It’s been a long old while since I last made an entry into the Pub Spotlight section of my blog. I believe pubs are such an important part of communities and each one is so different, I’ve simply been at work so much I’ve not had a chance to visit quite as many as I’d like. However, while I was up in Scotland a couple months back I thought it was appropriate to spotlight my grandparents local: the Balintore Inn. It is, of course, situated in Balintore on the seafront of Scotland’s east coast. Along with being a pub and restaurant for the locals, Balintore Inn has a few rooms available to book, while also offering parking spots for camper van drivers.
However, I am interested in what it is like as a boozer. And in terms of how visually stunning the view is from the beer garden, while you sup on an ice cold pint in the sun, you’d be hard pressed to find something better! There are plenty of benches available outside with umbrellas to provide a bit of shade (or cover from rain, it is Scotland after all) that look out onto the Moray Firth. Simply gorgeous!
The inside of the pub is lovely and clean. There are a few tables in front of the bar that for the drinkers with a decent number of additional tables in the back for the restaurant users. Speaking of, the food at the Balintore Inn is really rather nice. Although a little on the expensive side, perhaps due to the touristic draw of the pub, the food menu is varied, tasty and importantly you leave feeling full and satisfied.
As always, a boozer has to have some booze and as a beer blogger I’m mostly focused on the beer! Now a lot of the beer I review is of the craft variety. This isn’t that sort of pub. However, what they do have are the classics, including the timeless John Smiths and everyone’s favourite Italian lager Moretti. My tipple of choice for the majority of our visits was a Maltsmiths IPA which I’d personally never had before. Clean, refreshing and a classic IPA with some of those bitter grapefruit flavours everyone has come to love.
On the whole the Baltinore Inn is a great little pub and my family and I probably went once a day while we were up there. The service from the staff was really good, especially considering some were very new to the job! Mike the landlord is a great chap, very friendly and let me ask questions and take some snaps. He even shared a couple of drinks with us one night. The best bit however, is sitting in that beer garden looking out to sea. It’s simply brilliant and something you could easily imagine yourself doing all day. Will certainly be back the next time I head up to visit the grandparents.
Additional Information:
Address: East Street, Balintore,Tain, IV20 1UA
Lorenzo Beer Reviews 