5 Cocktail Bars in Cardiff For Your Next Girls’ Night Out

1. Lab 22

22 Caroline Street, Cardiff, CF10 1FG

Lab 22 is an award-winning cocktail bar tucked away on Caroline street. If you want classy, quirky and delicious cocktails engineered by some of the city’s finest bartenders, look no further! The science-themed drinks menu, ‘Pioneers + Revolutionaries’, is playful, interesting, and endlessly instagrammable. If you’re after non-alcoholic drinks, these guys have the perfect solution – half of the drinks on the menu are available alcohol free, yet still tasting almost identical to their alcoholic counterparts!

Whats more, every Monday, Lab 22 takes a trip back in time to the early 1900s for an evening of live jazz, featuring a menu of classic cocktails of the prohibition era.

Heading out in a group?  Lab 22 offers experiences such as a cocktail masterclass, spirit tastings, and the fantastic “course taster experience”, in which you will be treated to three or five courses of bespoke cocktails crafted just for you. Book a table now!

2. The Dead Canary

Barrack Ln, Cardiff, CF10 2FR

The Dead Canary’s superb cocktail list takes inspiration from Welsh heroes of past and present including both Rohald Dahl and Merlin the wizard. They also offer masterclasses where groups can sample different gins, rum cocktails or whiskeys and beers while munching on canapes. Could it get much better than that?

Cocktail highlights include Merddyn Emrys: Merlyn cream liqueur, manzanilla sherry, vanilla vodka and whole egg, and the Jasper Newton Daniel: Jack Daniel’s single barrel, leek ash syrup with dandelion & burdock bitters.

Visiting as a group? Book ahead to be sure of a table.

3. Dirty Martini Cocktail Bar

Imperial Gate, St Mary Street, Cardiff, CF10 1FA

Located in the heart of Cardiff’s city centre, Dry Martini is the perfect spot for after work drinks, a catch up or a GNO – girls night out. The bar is decorated with glamorous, instagram-worthy furnishings and their menu includes an extensive list of martinis and cocktails. Happy hour happens Monday to Thursday from 4pm to 8pm, 2pm to 8pm Friday, 12pm to 7pm on Saturdays and 12pm to 8pm on Sundays.

Is your group a fan of brunch? Dry Martini host bottomless Summer brunch on weekends. Guests will be served a selection of food from house birdcages along with a choice of bottomless G&Ts, martinis or prosecco for £30.

Give your gang the VIP treatment with a reserved area and pre-bought drinks package deal.

4. The Bootlegger

5A Womanby St, Cardiff, CF10 1BR

The Bootlegger is a prohibition style cocktail bar offering over 80 different cocktails. Nothing is premixed – the bar only uses the freshest ingredients when creating drinks. Happy hour occurs all night from Sunday to Thursday and from 4pm to 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays when cocktails are two for £11.

There’s live music every weekend at The Bootlegger covering a range of music genres such as jazz, rock and roll, swing and bluegrass. Groups of 20 or less can book in for a cocktail masterclass that includes a glass of prosecco on arrival plus the creation (and drinking) of three cocktails for £22 per person.

5. Pennyroyal

22 High St, Cardiff, CF10 1PT

Located on Cardiff’s High Street just a stone’s throw away from Cardiff Castle, Pennyroyal is a speakeasy cocktail bar that hides behind the façade of a bottle shop. Guests can enter the bar through the bottle shop door and enjoy bespoke cocktails in a chilled out and relaxed atmosphere. Popular music plays at the bar but at a sound level that doesn’t hinder conversations making it the ideal location for a catch up.

One of their most popular mixes is the Chilate made from an unusual collection of ingredients including rose aperitif, lime, cacao nibs and balsamic vinegar. The mixologists at Pennyroyal are very friendly and happy to suggest drinks to guests based on their preferred taste.

Pennyroyal’s bar is a little snug and suited to smaller groups.