The Beardmore, Glasgow Airport, Paisley

One of a handful of bars clustered around the departure lounge, this looks much like any other airport bar from the outside but they have perhaps made a little more effort with the interior décor than many similar places. It describes itself as a “Pub & Kitchen” and a screen advised that the current waiting time for food was six minutes, which rather suggests it’s not freshly prepared by a team of chefs toiling away out the back. Internally (if one can call it that, because it is of course basically open to the airport lounge other than some mesh partitioning and low balustrade) there was some type of wooden laminate on the floor and a surprisingly elegant plaster celling, with cornice work and some recessed lighting which is a great improvement on the more usual suspended tiles. Elsewhere were some exposed filament light bulbs, and what looked to be exposed brickwork on the back wall, although was, more likely, just wallpaper. A few old watercolours were hung here as well as a stag’s head, and the remaining wall space either side of the bar counter had some dark wood panelling on the lower part with cream plasterwork above. Seating was a mixture of regular chairs and padded benches, and some of these were arranged at right angles to the perimeter to create semi enclosed spaces. A decent 80’s soundtrack was playing. Unfortunately there were no real ales on tap, just a Brew Dog IPA on keg. Ciders fared little better with just Magners and Magners Dark Fruit.

The Beardmore is a large airside pub that was very busy with a beer swilling package holiday crowd at 5am on a recent Friday morning. The long bar on the left-hand wall supports a standard keg range along with four hand pumps. Two of these were unused and the other two were drawing William Beardmore IPA. I decided to go for a coke and a bacon roll, the latter of which set me back £4.50. This place is what it is and I certainly wouldn’t choose to return.

Standard bar / restaurant, with a decent amount of space but no real ambience. Four handpumps on the bar counter, but just the 'house' Beardmore Ale (£4.10) available when I visited. Also called the William Beardmore on some printed material, but the abbreviated version of the name is predominant.

The Drum and Monkey, not to be confused with a pub of the same name in St Vincent St, is a rather soulless airport bar. No real ale, just the usual gaseous fare you would expect. Although fairly new, it already looks a bti shabby and uninviting. It's fine if you want a quick soft drink before flying, but for ale and a pleasant wait, there are more convivial alternatives airside.