Porthead Tavern, Irvine

An end corner pub and eatery in white render and black paintwork that reached the finals of the Sunday Mail Pub of the Year 2010. It has the AbuV wine and cocktail lounge upstairs (hence ABuV as a name!) The interior has a lounge, where food is served (I didn’t eat, but did see the menu which I thought looked decent and not expensive) which I did not see and a bar. The bar is U-shaped around the wood faced serving bar that faces you on entry. The décor is cream and wood panel with a white ceiling, brown leather seats, as well as wood chairs and tables. The whole place looks tidy. There were old photos and drawings of the area on the walls. There was no music, but a couple of TVs, one with the news channel, the other with the football on. The service was fine and the clientele small at my early visit and mature based. Beer; no real ale, just usual tap stuff. I had a Belhaven Best, which was OK as it generally is. A nice and tidy pub/eatery that only seems to lack real ale, considering it has a cocktail and wine lounge. As it is, I would pop in for one, but it could be so much more!