By Taite Johnson

Copyright walesonline

A new Belgian beer and board game bar is set to open in Cardiff this autumn. The team behind the bars Nighthawks and Dead Canary are working with the owners of game shop, Rules of Play to intertwine their shared passion of playing and drinking. Expected to open in early November, Brân will bring over 100 different Belgian beers, a “perfect” hot dog recipe and state of the art gaming spaces. With Nighthawks opening in Castle Arcade next to Rule of Play three years ago, business partners Mark, Fitz, Amy, Rob and Richard often bought games from Ian who also drank at the neighbouring bar. After forming a good relationship they decided that they would work together to bring Cardiff a bar with a huge focus on gaming, including thematic rooms for fellow “geeks”. Fitz said: “In Cardiff there’s lots of great places to drink beer. There’s lots of great places to drink local beers, especially we’ve got MadDog, we’ve got Tiny Rebel around the corner. “But in terms of that more, like Belgian style, people just do like bits and bobs. Again, there’s still some great places but we want to really focus in on it [and] do loads [of] different beers and we want to push that board game inside even further as well.” The downstairs floor of the bar in Duke Street Arcade will have designated themed areas with bigger tables and private booths to play role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. A few Belgian beer brands are sold at Nighthawks and have become a popular staple of the drinks menu, therefore they wanted to push that even further, stocking around 100 beers in bottles and on tap with unique glasses to match. Co-owner Fitz said they also plan on removing the “stigma” around Belgian beer as many people expect it to be too strong for their liking. He said: “We want to remove the stigma from Belgian beer as well, often people have a strong Belgian beer but there are lots of beers that are sold from as low as alcohol-free or 2.5% or 3%. We can’t wait really, it’s going to be really cool.” One of Fitz’ business partners, Richard, who is behind Dead Canary and Nighthawks, is also a local artist who has painted stunning murals based on games characters inside the venue. To allow you to stay focused on your game, you will not need to queue at the bar with table service available serving food as well as drinks. The food menu will include different hot dogs including vegan options, Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolates. Open from midday-11.30pm, Monday to Sunday, people of all ages will get to enjoy the bar and play games made for all of the family.