam Kennedy

Vanilla Rooms
Park Place, Cardiff
Located on the lower ground floor of the extravagant Park House Club, Vanilla Rooms provides an ideal retreat for those looking to evade the bad behaviour littered around Cardiff’s city centre. Indeed, you’re more likely to drop in on an informal gathering of Welsh celebrities than stagger into some cackling hen party.

The Park House Club is an elite private members’ club but there’s no sense of pretentiousness - just a collective of individuals looking for something unique, but more importantly, fun.

On arrival my guest and I are amiably greeted by a friendly host. We’re both asked how our day has been, not in some faux-American way, but in a way that shows genuine interest.

The décor is akin to a trendy, underground den - all clean lines and sleek furnishings as the DJ spins a slick mix of 70s funk and ambient house. And with the Vanilla Rooms now under the guidance of Christos Kyriakides, a mixologist supremo and winner of the Wales Best Barman 2008 award, the cocktails - shaken and stirred - are superb.

We are taken through the extensive cocktail list; there’s over a hundred spirits and liquors stacked behind him so the combinations are seemingly endless.

We both begin with a classic mojito infused by Venezualan rum and the sweetness of demerara sugar. As the night rolls on, we make serious dents into the cocktail menu with a gin-soaked negroni and a pupil-inducing triple nut sour the clear highlights. We wind up with a series of global beers, capping off a night coupled by great drinks and great company.

Punters: Welsh celebrities mingling with Cardiff's elite
Ambience: A trendy, underground den soundtracked by rolling funk and chilled house
Drinks: Bottled beers £3, cocktails £5 - £7.50
Contact: 029 2076 4344
Michael Took

Sup up your beer and collect your fags…

<<<BACK This venue on Westgate Street has struggled to find its feet and establish an identity since long-standing incumbent Bar M closed its doors over four years ago. From a Moroccan themed club to R’n’B haunt it has taken on many different guises. Now with brand new owners, brand new management and a totally new personality the current manifestation Tabu seems to have hit a chord, and is bringing in a totally new crowd. This seems to be done by emphasising a slick quality that pumps through this club’s very sinews. Now encompassing the whole ground floor and basement, the first thing that strikes you about the interior is the attention to detail. That attention is also extended into everything from the vast cocktail list through to the service. Knowledgeable baristas are fast becoming a dying breed in South Wales so it’s good to know you’re stepping into an environment where such traditional values are still respected. Step downstairs and you can’t help but notice the striking illuminated crucifix, which lights up the whole corner adding an extra touch of cool as it contrasts with the plush black surroundings. The music is deliberately eclectic, with a quality control on good music meaning that all genres seem to be catered for as long as they pass the quality test. Mani, the ex-Stone Roses and current Primal Scream bassist, was the guest DJ for the launch, and according to my sources expect a lot of the same calibre guest DJ’s in future. Like Mani himself, Tabu oozes an understated cool with a fun, mischievous streak.
Punters: Style conscious music lovers
Drinks: The best in cocktails
Ambience: Understated cool
Contact: 029 2039 9400
Jo Roberts