The Corran Inn - Renfrewshire

Lovely freshly done up, Nice beer garden , Food drinks where nice,

I found myself looking for a new local after the Fox and Hounds was sold. The Fox is a traditional pub with its own brewery and an old world charm of a proper village pub. The new owners however appear intent on destroying this so its no longer the same Fox we loved. The Houston Inn sits at the top of the road and from the outside has the same old world charm. Inside it is more modern, all wood and leather chairs. For me it doesn't gave the same old world charm that the Fox had but it was growing on me. Price wise it is cheaper than the Fox £10.40 for two glasses of red and a pint) and has a few different wines on offer unlike the Fox under its new ownership), It seems to do well for food solid pub type dishes fish and chips, lamb shanks, burgers), all reasonably prices and the food coming out looked lovely! I think it will take a few more visits till it settles into being my new local when I'm visiting family but even after a couple of hours it was growing on me, so its a good start with its decent prices and efficient staff.

The Houston Inn was recently refurbished to within an inch of it's life and I have to say I am not a big fan. With the extremely popular and more traditional Fox and Hound pub across the road, the Houston Inn has gone for a more modern look with leather couches, flat screen TVs, exposed stone walls and coal fires. While the interior is nice it is a little bit cold and unfriendly and not really what I personally look for in a pub. Speaking of cold and unfriendly the staff aren't particularly pleasant considering this is a local village pub where everyone knows everyone and such like. I have eaten here once and it was ok but nothing to write home about. If you ever find yourself in the Houston area I recommend the Fox and Hound over the Houston Inn any day.

Can I tell you things have changed? What you used to know about this little place tucked away from the throng is wrong. All Change for the Houston Inn! New folks behind the bar and a new guy in the kitchen. Gone is the bad attempt to be an Indian in a traditional pub. But these folks did not go back to the regular pub. Nope, they took a whole new approach to Pub Food. I tried the Mega Burger, expecting the standard disappointment. Every burger I have tried in Scotland is a tragic representation of this North American Staple. It came out in decent time. Towered up like most of the burgers you get these days. I disassembled it and removed the skewers and onion rings and such. One criticism . Serve this thing without the staking stuff. I know you are told in culinary school that height is good. Break the rules. Serve this thing flat. It would be great if more of the meat flavour came through and less of the bacon, tomato, lettuce, pickles, cheese, etc etc etc were there. One more criticism, it could have been a little more rare. I t was well done and, I felt that a lot of the flavour and moisture was lost on the griddle. But it was a homemade burger with decent chips. All good and a decent place to sit. The beer is nothing to write home about but it sufficed.

Houston Inn has changed over the past few years. I really like the decor not to fussy or cluttered. Very friendly staff I ordered their guest beer sorry cannot remember name they gave me a small sample to try I liked it very much so had a pint, my wee Cuz had her usual Rosie wine soda presented to her liking. We both went for the Monday special menu £5.00 for a main course menu limited to five choices enough to choose from with a veggie option available. Roast beef with all the trimmings when it arrived it looked great two large slices of beef, mash roast potatoes and biggish Yorkshire pudding. I was a bit disappointed no veg, then the waiter brought a serving dish with peas,carrots,cauliflower,courgettes Parsnips all beautifully cooked just crisp to the bite. The beef was very tender and the gravy was more like a jus had a great taste and they were happy to give us more in a gravy boat. £17.80 for Lunch and drinks not to be sniffed at will be back soon.