The Evening Times, 18th July 2009
Take a butcher's at this newcomer with a difference
Jonathan Rennie

Pubs might be closing at a rate of 50 hostelries a month in the UK but when wee gems like this appear in their place, it might just be a price worth paying.

Velvet Elvis. Seven days old and already a place worth seeking out. And not just for the novelty value of finding a nice pub which sits near a police station. The location will be familiar to a lot of old women. It's the old Thornton's butcher shop and its past is etched firmly onto its walls. The original white tiles and meat hooks are still in the place, and it looks fantastic. And with its outside tables and juge ads for Catalonian brew Estrella it adds a bit of panache to the far end of Dumbarton Road.

It isn't alone in creating the effect. A number of great bars and restaurants are springing up around this part of Partick - the part closer to Thornwood than Byres Road. But this coup for Partick could signal a war for Pintxo - the brilliant tapas bar which sits next door.

Saturday lunchtime and while Velvet Elvis was bubbling, its Iberian neighbour looked as empty as Real Madrid's bank account after Ronaldo's wages have been paid. And just as worrying for Pintxo was the fact that Velvet's larder was getting bare - suggesting that people are stopping for food as well as a demi of the draught Estrella. They had run out of pastrami when we visited so instead of a pastrami on rye (this place has meatpacking district written all over it) being served up, I had a tasty open sandwich of haloumi cheese and beetroot.

It was one of three sandwiches on the brilliant menu. And when I say brilliant, I mean the design of the menu - each is written on the back of an old record, with the words written on an old butcher's order form. It's a great touch that had every table talking. And when they weren't talking they were listening to records. The pub has an old jukebox with four songs for £1

For a moment we kidded ourselves that we were in some sidestreet in Barcelona. But that illusion was quickly shattered by the beer-bellied Old Firm family who staggered by. Then again, that's a common sight on Las Ramblas these days, and the pub can't do anything about the rubberneckers outside. So there you have it. A great bar in an increasingly good location. The only weakness is its name - which seems a little too contrived for its own good.

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