Brewers Fayre (Portlethen)

Advantages: you know what you will get and the kids are welcome
Disadvantages: unexciting menu

Brewers Fayre is a chain of pub restuarants owned by Whitbread. They tend to be new and found in out of centre locations where land is cheaper. This permits them to sprawl over a large area and still have room for parking. Room for parking is a must at Portlethen (near Aberdeen) as the restuarant, known as Mains of Balquharn, lies sandwiched between an oil related industrial estate and the A90 dual carriageway. I would imagine they get around three ...
...entering you are immediately struck by the decor. The designers have successfully gone for an traditional English country pub look. If Northern Scotland it is a bit disconcerting. Most of the pubs up here are untouched since the fifties. "Bottled beer son? Nae chance, ye'll huv a wee hauf." and "Women? In here? O'er ma deid boady." are the sort of comments generally associated with the inns of Aberdeenshire. (He writes, exagarating only slightly.) ... Read review

Advantages: Nice food
Disadvantages: Not many, often busy

Brewers Fayre recently changed it's name to Brewsters, but apart from the new signs the pubs all remain the same. Brewsters (the new name) are a chain of pubs that can be found just about everywhere in the country, selling what they call a traditional range of pub meals. I suppose you could call them the McDonalds of the pub world, although not quite as standardised. The pubs are all pretty similar, although by no means identical, but they do have ...
...the food is the same at each pub, as the curry at one place tastes the same as the curry at another place. The food is nice though, and the selection varied. The thing is, when you're out and about in another part of the country do you want to eat the same thing as you could at home, or would you prefer to take a chance with a local pub, and see if their food is nice? Brewster provide a known standard wherever you are, so it's up to you where you ... Read review