Teed off with meal mix-up.. but I’d swing by again to read the papers
You can judge a toilet by the quality of the paper – and not necessarily just the stuff hanging on the roll.
We’d popped in to Forgan’s in St Andrews as the last stop on a weekend touring around the Fife coastal trail, in truth, only to use the loos.
When the occasion calls for it, Pub Spy has mastered the cheeky art of pretending to look for a friend, nipping to the loos for a quick pee, then leaving with wallet untroubled.
More stealing a penny than spending one, perhaps. But one look at Forgan’s and we decided to stay for more than the cludgie.
This big hangar off the high street, along a cobbled corridor on which wooden crates of produce are strewn, is an attractive-looking joint, divided into bar, restaurant and pokey wee dens, bothies and booths.
Originally a cleek factory
– for non-golfers, that’s a particular type of golf club – Forgan’s is named after the old business and even has a few ancient cleeks on display.
St Andrews being the home of golf, Forgan’s, mercifully, doesn’t go all-out to appeal to golf tourists.
Another attraction of the rustic, sepia-toned vibe in this place are the walls – plastered with old newspaper and comic pages, which make for enjoyable browsing.
Newsprint’s not the only thing to line the walls here… the selection of Scottish gins looks like it would go twice round the nearby castle ramparts. A high table at the bar is the perfect place to sample them, even if you’re not stopping off for the food. Or the lavvy.
But even the home of the old course has its bunkers and, while the service at Forgan’s came with a welcoming smile, the attention to detail landed in the rough. A chicken Caesar salad came without the chicken. Once pointed out, it was 15 minutes in the waiting and wasn’t reflected in the bill. As with golf, it’s the deft touches that can make all the difference.
Forgan’s isn’t teeming with Henry Spoffords, like some of the other boozers we visited in this well-heeled university town, and its beer flights and own craft beer are worth sampling if you’re so inclined.
But warn your mates when you go to the smallest room – you might be a while once you start reading the toilet paper.