Get your Phil of fun and games at city pub that makes its own rules
In a pub on the southside of Glasgow, there are men dressed as women calling bingo, performance poets trying out their latest work and a record player in the corner beside a small mountain of classic vinyl.
A far cry from a pie and pint served in some of the more traditional joints nearby but, at Phillies, tradition means listening to both sides of an album and gambling like your granny.
Formerly The Social and Ketchup, Phillies is a roomy joint with faded wood panels, white brick tiles on the walls and battered-looking lamps hanging low above booths giving the place a cool, well-worn look.
Tables for two, large benches and comfy sofas offer a variety of seating options. The menu features burgers and sourdough pizzas, with a touch of something for the southside hipster like steamed bao buns. As well as your standard margherita, you’ll also find a pizza offering something called nduja sausage and a chickpea and jackfruit curry. Be my guest.
Pub Spy opted for the chargrilled cauliflower curry and beetroot falafel and humous small-plate starters – both tip-top – with mains of grilled chicken breast with a rocket, caper and sundried tomato salad and hanger steak escalopes.
The latter arrived with a delicious potato gratin accompaniment and a metal pie dish of stringy fries. Fine if you like potatoes with your, er, potatoes.
Drinks include a range of indie beers from partner breweries Fallen, Magic Rock and Cromarty. And a decent cocktail list is topped off with something called – this being Shawlands – a Southside gin, mint and lime. As we’d decided to keep a clear head, our friendly French server talked us through the alcohol-free beer options (Brewdog’s Nanny State worked with the steak).
If you like eating and drinking to your favourite music, on social spin Wednesdays, punters can bring their own vinyl. There is karaoke and bingo, a weekly quiz as well as beer and wine testing nights. All with that unique Phillies spin.
And you can enjoy it all drinking the world’s first hangover-free non-alcoholic gin called Seedlip Collins.
That’s a drink, not a drag queen. If you’re popping in for eyes down tonight, careful not to confuse the two.