Bar Element

Like others I would definitely take my money elsewhere. From the outside it looks small and a bit shabby to tell you the truth. Crwys Road is alive with such great hang out spots and this place quite frankly brings its name into disrepute. The drinks are cheap with a cocktail only costing £3.50 however it came in a dirty glass and I didn’t say anything because I thought it might make me sound just a tad bit pretentious.
I wouldn’t bother coming here again as it is more focused in getting the large crowd in and getting them drunk and the and then passing them off to someone else. What i like in a bar is the sense that I could potentially stay all night and Bar Element does not offer this at all.

Crwys Road has three areas. There’s the café and local businesses section, which takes up most of the Whitchurch Road end. This is mostly populated by hungry students prowling for takeaway and old people who have gotten lost and are now making the best of it by wandering into shops until their families find them. Then, at the other end, is the student area. This is the place where The George and Varsity cater to our lovely student population who are steadily taking their stumbling steps towards town for the night. Finally, between The George and the Spar is the no man’s land where Bar Element lives.
And, oh Christ, it shows.
This place is terrible. Any business that opens there is doomed to accrue the grimy, grotty look of the railway track below and Bar Element is no exception. Pegging itself as a cocktail bar is a case of the most wishful of thinking. Instead, it looks like a strip joint designed by Gazza, and the wine selection is purely for show. You get the sense that if you asked for a glass of white, you’d be asked «pint or half?»
Don’t mistake this place for somewhere classy. It is a dive, without the prohibitive hygiene standards.

I pass this bar on the way to work and it’s either completely dead or occupied by the kind of guys who like to play fight while high on the alluring combo of hair gel and testosterone with a pinch of ‘roid rage.
I decided to pop in during one of the quieter times and it was perfectly fine. Obviously there was no atmosphere, but this absence wasn’t helped by the TV blasting out one of Jordan’s vehicles on ITV2. The cocktails on offer were nice and none too pricey at £3.50 a pop and I loved the sparkly twirlers (if only I could have them in every drink dah!), but I can’t see how much longer the bar can last. It’s in a poor location at the arse end of Crwys Road and faces stiff competition for The George and Varsity. Indeed when I left Bar Element and passed The George, it was three deep at the bar there.
Also the toilets are pretty bad, with no toilet roll in one and the seat broken in the other. You can clearly see that the bogs were a rushed job and it’s a bit disconcerting having to pass by the unlit seating area.

Bar Element is located in a bare patch of cardiff on a bridge with few other businesses, as a wine, cocktail and beer bar it’s good value for money but why would you go there when Varsity and the Royal George are better located at the right end of the street.
The exterior does it no favours as it looks dark and has similar styling’s to a gentlemen’s adult club. Last time I went there was a deranged man who lived above the pub shouting out his window. I just hope he has no connection with the place, I didn’t stay to find out.
The interior is what you would expect from a modern cocktail bar but the exterior needs some design skills as it looks slightly outdated. My advice is to stick to Varsity as the prices cannot compare.

Although I would never actively choose to go out to this place, there have been many good nights had here.

This unappealing looking bar on the most lifeless stretch of Crwys Road doesn’t really appear to have the class you’d expect of a place branding itself as a ‘wine and cocktail bar’, and with cheap student-​oriented drinks promotions it’s not the most sophisticated of places.
The décor inside isn’t so bad, however, and they have late opening hours which makes it attractive to people who want to party on until late. You can get a pint for £2 and cocktails for £3.50, so might appeal for groups looking for a cheap night out.
Their Facebook page appears to have just nine fans, however — and while that may be because they haven’t promoted it well they’d be better off removing it if they’re going to neglect it, as it just looks a rather sorry state of affairs!

A wine bar and a cocktail bar — two of the ways that this place markets itself. However, they also sell pints for £2 — so clearly they are more focused on pulling in students than in running an a bar for serious grown up type people. I’m going to be honest with you, I don’t remember much about this place because we were out celebrating and had already drunk a fair amount. However, the cocktails were definitely nice and the service was good — a lot of patience to put up with a group of fairly noisy girls. I’m going to have to go back sober to check out whether I actually like it here but I seem to remember thinking that it’s a good place for socials and nights out — probably not so much for quiet sophisticated drinks.