One great refurb later and the Forth Hotel has come well and truly into its own.

The Venue
It has been well worth waiting five weeks for this pub to refurbish itself. It's been transformed into a sort of fairytale drinking den with strings of lights spread out across the wall like a twinkling web. Bulbous copper lamps hang low and there's a green banquette dotted with a yellow disc design, and it looks like it's been kept in storage since the 1970s.

Small white plastic 60s space-age swivel chairs cluster around big, no-nonsense chunky pub tables. The beer terrace out the back is a little dream. It has a colourful graffiti covered wall, more fairy lights, a trellis and half a dozen tables. And the room behind the bar is an absolute jewel too. It's a veritable Victorian grotto of wavy, swirly silver-grey patterned wallpaper, dainty claw-leg stools, an extraordinary Klimt-like patterned sofa and greenery that's been strewn with lights.

The whole of the fairytale corner is illuminated by the glow of a tasselled red lamp. All this marvellousness dances to the broken beat of a jazzy musical score. Yes indeed, Forth Hotel could be the pub from heaven.

The People
As eclectic and shabby chic as the furnishings, the crowd here ranges from young skinny tall guys in tight T-shirts with curly hair and beards and young shapely townie girls to old guys with short-sleeved shirts and glasses and black-suited, pale-skinned office wallahs.

The Food and Drink
There are over 20 brews on tap and lots and lots in bottles. Deuchar's IPA, Leffe, Sierra Nevada, Fruli, Hoegaarden, Weston's Organic, Peroni, Heineken, Red Stripe, Aplebock Staropramen, Fransiskaner and leffe. Carling, Addlestone's, Aspall's, Grolsch, Guinness issue from the pumps. And in bottles you've got an almost faultless list of Cusquena, Moretti, Asahi, Bulmers, Magner's, Erdinger, Schneiderweiss, Chimay, Dos Esquis, Brothers and Duvel.

Wines cost around £13 to £15 a bottle and include 10 each of reds and whites - an Argentinian Silverland Malbec goes for £9. Food includes nachos, melted cheese, sour cream and jalapenos for £5 and Moroccan chicken, roasted peppers and spinach in flatbread for £4.70.

Small dishes include calamari with anchovy mayo, marinated chargilled halloumi and vegetable skewers. They are £3.50 each, or you can get four plates (nibbles for yer mates) for £11. Even bigger dishes include lamb tagine with coriander cous cous for £7.90 and wild mushroom stroganoff for £6.70. To top it off there's a vanilla-pod ice cream for £2.50.

The Last Word
Just for the fact that they've got everything right without over-egging the pudding means the Forth Hotel could well be your new favourite bar.

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