Inn Deep, Hillhead, Glasgow

Innocuous exterior and we almost walked past it (Googlemaps saved me – again!). This is a subterranean bar and you have to descend an unpromising staircase in order to enter. Visited at peak January 2022 COVID and upon alighting at a manned desk I sighed inwardly – however the welcome was friendly and very efficient, we were drafted in and assigned a table with a dedicated server which worked excellently throughout the stay. The interior is best described as two spurs at right angles, with the bar off to the right and a separate wine-vault style seating area to the right (discovered subsequently that it’s the arches of an old railway station) which lead onto a small garden overlooking the river Kelvin, though due to the dreich weather I didn’t sample. Décor and vibe is one for the hip West End types; disco lights and craft beer. A jumbo TV was plugged into the pub’s Untappd stream which made ordering fairly simple. One cask on, Fraoch Heather, which was rather carbonated to the extent I wondered whether it was really proper cask at all (NBSS 2.5). We were enjoying ourselves so had a crack at the crafty keg and had Drygate Spare Parts (an excellent sour) and Raspberry Dog Chew (which lived up to the name). I noted the reasonable prices charged, fair play. I don’t usually enjoy these kind of places but the organisation, friendliness and professionalism, allied to reasonable prices meant that we stayed longer than planned – not often that happens with a set itinerary – so I think that’s a recommendation in itself, iffy ‘cask’ aside.