Archive for Swansea
Swansea Lite
After visiting Swansea (which I did this weekend), I normally like to post reviews of good local places to eat, particularly those that serve a decent cooked breakfast to remedy a heavy night’s drinking. However, this time my host was kind enough to whip me up a lovely home-cooked breakfast, so instead I’m going to talk about the No Sign Bar.
We’ve been to the No Sign bar before, and it’s pretty good. It’s technically a wine bar, although they do serve other drinks too. The prices are about average; reasonable, but not especially cheap. The service that I’ve had there has always been quick and friendly, and there’s always been a really nice atmosphere. From what I’ve seen of the clientele, the tend to be in the twenty to forty-something range, so it’s certainly not a chav nightspot!
Of particular interest is the building itself, apparently one of the oldest pubs in Swansea. It’s not very wide, but goes back a very long way, giving it room for two separate bars and plenty of seating. It normally looks packed when you first go in as a lot of people tend to crowd near the front, but if you walk past them there was normally free tables towards the rear, available in small booths or large enough to fit groups around.
If you’re looking for reasonable prices, a nice atmosphere and somewhere where you can sit and chat with your mates over a glass of wine or a few beers, then you could do a lot worse than the No Sign Bar.
For other reviews of venues in Swansea, search this blog for the tag ‘Swansea’.
Son of ‘Swansea Revisited’
This weekend saw another excellent visit to Swansea. I did have another cooked breakfast café review to deliver, but it looses its value somewhat as I can’t remember the name of the venue… Whoops. I really should have written it down I guess, but I can tell you it was down on the edge of the marina – a cosy little place with a modern interior and fast, polite service. The breakfasts were great too, but that should be fairly obvious; I’m starting to think it’s impossible to find a bad one in Swansea. Never the less I shall continue the search. 
Anyway, if you’re the boating type, and moored in the marina, it should be easy enough to find.
1. Swansea bay, viewed from the Mumbles. 2. Bracelet bay.
To work off all those calories, we also took a couple of cycle rides over the weekend. There is a cycle track that runs the length of Swansea bay, between the beach and the main road, which allows for a leisurely ride. Just watch out for pedestrians.
If you follow the cycle route north around the Mumbles headland, you’ll reach Bracelet bay, a pleasant place to pause before turning back, and with refreshments available nearby. Cycling in the other direction, south towards the marina isn’t quite as nice, as the area starts to become industrial and marked with building sites. A pdf file of cycle routes around Swansea can be found here. I’ll take my bike again next time, perhaps to test out some of the other paths…
Proms in the Park 2007
I took a trip up to Swansea at the weekend for the ‘Last Night of the Proms’. We quite fancied going to the main event at the Albert Hall (I’ve seen many previous years Last Nights on TV), but it turned out you needed to go to at least ten other proms in the season to get a ticket for the grand finalé. This was out of the question, so we decided on Singleton Park, the venue in Swansea. At least that way we could take a picnic. 
1. The gates opened at 4.30, which is when we arrived. 2. Nat enjoys the afternoon sun. 3. The crowds gather.
4. The show is about to start. 5. Fireworks! 6. More Fireworks!
And we weren’t disappointed! The BBC put on a brilliant show, playing a lot of great classical music, and we were treated to an excellent firework display at the end (as seen above).
The only thing that caught me by surprise was the minor differences between the Welsh proms, and the event I was so used to seeing televised from London, i.e. the singing of a few songs in Welsh and the Welsh national anthem. Obviously this makes total sense – we were in Wales after all! – it’s just that it never occured to me that there would be any differences. Still, it was interesting to hear something a little unexpected.
Swansea Revisited
Just had a fun weekend in Swansea with Nat. This was the first time I’d been up there when a) I’ve had the car, and b) we’ve actually had time to drive places. So despite the intermittent showers, we embarked on a spontaneous ‘magical mystery tour’ across the Gower peninsula.
1. The roundhouse, apparently a venue for all sorts of woodland crafts. It was deserted during our visit.
2. Welsh sheep are a lot more colourful up close.
Our tour included Three Cliffs Bay. I’d imagine this secluded beach would be amazing to frequent on a sunny days, although it was incredibly windy when we were there. But this didn’t make it any less picturesque. The majority of beaches in my local area consist mainly of pebbles and stones, so it’s always pleasant to see golden stretches of sand, even on an overcast day.
3. Nat and Liz lead the way across Three Cliffs Bay.
4. “This is where we left the car, right?”
5. Nat helps Liz across a tidal river. As she was the only one of us with wellies, it was my turn next!
There were many other coves and bays around the Gower region, but I’ll come back to them in a little while.
For lunch on Saturday we visited the King Arthur Hotel, which was pretty nice, but what you’d expect from a country pub geared towards tourists (a group of Americans asked us to take their photo in front of the main entrance). What I mean by that is there where swords and coats of arms on the oak-panelled walls above the open fireplace. Still, none of that means it was a bad pub; the food was certainly reasonable, and I thought this kind of atmosphere was quite good fun. I just want to make sure people know what to expect. It may also interest some readers to know that horse riding trails start and end here.
Anyway, now back to our photographic journey along the coast of the Gower peninsula.
6. Hills, grass and surf. All popular in Wales.
7. The Worm’s Head. Reminds me of Cornwall.
8. A mysterious cave looms in the distance.
9. The cave’s enigmatic interior. “It smells like bats and hobos…”
On Sunday we visited the partially ruined Weobley Castle. A lot of the interior was exposed to the elements, but at least one room was cosy and dry. Just as well, since it contained an informative museum gallery concerning several of the castles in the region. I thought this was pretty cool, and would go as far as to describe this venue as a “must see” for those with an interest in history.
10. Castle exterior. You were supposed to pay for admission at the nearby farmhouse, but nobody was about, so we left our £2.50 entry fee in the honesty box.
11. Castle interior. Shut the door, there’s a draft.
12. Nat surveys her domain.
13. “The Marshes”. Dividing the castle from the Atlantic ocean, I’d have liked to take a closer look at this boggy feature of the Gower, but there wasn’t the time.
14. “I think you might have the camera the wrong way around”.
Of course no visit to Swansea would be complete without dropping into an unsuspecting café for a hearty cooked breakfast. This time we descended upon Sam’s Café and Kebab Takeaway.
First off, I enjoyed the food. There was a choice of four breakfasts: The ‘Sam Special’ (the smallest at £2.50), the ‘Breakfast 1′ (my choice at £3.50, including hash brown, fried egg, bacon, sausage, chips, toast, tea and beans or tomato), the ‘Breakfast 2′ (replaces the chips of the Breakfast 1 with mushrooms), and finally the ‘Full Monte’ (£4.50 for a more generous version of the Breakfast 1). Additionally, any one ingredient could be added or swapped for 50p.
While the staff weren’t brimming with friendly enthusiasm, they were certainly polite – which is good enough for me – the place itself was clean and tidy, and the food arrived quickly. So no fault there, but then again nothing to especially exalt about.
As indicated earlier, I liked the food – I soon hoovered it up with hardly a pause – but of all the Swansea eateries I’ve reviewed so far (check the ‘Swansea’ category from the menu on the right), Sam’s café takes third place. Well, I guess technically second place, as I’m informed that Papa Hilz Café has now been transformed into a fish and chip shop. 
Never the less, overall this is intended to be a positive review. If I ever found myself having to walk across Swansea for breakfast, and Sam’s was the closest, I wouldn’t make life difficult for myself. But if you’re not hindered by rain or laziness, then I’d still recommend the Uplands Diner as the superior choice.
Another Breakfast At Swansea
Earlier this week I took a road trip to Swansea, taking my friend who lives there home after her Christmas visit to Gosport. This was of course a good opportunity to revisit the Uplands Diner for a hearty breakfast, but in the end we decided to try somewhere different.
And that somewhere was Papa Hilz Cafe in Gwydr Square, Uplands, just around the corner from the Uplands Diner. I had the Large Cooked Breakfast (there were only two options, large or small), which included all the normal gubbins – bacon, sausages, beans, fried eggs, a hash brown, mushrooms, a mug of tea and and extra side plate of toast. Every one of these ingredients tasted fresh and well cooked, so there was no fault there. All this clocked in at £3.65 – cheaper than the Uplands Diner breakfast but lacking in chips and shear mass.
Regarding the non-food elements of Papa Hilz, the place was very clean and tidy, and the staff were smiley and friendly.
In conclusion, if you want a reasonably priced and satisfying meal, then Papa Hilz is a good bet. But if you’re looking to be completely stuffed – or simply for a gastronomic challenge – then the Uplands Diner is still king of the breakfasting venues in Swansea, at least until I find somewhere better.
Breakfast at Swansea
I went up to Swansea in south Wales to stay with a friend (Nat) from Monday to Wednesday this week. A good time was had by all, I liked the wide selection of pubs in and around the city center and I enjoyed pretending to be a student again for a couple of days (she lives in a student house).
And now a brief photographic interlude: the Beach at Swansea during a brief sunny spell, inside Nat’s student House and the traditional Welsh Rain I was expecting. I would have been disappointed if there wasn’t any rain and it was fairly torrential when this last pics was taken.
Beside the pubs, which mostly seemed to be cheaper than the pubs down here, I particularly want to recommend the Uplands Diner, located in the Uplands area of Swansea (as the name suggests), just a little way up hill from the local Blockbuster. They specialise in cooked breakfast for hung-over students, with several sizes available. Nat had the ‘Early Bird’, one of the smallest on offer, while I went for the ‘Jumbo’, the second largest. This consisted of three slices of bacon, two sausages, beans, mushrooms, tomatoes, toast, bread and butter, fried bread, two fried eggs, a tea or coffee and a huge piles of chips! All for £4.50, or there abouts. This gigantic meal nearly beat me, but there was another breakfast above this one, the ‘Beast’. If you managed this one, you got your photo taken and put on the wall of the diner!
I’d gladly recommend this place to anyone who loves food and hates their arteries. If you’d like to know the address of the diner, see a location map and read some other opinions then click here to visit this BBC website.
