Basra-ewnspooe

Now that it’s getting dark just after lunch, our thoughts are turning to how we’ll spend the long winter evenings indoors. We’ll drown our sorrows, of course. Morag Bruce leads a team of willing victims in a quest to identify the FINEST BARS in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

hat makes a great bar is very

personal question. The staff knowing

your name and having your own tankard is heaven to some. while this situation might make others seek professional help. Big screens on every wall could mean a lively atmosphere for some. while others would prefer to spend an evening nailing their own head to the floor than witness the roars. groans and half-baked punditry of beamed-in Scottish sport. But despite the personal differences. there are times when you know you‘ve found one of those bars which is just right. regardless of your mood. You might already have a favourite place that ticks all your boxes. but it‘s perfectly possible to sail blithely through life unaware that a pub-gem is a mere hop. skip and a jutnp away. especially if you‘re new to a neighbourhood with all the nooks and crannies that make up Scotland‘s two biggest tnetropoli. So. in the name of public interest. we‘ve forced

ourselves to go out and find the best places to drink. keep drinking and eat when you‘ve drunk too much in (ilasgow and Edinburgh. The results can be found on the following pages. We’ve split our line cities up into easily consumable areas: areas where you‘re likely to find yourself anyway if out sampling the rich cultural tapestry of Auld Reekie and the Dear (ireen Place. or at least pretending to sample the rich cultural diversity while gamely trying to impress yourself upon a potential suitor. liither way. we‘ll tell you the best places to go and what to expect when you get there; places for the real ale drinker and the cocktail sipper. the pre-club time—filler and the gig-going head- nodder. But don‘t just take our word for it. liven the great and the good need to prop tip the bar sometimes. so we asked some movers and shakers where they like to get moved and shaken of an evening. The information. if not the pint. is very much on us.

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