Vanilla Rooms - Cardiff

There is something brilliant about a best kept secret. It makes you feel very special going there and telling people about it. So excuse the fact that this post is a little bit of kitch social masterbation.

I love the idea of phoning the bar, knowing the bar manager and taking a lovely something into Cardiff's only members club worth mentioning.

The current manager Christos, is one of Cardiff's finest; winning every competition he can and snapping up prizes left right and centre, not to mention being the only reason to go here.

I had a debate with a friend of mine in this venue; he said that the party was made by the venue first and by the customer second and that this was a bad example of how to run a bar. It was clean, the drinks were perfect and the atmosphere was subtle. My friend agreed with me and stated that he could easily see my point but in this fast paced, post 80s businessman generation where we don't need it now we need it two weeks ago, where is there a place for an unknown speakeasy.

This bar is a fine example of what a bar should be in an ideal world. It is the bar based equivilent of heston blumenthal; it is brilliant and clever, and interesting but it would never work on the grand scale. Christos has put forward a brilliant menu which compliments the space and the location but don't expect to get this in volume.

Cardiff's best kept secret - and personally I'd like to keep it that way... I've never waited on a Saturday and Friday night and I've never had a bad drink... Shhhhh... don't tell your friends...