The Counting House (JD Wetherspoon), Glasgow

I generally found Glasgow’s numerous branches of the Wetherspoons chain to be highly forgettable places, but the Counting House is the one clear example that well and truly bucks that trend. Set inside a former Royal Bank of Scotland property on George Square, this is a magnificent Italian renaissance building that has thankfully been given a new lease of life and thereby opened up to the public. You enter into a very large main room with a long, angular peninsula bar emerging from the right hand wall. The counter runs in something approximating a horseshoe shape and there is a nice dark wood, mirrored bar back with an old Jura whisky barrel as a centrepiece. The barrel has been opened out to create a display unit which now houses the pub’s whisky range. The room is dominated by an enormous central cupola above the servery, with etched glass panes around the edge and a large central decorative feature. Life-size statues of various women, including Lady Justice, run underneath the dome and beneath these there are a series of sturdy pillars topped with intricate gold capitals. It’s a spectacular sight and far beyond anything else the city’s ‘Spoons can offer up. High tables and stools can be found around all four sides of the room, including in the prime spots under the front windows with nice views out across the square. Sensible seating has sadly been marginalised into two side rooms, which are quite cosy compared to the vast main room and are generally carpeted and partly panelled. Elsewhere, decor includes large portraits of what I assume were important merchants, as well as various historical documents relating to the building’s time as a bank. I popped in here bright and early for breakfast, so wasn’t really in the right mood to get stuck into the beer, but they certainly had an impressive range, with nine guest ales all seemingly in action alongside three ‘Spoons regulars. My breakfast was pretty good and the staff seemed friendly enough. For me, this is easily the pick of central Glasgow’s many ‘Spoons, although I didn’t quite make it to all of them. Anyone with an interest in period architecture would likely enjoy a visit here to enjoy the marvellous cupola and the sensitive conversion and whilst doing so, it would be churlish not to also enjoy a pint of one of those guest ales!