Slanj-a-Va, Stirling

Formerly known as “Outback,” the Australian theme has been continued under the new name, but now with a Scottish tinge. The female staff wear tartan aprons which might be said to resemble kilts, although their male counterparts seem to be exempt from this. The toilets are designated as “Blokes” and “Sheilas” and the walls are decorated with road signs pointing (not always in the right direction) to Alice Springs and Botany Bay, pictures of kangaroos, sharks’ jawbones and a variety of Australian advertising posters. The clocks, perhaps helpfully for antipodeans, display the time in Sydney as well as Stirling. The bar room itself is commodious and the almost equally large beer garden even has its own small bar selling a limited selection of what is available inside. The main bar has Fosters, Tennent’s, Kronenberg, Amstel, Birra Moretti, Heineken and Edinburgh Three Hop lagers, as well as Guinness, John Smith’s Smoothflow and Strongbow cider on draught. A pint of Birra Moretti cost me £3.70 and all of the others are priced above the £3 mark, making it relatively expensive for the town. It is nevertheless popular, with standing room only on the Friday night I visited, although it was mercifully quieter on the following Saturday afternoon. An extensive menu includes Bush Kangaroo Burgers and Kangaroo Rump Steak. As if all that isn’t enough, there is live entertainment every night, including karaoke, quizzes, open-mic nights and other live music events. Whether the Kilted Kangaroo is typical of Australian pubs I couldn’t say, as I’ve never visited the country, but it looks not unlike the one in “Neighbours.”