Looking for somewhere welcoming with a nice vibe? Thistle do nicely..

Word had reached Pub Spy there was a boozer overlooking Queen’s Park on the south side of Glasgow which did a Sunday roast worth travelling for.

So it was that we got the bus into the area formerly known as “That Bit Between Queen’s Park and Shawlands”and now one of the city’s most appealing des-reses.

Strathbungo sounds like it was made up for a kids’ TV show – especially when your pub pal is called Geoffrey. A Geoffrey in the Bungo, and not a Rod, Jane or Freddy to be had.

We were heading, not up above the streets and houses, but instead to Brodies, formerly an underwhelming Indian restaurant, which rememerged a few years back as a bar/diner.

Pub Spy had only been in once before, to hear former Republic of Ireland goalie Pat Bonner talking about a film he made about the Donegal- Glasgow bus, and the place was going like a fair. Not tonight, though.

Nobody in, and, despite what we’d been told about the Sunday roast – and the fact it was advertised – we were sent away at 7pm. The kitchen was closed. But their loss was

Pub Spy’s gain. Across the street is Stag & Thistle – less than half the size of Brodies but with twice the willingness to accommodate our passing trade.

Formerly Mulberry Street, and back further in the day the Greek Taverna, the place has ditched that slightly naff 80s wine bar feel for something much more relaxed and authentic. If Brodies is a bar, this place feels like the pub.

Two top-notch steak pie dinners and two rounds of beer later, Pub Spy had forgotten about the place across the street.

A bunch of Irish lads were in after a day at the rugby and welcomed us into their company, and a dog came up and joined us, too. A regular, the lovely mutt seemingly has the run of the place and is more than tolerated by the regulars.

Stag & Thistle might sound like the name for a trendy wallpaper, and while this place might be part of the Strathbungo Strip (it’s what the hipsters round here call it), it’s a welcoming, everyman neighbourhood boozer, with a nice vibe, good food and decent prices.

Come summer, it also has one of the best pavement suntrap beer gardens in the city. But you might need the imagination of Rod, Jane and Freddy to picture that mid February…