Largs;
A ‘spoons. Not a bad ‘spoons, by any means, modern, always busy, but not bad, with a great location on the seafront by the ferry terminal.
Tag Archives: Scotland
The Village Inn
Fairlie, Near Largs:
Very first impressions weren’t so good, but we soon found out how wrong we were.
The first impressions weren’t helped by a bus driver not stopping when requeseted, so we ended up walking about 1/2 mile back. When we got in, there were a large group of people stood around the bar, blocking access. The landlord was keen to help, but a bit /too/ keen for my annoyed state of mind at that point. However, this was just me being grumpy.
We got settled, got a beer, and relaxed. Beer was great, the landlord turned out to be really friendly, really keen to do well, and a generally nice bloke. He’d taken over a few weeks ago- the pub has had a chequered history of late, open, shut, open again, shut again. Food excellant, and good value. Inside to the left is aimed towards dining, to the right is a traditional bar, both clean and tidy, but not devoid of atmosphere. Deserves to do well.
The Black Bull Inn
Rothesay, Isle of Bute:
Not terribly inspiring from outside- it looks like a shop frontage, and the sign is a plaing black and white full-width job, but inside is lovely; traditonal. The front half of the pub has a notice that you may be asked to move to the back of the pub at busy food times if not eating, but when we visited (for food and drink) a chap was just sat reading the paper, and a couple of older ladies dropped in for coffee. Moving to the back wouldn’t be a hardship anyway, unless all the seats were full.
Great food, great beer, and very friendly staff.
Babbity Bowster
Merchant City, Glasgow:
Again, a stripped-floorboards pub with food, but a bit smaller. Lovely outside space on a sunny afternoon, nice staff, and decent beer, and a remarkable building restoration. It’s actually a hotel and restaurant too, but feels like a upmarket pub, without being up itself- it’d make a nice place to stay in Glasgow.
Blackfriars Bar
Merchant City, Glasgow:
In a street of bars and eateries, this is a big ,modern, open plan bar/pub, all stripped wood floors, but it had one of the better selections of cask ale, had outside space, and was en route to other pubs on our hit list, and it was actually quite nice, if a bit modern and trendy for the likes of me: staff were pleasant, beer was fine.
Steps Bar
Merchant City, Glasgow:
City centre pub with a historic interior. No ale, but the lager was drinkable. Barman friendly, too, but the real reason to visit is that interior; lots of deco touches and the particularly unusual partitioned-off “ladies room” with some lovely stained glass.
The Horseshoe Bar
Merchant City, Glasgow:
One of the classic Glasgow pubs. Surprisingly not listed as a heritage pub, it’s got a nice traditional Victorian interior. Great staff, great beer, and a nice place to drink; the only downside being Nachos served in a pint tankard for some reason.
Wemyss Bay Station Bar
Wemyss Bay Station:
Situated inside the lovely Wemyss Bay Station. No real ale, but we were there a bit early for me anyway (11:30). The only pub very nearby, so it has regulars, and unusually for a station bar is not remotely grim; in fact, it’s quite pleasant, including the staff. Unusually, there’s only a ladies toilet, us blokes have to cross the concourse.
The Royal George Hotel
Millport, Isle of Cumbrae:
Right next to the bus stop for the ferry, so we dropped in. Technically a hotel, but the bar was very pubby, if a bit grotty and unexceptional. Looked like it may get a bit “vibrant” on a Friday/saturday night. No cask ale, so I was drinking Scottish lout, but the no ale thing is a bit of a feature in Scotland. Staff pleasant enough, and it was OK, but a definite disappointment after Frasers Bar.
Frasers Bar
Millport, Isle of Cumbrae:
Ayrshire & Wigtownshire CAMRA‘s 2018 pub of the year 2018, and well deserved. We missed the presentation of the award by one day.
Inside is smart and clean without deing devoid of atmosphere. The front part is bar, the back part family area and restaurant, and we saw that being enforced, so the front is adult space. 2 cask ales on when we visited, one being Jaw Spinnaker, which was frankly wonderful. Friendly, helpful staff, and good food too. Probably the best pub of our trip; definitely the best outside Glasgow. If it hadn’t required a ferry trip, we’d have been in more.