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Detail Pages
The Royal Arch, Dundee
Broughty Ferry
Postal town: Dundee
DD5 2DS
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Quinno _ left this review about The Royal Arch
Lovely place near the station, cosy and comfy and listed on CAMRAs list of outstanding conversions/renovations; wood ceiling, carpet, log stove, stained glass windows. A nice collection of Tobys and half barrels above the bar alongside an ornate wooden back (rescued in the 70s from the demolished Craigour Bar in Dens Road, says Whatpub). Fell apart a bit at the bar which was full of blockers. When I finally shoved my way through I was told that the Jarl was off leaving just Pride on pump which frankly I didn’t come all the way up here to drink, regardless of the GBG listing. So what I took to be an air pressure McEwans 80/- it was, which sadly tasted a bit metallic. A shame the bar let the place down as it’s a lovely little poke otherwise. I hope I caught it on an off-night because I really wanted to bracket it in the same league as the Ship and Fisherman’s. 6.5
On 29th January 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5107 recommendations about 5090 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Royal Arch
Railway bar, a little old fashioned but in a good way, worth a try
On 2nd May 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve of N21 left this review about The Royal Arch
Pleasant looking pub in the middle of Broughty Ferry with some interesting external stained glass windows. It also has the advantage of some external tables that get the benefit of the afternoon sun and we utilised one of these for a late afternoon pint whilst killing a bit of time before catching the bus back to Dundee.
Internally it’s a pleasant traditional one bar pub with some nice period features as described in the review below. Yes there is a TV screen at each end of the bar for the benefit of the locals and I was pleased to see they had the ashes cricket on with the sound muted, which means after glancing at them to see how the score was going I hardly notice they were there. Anyone who thinks they are domineering this one bar pub clearly has never been in an Australian sports bar. Only two of the three hand pumps were in operation for my visit also and these had Exmore Silver Stallion and a decent pint of Left Coast from the Dundee 71 Brewing microbrewery coming out the other one. Friendly service levels from the barman (not sure if it was the same one in the previous review but it could have been as he gave the air of being the Guvnor) and a decent pint of ale in the afternoon sun made this a good stop all round. I certainly will not be letting a couple of TV screens for the benefit of the locals put me off revisiting this one if I ever find myself in Broughty Ferry again.
On 2nd September 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2121 recommendations about 2000 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Royal Arch
This is a cosy single room town centre pub with a bit of a local's feel to it and a reputation for good ale that has seen it make recent editions of the Good Beer Guide. You enter into a wide but quite shallow main bar with a tiled floor strip running from the entrance to the bar and carpets elsewhere. The servery has a lovely bar counter with curved ends , bold front panels, decorative pillars and some brass plaques. The bar back sports etched glass mirrors with floral patterns and there are a couple of great old brass taps on the bar which seemed to still be in use. Some nice banquette seating runs along the front wall and down either side of the room, supported by lots of nicely decorated chairs. The walls are decorated with old brewery mirrors and a selection of local black and white photos. The pub's most striking facet has to be the fine stained glass windows along the front wall which appear to depict Broughty Castle. The ceiling is wood panelled and has been covered with framed maps and drawings that look like they've been up there for aeons. A couple of TV screens at either end of the room were showing a repeat of a football fixture from the previous evening, which prompted the very friendly barman into a long chat about the match and Scottish football in general. A door to the right is marked 'Staff Only', but appears to lead into some sort of side room that looked very much like a restaurant area, although it was unclear if this room ever gets opened up - either way, it certainly didn't look like it would offer a more promising space to drink than the main bar area. An unusual sliding door to the side of the bar takes you through to a corridor lined with photos of various famous sportsmen and leads on to the toilets.
There are three handpulls but one of these was out of action on my visit, so the choice was limited to either Caledonian Deuchars IPA or Redcastle Crusader. The later was a pretty good pint and I found the staff to be extremely friendly and welcoming and had there been something else that caught my eye at the bar I would've most certainly stayed for another.
I liked this place, which I felt was cosy, had an interesting interior and welcoming staff. The limited ale range may prohibit longer visits but I can imagine settling down here if there is something god on the bar. A good way to round out a successful mini-crawl around Broughty Ferry.
On 9th June 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Royal Arch
Unlike the ecstatic previous reviews from yester-year I wasn't that impressed with this one. It's a small single bar that is completely dominated by TV screens which were showing some rubbish or other.
The bar has only three hand pumps which had Deuchar's IPA, Jaw Spinnaker and one being pulled through. It turned out that this one was Morland's Original, a beer that was worth avoiding even before Greene King got hold of it. I went for the Jaw beer (£3.55) which was in reasonable nick but completely unmemorable.
Despite it's place in the 2016 GBG I wouldn't bother with this one again.
On 19th July 2016
- rating: 3
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Terry Algier left this review about The Royal Arch
Excellent food, great selection of Real Ales and a very friendly staff to accommodate your every need.
On 26th April 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 20 recommendations about 20 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
david inglis left this review about The Royal Arch
BRILLIANT BAR AND STAFF SIMPLY THE BEST
On 30th September 2007
- rating: 10
[User has posted 2 recommendations about 2 pubs]