I know of a cafe in Cardiff. Jam. And the one in Swansea. But are there any other Welsh speaking cafes etc on South Wales? I’m worried the answer will be: dim. There used to be a bookshop and a cafe in Bridgend but not anymore. Sadly that’s the state of our high streets…
Asking staff of cafes, pubs, restaurants, hotels, b&bs if they speak Welsh has been a must for me since the first time I’ve been to Wales.
I just spent about 3 days overall in Cardiff, and just a few hours in Swansea, Llanelli and Barry (for transport change reasons, but took the chance to have a little walk around and eat or drink something).
Therefore my research is not based on a lot of cases, but anyway, it’s a fact that nobody answered “yes” to my question so far.
However, one thing I’ve realized during this last trip is that in order to practice Welsh, the most relevant thing is if many clients, rather than staff, do speak Welsh fluently among them!
Well, of course it’s nice to reward Welsh-speaking businesses/places.
And it’s always an enlightening and challenging experience, as beginners, placing your orders in Welsh rather than English. But consider this: staff are often busy with their job, while clients are often just hanging out there for a chat, anyway.
And it happens that they might happy to include new people/Welsh learners in their conversation.
Of course, not everybody all the time. But with a mix of observation and intuition you can pretty much figure out if it’s worth a try.
For example, there’s Bub’s in Church street, where I’ve heard people speaking Welsh at several tables every single time.
A few weeks ago, those standing right behind me kept on saying “Eidal” so I just jumped in and ended up having a great chat!
Now I’m aware of this, what I would do in Cardiff next time is going to Spillers Records shop, where I know there’s Welsh speakers and they’re passionate about the language and have similar interests.
And I’d ask them for suggestions on where to go to find more Welsh speakers (business, clients, whatever), cause maybe they know. And then just see where it leads. Sometimes, just asking one random person, who knows another random person…it just works!
Hi there is a Welsh cafe in Merthyr Tydfil… Cafe Cwtch, by Zoar chapel.
Hope this helps
Hi There,
If you’re venturing into Camarthenshire we have just taken over Tor Cefn Farm Tea Rooms/Cafe in Meinciau not far from Pontyberem/Pontyiates post code SA17 5LH. I’m a SSiWer just started on level 2 and my wife is on level one, however most of our customers and staff are first language speakers. We are open Thurs - Sunday 10.30 - 5pm. The best days for native welsh speaking staff would be Thursdays and Saturdays. Search for Tor Cefn on facebook for our details.
For non-facebook users does the website https://torcefntearooms.co.uk/ still apply since your takeover?
Hi Huw
Yes that’s our website but it still has the previous owners name and email all other details are correct. Will update very soon.
Andy