The Commodore Hotel…read more
Situated toward the west end of Helensburgh's waterfront, The Commodore Hotel nestles in a block of the residential area. It's the absence of surrounding shops and the presence of some greenery that help give The Commodore a pleasant, relaxed atmosphere whether you're out in the beer garden or in the sizable bar/restaurant area.
Having never stayed in the hotel itself, I can't review the quality of the rooms here, but I've attended events in the large function suite and it's a pretty good venue for say, a large party or a small wedding reception. It is deep within the centre of the building, though, so if you were hoping for a view or some evening sun streaming in then you'll have to look elsewhere.
In the main restaurant & bar area, the horse shoe shaped bar itself isn't particularly large considering the number of drinks to be served, and it's here that the cracks start to appear in the makeup of the place. On a busy weekend night it can be a challenge to get served, but fortunately this isn't a factor if you're there midweek to enjoy the selection of lagers and ales on offer.
As a real ale pub, The Commodore tries its best, with the ever-present Deuchars IPA being joined with a revolving cast of decent ales that are reasonably well kept. A member of the bar staff attempted to pull me a pint of Purity's UBU with a sparkler on the pump nozzle recently. After failing to do so, he took the sparkler off and mentioned that he "wouldn't be able to put a head on it" for me. It's real ale - it doesn't need a Stella-esque head on it, but that this was lost on the barman somewhat betrays the fact it's a chain pub serving real ale, as opposed to an establishment that's truly nailed the CAMRA flag to its mast.
Still, there's nowhere else in town that has as good a selection of ales, so it seems petty to complain about how the bar staff are serving it up.
On that note, the demeanour of the bar staff has quite a range in it. From upbeat, polite and friendly to cold and detached - it's a bit of a lottery. This isn't so much a factor when you're in for a few beers, but if you've come for some food it hardly helps things go with a swing if you end up being served by Mr or Mrs Roboto. Can't help but think a few of them need a trip to charm school.
The food itself is good, but maybe a little pricey depending what you go for. I recently ordered a pâté & toast starter that turned up with a generous serving of pâté to go with what amounted to two slices of toast. Why are they scrimping on toasted bread, yet serving it with enough delicious pâté that I had enough to spread on both sides of the toast *and* the plate? It wasn't cheap, either - but one more slice of toast would have made it feel more balanced and better value, so it just seemed stingy to me.
Another time I had a fantastic grilled chicken dish for lunch in the coffee bar side of The Commodore. It was so good that when I was in a couple of weeks later I asked if it was possible to have it as a main dish in the evening. The member of staff I asked retorted that it was a lunchtime dish and not on the menu. That kind of response is defensive at best, but bordering on rude - I only asked, for goodness sake!
And that's why I can only give a potentially four star venue a meagre three stars. The Commodore has all the ingredients of what should amount to a great place to drink and dine, but whatever it is that turns a run of the mill place into somewhere special just seems to be missing.