Bonapartes, Glasgow

Located inside Glasgow Queen Street High Level Station, facing the main concourse, this inevitably tends to attract transient passing trade rather than regular customers. Trains about to depart for northern Scotland are easily spottable from the French windows, which look onto an outside, although not outdoor, seating area. Sheltered by the arched glass station roof, there is no rain, but also no smoking. Indoors is a regular squarish shaped bar, with seating principally at the end furthest from the service area and considerable standing room in between. The trains are, literally, less than a minute’s walk away and this is as good a place as any in which to wait for them. There is a good range of draught beer, with Amstel, Heineken, Stella Artois and Tennent’s lagers, Guinness and Belhaven Best (at £3.40 a pint), as well as Strongbow cider. A controlled entry system to the toilets restricts these to pub customers only, although whether this would work during hectic rush hours is questionable. Offering reasonably priced meals, an impressive wine list, teas and coffees, gentle music and a single muted TV, there is absolutely nothing I could complain about here. Bland is the only critical word which comes to mind, but, as railway station bars go, this is a fairly good one. And from the adjacent platform you can catch a train to Mallaig on the West Highland Line, a frequent winner of the accolade of the world’s best railway journey.