Where To Eat & Drink?
The good news is that unlike most other new stadiums, built on the edge of town, the Millennium is right in the centre of Cardiff. There are loads of bars and eating establishments to choose from. In fact there are over 70 bars within a quarter mile radius of the stadium, that can in total accommodate around 60,000 supporters! However your choice of pubs will more than likely be restricted to which end of the stadium your team has been allocated, as fans then tend congregate in the pubs around each end.
The South End of the stadium, has the larger bars centered around it in St Marys Street, where the usual names of Wetherspoons, Walkabout & O'Neils can be found. My pick of the bars in this area were the Wetherspoons outlet, the Prince Of Wales (a former theatre, where you can now have a pint in the royal box!) and if you are looking for a good pint of Brains, then there is The Albert just in front of the brewery. However as you would expect these pubs fill up quickly so aim to get there for opening time. Gareth Baglow recommends 'The Cottage' on St Marys Street.
A the North End, Danny Boy recommends the 'Owain Glyndwr' by the market and the 'Angel Bar' beneath the hotel of the same name. Whilst Bob Kurac a visiting Liverpool supporter adds; 'The City Arms is a cracking good pub, right opposite the entrance to gates 2 and 3. Two small bars, excellent ales (Brains) and a big screen for sports.' Whilst Mark Tyler recommends 'The Cayo Arms on Cathedral Road. The Cayo which is only five minutes walk from the stadium, has a 'beer garden' in front of it, so if the weather's good you can have a pre-match pint while sharing some banter with the opposing fans and soaking up the atmosphere as fans stream past on their way to the match. Directions - walking away from the city centre, cross the river Taff on the bridge just North of the stadium and take the first right. You are now in Cathedral Road and The Cayo is the first pub you reach, a couple of hundred metres up on the right'.
Just off St Marys Street is Caroline Street, nicknamed locally as 'chip alley'. The street is home to a number of kebab shops and chippies.
Alcohol is also served from one of 23 bars within the stadium, although please note that you are not allowed to take alcohol back to your seat. The bars are open until 15 minutes before kick off. Prices inside the stadium were 'par for the course' with pasties & pints being in the region of the £2.50 mark. However it was reasonably easy to get served before the game started, although for some reason the bars are closed at half time. Programmes retail normally between £4 & £5.
Virtually every pub in the city centre will let you in on match day. There are loads and loads of decent pubs, and some of them are very big (huge Wetherspoons, Walkabouts, Sprinboks, etc, all within a few minutes walk of the stadium).
You will find that fans tend to congregate in the pubs at whatever end of the stadium their club has been allocated, although fans from both clubs will also mix in plenty of pubs - particularly those on the outskirts of the city centre.
For Cardiff's play-off with QPR last year, I was drinking in a decent Wetherspoons pub about 15 minutes walk from the ground. Although it was mostly full of Cardiff fans, there were plenty of QPR in there too.
The Old Arcade is good, cheap and close to the stadium. Was in there after Wales v Scotland and the atmosphere between the two sets of fans was great.
Wetherspoons have the Prince of Wales and the Gatekeeper nearby, both of which are good.
The new Brewery Quarter in the area once occupied by Brains Brewery contains The Yard which is excellent. Also a great Spanish restaurant there.
Loads down St Marys Street including a cavernous Walkabout and several good "local" pubs serving cheap Brains Beer.
Watch out for Brains SA, "Skull Attack" to those in the know. Good bear but after 4 or 5 pints you start to develop a headache which lasts well into the next day. Better to go for Brains Dark which is like a light version of Guinness.
Wonder if all the pubs will be putting the Welsh favourite of Faggots & Peas on the menu in honour of us!!