Blackfriars of Bell St, Glasgow

This corner pub seemed smaller inside than it looked from the street. It's been modernised consisting of an open plan room with ceiling lights and raised areas at each end. Most of the seating is on these raised areas. It was fairly quiet on my early Thursday afternoon visit. I could see no TV screen here which is a big plus. There was some music playing at a reasonable level. There are five hand pumps which had a full choice of Fallen Grapevine, Grey Trees Caradog's Bitter, Late Night Hype Strathclyde Session IPA, Tryst Double Chocolate Porter and Alechemy Bad Day At The Office Pale. I went for the Grapevine (£3.70) and Porter (£3.50) both of which were in excellent condition. I liked this place, it had a good choice of interesting beers in good condition and at reasonable prices. I could happily have stayed to try some other beers. It's GBG 2018 listed.

This is a nice, lively traditional city centre pub which retains a good pubby feel, despite being quite food-led. The pub has a simple rectangular, single room layout with the servery running down the right-hand wall whilst ample seating fills out the rest of the space. The bar has a fairly grotty, scuffed dark wood counter with a really nice, intricately carved beam above and a pretty intense collection of pump clips which cover the majority of the bar back. A row of standard tables and chairs run opposite the bar and lots more tables are served by a long banquette that runs down the left-hand wall under a huge plain mirror. The front left area had been cleared out to create space for a swing band who were playing on my Sunday evening visit, whilst to the rear there is a raised dining space with some decent padded chairs under more plain mirrors. The highlight for me was a marvellous stained-glass pane above the main entrance which seemed to depict some sort of abstract image of a musician, which seemed appropriate given that the band were playing just to one side of it. A good ale selection was available, comprising Kelburn Goldihops and Cart Blanche, Green Duck Heaven Sent Chocolate Milk Stout, Merchant City Unit 1 Red Ale and Tryst Carrondale. My pint of the Milk Stout was in very good shape and I also ended up eating here from the rather fancy menu. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and the food I tried was really good quality. I enjoyed my time here as there was a good crowd in, a lively atmosphere aided by the band, some good food and top-quality ale. There were a few question marks as to whether the place would be as appealing on a quieter evening with no music or during busier food service periods, but I enjoyed myself and would definitely return to see what they have on the bar.

Looks like a mix between an upmarket alehouse and a gastro-pub, with bare boards, limited but light decor and sparse but dark semi-modern furniture in several different seating areas (with the nicest spot, by the corner windows, set aside for lunchtime diners when I visited). Five real ales on handpump: two each from Kelburn and Swannay (including the Oat Stout, £3.40) and Dark Star Partridge from down south.