Haberdashery Bar, Dunfermline

With front of the building now mocked up as a haberdashery shop and the entrance to the bar now at the rear and accessed along the vennel to the left, it was no surprise to find the bar counter being a haberdasher's glass-fronted counter, with buttons and cotton reels. No real ale will also not be a surprise, and I went for a half of Lagunitas IPA 5.5%, which was cold, fizzy and lacking in any discernable flavour. I'd have been happy to sit inside and take in the new surroundings, but it was just after opening time and there was a dominant scent of cleaning materials, bleach to the fore, which is very off-putting in a drinking establishment, so we went and sat in the garden, which luckily had some shelter from the prevailing wind off the Firth of Forth.

A funny small, multi-level place with a higgledy-piggledy layout. What looks like the main entrance from the street is furthest away from the bar – two rooms separated by a doorway with intricate old floor tiling, with banquettes and mirrored walls. Up two steps and follow the corridor upwards past a couple of small snugs up to the main bar. Alternatively you can do what the locals do and head up the delivery driveway and use the side entrance direct to the bar. Bar area is weird - no windows, so permanently subterranean. It sports strange meringue-like walls, slate flooring and red padded bench seating. Brass foot rest noted. Large TV showing athletics with piped music from the jukey. There’s also a pool room off two steps to the left. No ale here, so just a freezing Belhaven Best served up by friendly staff. Not exactly somewhere I’d recommend for a drink but in terms of the unusual, it’s worth a quick look. Plus it’s close to the station.