The Taphouse, Kelvingrove, Glasgow

Facebook page of The Taphouse - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Taphouse - www.facebook.com

One of a number of trendy bars in the Kelvingrove area, this is a modern craft beer bar which had a slight micropub feel to it, despite the lack of cask ale. The bar is formed of a single, simple room with bare floorboards throughout. Uncomfortable looking backless benches fill the right hand part of the room, with high tables and stools through the centre and nice padded banquettes under the front windows. To the left, a semi partitioned snug of sorts offers banquettes and low stools under a bare brick wall which has the phrase "Serving Good Beer" painted on it, with a bicycle hung in the middle so that the wheels form two the letter 'O's . There is a semi-open kitchen to the rear right and it appeared that the bar places food quite high up it's list of priorities ( I was stopped as I entered and asked if I was going to be eating), although with only one other customer in on my visit, the chef wasn't particularly overworked. The bar is to the rear left and has a corrugated iron counter front and bare brick bar back with a neon sign above reading "Drink?". A couple of potted plants add some colour to an otherwise very 'beige' interior with little in the way of visual distraction. Hipster music played in the background throughout my stay and there were a lot of local listings magazines and flyers in the front windows. I counted eight craft keg fonts in total and ended up with something called 'Ice Breaker', possibly from Craft Academy, which was pricey and fairly unmemorable. The bar doesn't have any handpulls, so real ale isn't an option here, but there is a sizeable bottle and can range which may offer something different to what is available on tap. I can't say I warmed to this place, which I found to be pricey, lifeless and devoid of any real interest. The place fits into it's own little niche and is certainly in the right part of town to give it a chance of success, but with other similar bars nearby, including a successful Brewdog branch, it probably needs to do a bit more to attract attention.