Bennets Bar Tollcross – Every pint a six out of ten

Plus an American's guide to the British pub.

Bennets Bar is an example of the so-called “People’s Palaces” of Scotland: The beautifully decorated, spacious pubs which opened up in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras. Like many other pubs built around this time, it is full of stained glass, impressively carved woodwork and has an ostentatious ceiling. (Think The Guildford Arms or John Leslie’s.)

Built in 1891 for its first publican George Marshall, it became Bennets in 1906 following the opening of the Kings Theatre next door. It remained in the family for decades before one of the Bennet descendants upped and opened a synonymous bar in Morningside, which is unconnected to this one.

The pub is now owned by The Kilderkin Group, but I have to say – despite its beauty – it is the inferior sister to The Blue Blazer and The Windsor. However, we get a fun spot in the jug bar - a tiny nook off the main entrance which has enough space for just one table and has its own private access to the main bar.

I order a Moonwake Rye beer on cask (£5.80) and it follows the pattern of all cask beer I have had here: It’s fine. If every pint you have can’t get above a 6/10, you have to look at the pub rather than the brewer. For the price, I would expect a better-kept pint. What makes it more disappointing is that the two sister pubs are able to keep their beer much better.

Have a read of the original review here.

The chaser – How to Behave in Britain

I was recently made aware of this 1943 film called A Welcome to Britain. It was made as a guide for American troops stationed her during the War, with tips on how to behave without upsetting the locals. The first lesson in the film? How to go to the pub.

“Men and women, after a day’s work – and they work long and hard hours – come in for a bitter or a mild… that’s beer to you,” says our American host Burgess Meredith. “What’s that? The difference between bitter and mild? I don’t know, I don’t know. One’s bitter and one’s mild.”

Mr Meredith seems to have walked straight off the set of a film noir as he stands moodily in the corner and observes the scene inside. When a son loses a game of shove ha’penny to his dad, our narrator growls: “This game isn’t over yet, but the old man will win. He always does.” When a couple of kilted Scots soldiers enter, we get the line: “Never fool around with those Scotchmen, they’re tough babies.”

Then he explains the concept of rounds, though with a warning. “Over here, if you buy them drinks, they’ll insist on buying them right back,” he says. “So you want to watch, and not offer them expensive drink they can’t afford to return.”

It’s a fun watch. Have a look below.