Cuan Mor, Oban

A good-sized pub situated in a prime spot overlooking the estuary, first impressions might be that it’s more of a restaurant, with a “Please wait here to be seated” lectern inside the front door and the front room crammed full of diners. There is however a further bar down a few steps at the rear, and this seemed to be mainly occupied with drinkers on our visit, so its’s worth persevering. The lower rear bar actually has a decent amount of character, with wood strip on the floor, a few wooden beams on the ceiling, and sandy colour wallpaper on the walls with dark wood panelling down below. Various old portraits were hung on the walls as well as a few brewery adverts and old black and white photographs of the locale. There was a collection of old whisky bottles and such like on a shelf, as well as a few jogs and such like. An old fireplace was off to one side with a brewery mirror and stag’s head up above. Seating was a mixture of mustard colour padded and fitted benches, old school chairs and some padded tartan chairs. The menu offered a tempting looking selection of dishes including many seafood options, but in the end, it was a it of a mixed bag really and we rather got the impression that they were just trying to get as many people through the doors as possible, with nobody being turned away but instead despatched to the rear bar to wait with a pager. Unfortunately, there were no real ales on tap, just Belhaven Best, Belhaven Black and Greene King Gold Coast IPA on keg. Ciders faired equally poorly with Aspall’s being the only option. Overall, whilst I quite liked the character of the rear bar, the poor drinks selection wouldn’t really inspire me to return.

More of a restaurant than a pub, I walked past this place without noticing it at first, but returned when I realised I'd walked too far. On entering, a sign requested me to wait to be seated. I duly followed the instruction, but was then told to sit wherever I wanted. The place was quite busy with evening diners, but there were a few tables for two available. Luckily, I'd hesitated before finding a table to check out what the cask ale was. There were 2 or 3 handpulls, with just the one cask - Hanging Tree 80 Shilling On. The beer was very enjoyable, but then the bill arrived. With a 10% service charge added, my half was in excess of £3. Clearly not much has changed with pricing since the last review in 2017. Notably, the pub/restaurant has not been back in the beer guide since 2017. On the plus side, this was one of only 4 pubs I found in Oban serving real ale and it was in good condition. In fact, I'd go as far as to say it was my favourite beer of the day.

As noted below this a a foody place that only opened in 2006 and was presumably originally a shop or restaurant. All the tables were set out for dining but I grabbed one anyway. I only saw two hand pumps which had one wasted with GK / Belhaven St Andrews Ale and Oban Bay Kilt Lifter. I went for the Kilt Lifter which was in good nick but was a very pedestrian pale ale with little merit. I was charged £4.80 for this which would be a scandalous price in Central London. In the next pub I had to find a mirror and check if someone had written MUG on my forehead during the journey up from Glasgow. I've no time for rip off places like this which incredibly is GBG 2017 listed.