The Lorne, Oban

The Lorne definitely has the feel of a traditional pub about it - an island bar with stools, surrounded by fully occupied tables, with the lighting turned down a notch or two. Having said that, we're just about all here to eat, and the nominal drinkers are mostly delayed diners awaiting their turn. A standard keg selection is topped by Fyne Ales Jarl, with the sole handpump in the corner sitting forlorn (Lorne????) and unused. I hope that this one comes alive for the drinkers later on as, mid-evening, it's more of a good value restaurant. Friendly service, though, so I'll give it the benefit of the doubt.

A single roomed pub tucked one road back from the main drag meaning that many tourists probably pass it by, it feels quite spacious inside due to the high ceilings, even though the central bar counter rather dominates and takes up a good proportion of the available floor space. There is also a courtyard garden off to the side. Décor wise it’s fairly traditional, with some sort of wood strip on the floor, unusual tartan paper on the walls and khaki green paint on the timberwork. The bar counter was a large wood panelled affair, with brass columns holding up the overhead glass racking, and a further island within holding spirit bottles and so on. A few old black and white photographs of the locale were dotted around the walls, as well as a number of ship drawings. A couple of large TV screens were showing some sports channels, but at least the volume was off so this was not too intrusive. Unfortunately, there were no real ales on tap, with one solitary cask pump appearing to be unused. Keg offerings consisted of Belhaven Best and Fyne Ales’ Jarl. The solitary cider meanwhile was Aspall’s. Overall, nothing really wrong with this pub, but it doesn’t really do anything to warrant tracking it down either.

Having just checked into my hotel just a few doors up, I had time for one swift drink in Oban before making my way to some rural pubs a little further afield. The Lorne is located along a backstreet overlooking the small river which flows through the town. It has an impressive island bar which houses a solitary handpull. But unfortunately, it no longer holds a real ale. Keg options were 4 West Pure Lager, Guinness, Strongbow, Belhaven Saltire Lager & Best Bitter, Staropramen, Coors, Aspalls & Tennent's Lager. A few were eating in here, but there was a good mix of drinkers and diners. The barmaid was friendly, a theme I noticed throughout most of the pubs I visited on this trip to Scotland.

Official site of The Lorne - thelornebaroban.co.uk

Official site of The Lorne - thelornebaroban.co.uk