EUROPEAN FLAVOURS IN THE 80'S

The top 2 ads are for Don Quixote, the Spanish restaurant in Blackness Road.

First is dated 1981 and 2nd is from 1984.

The reason I put both up was because in the 81 ad it mentions Miguel the chef - but in the 84 one, his name's not there and is replaced by a "dedicated young staff". Well by 1984 there was a new restaurant opened up in Broughty Ferry. It's name? Miguel's. So I'm putting 2 and 2 together here!

In 1980, Le Mirage, on the corner of Ward Road and the Conshie, was indulging in European dishes every Wednesday, a theme they termed "Continental Night", with a variety of cuisine from Italy, Spain and France to choose from.

Since writing the above caption, I have been given photos of Miguel's and they can be viewed in the January 2010 Retro archive.

Here is the link - Miguel's

HILLTOWNS DISAPPEARING PUBS - 70'S

Here's a couple of Dundee pubs in the process of being wiped off the map.

The top one is the Empire Bar & The Copper Bell Lounge which was on the corner of Rosebank Street / Constitution Street.

Underneath it is Bradley's Bar & the Talk Of The Town Lounge located on the corner of Ann Street / Ellen Street.

Both pub positions are listed in my 1970 Directory, but in my 1974 Directory the 2 addresses don't exist, so this demolition occurred sometime in-between these two dates.

Photos from Gordon C.

BURNT BREAD! - 1980'S

Here's what happened one day when The Bothy frazzled their toasties!

The Bothy, up the Conshie, was also called The Bread, a shortened version of it's posher name, The Breadalbane Arms.

Some people also called it The Howff, and you can see The Howff's name in the pictures - the Howff being the restaurant part of the establishment.

The fire, which started in the kitchen, took place on 27 January 1987.

Although the blaze caused around £300,000 damage, it did reopen again way later. It was renamed The Bread and the exterior repainted bright yellow.

Tell you what, all this smoke is making me feel a bit parched.

Oh eh ken - time for another retro pub craw, starting tomorrowl!

Photos by The Bear.

ST. ANDREW'S TAVERN - HILLTOWN - 60'S

Fancy a pub crawl?

This one's gonna go on for over a week, so should be a topper!

I'll just set the time machine for the 1960's - (whirr...spin...dizziness...nausea... spew into bucket kept handy for such trips....) - ah here we are, landed in Hilltown.

Starting off at St Andrew's Tavern in Rose Street.

This was said to be Dundee's smallest pub. Locals gave it the nickname of "the Mad Doag" after the manager was bitten by a mangy mutt!

The pub closed around the mid/late 60's and Rose Street itself has since completely disappeared.

I have a street map of Dundee from the 60's so thought I'd display the section where Rose Street used to be. As you can see it was slap bang in the middle of the Hulltoon and the Conshie.

LE MIRAGE RESTAURANT - 1970'S

A 70's ad for "Le Mirage", an upmarket style restaurant which was situated on the corner of Ward Road & Constitution Road.
I don't actually recall ever being in the Mirage so don't know that much about it personally, but I do know that on opening night in 1974, the cabaret act was a Spanish dancer called Karin Karina, and this was her first performance in Scotland. 

THE BREAD / BOTHY - CONSTITUTION ROAD

It's a pub that had 4 names, the real name being The Breadalbane Arms, but locals referred to it as the Bread, the Bothy or the Howff. Take your pick. My mob favoured the Bothy tag.

The period I drank there was the late 70's and early 80's, the photo here taken in 1982.

I lived quite near to it back then so it was a place I used to go to quite a lot, but usually more midweek than weekends.

It had a bit of a reputation for being a hippy hangout, and I suppose there was an element of truth in that. I do recall it had the likes of Bob Dylan and Eric Clapton on the jukebox. Although it was a more mature crowd than you'd find in the city centre pubs, I always found it a really cheery place. In fact the humour veered towards satire most times. Politics and topical issues were discussed and mocked in equal measure. You would often see a copy of Private Eye magazine lying beside the Morning Star newspaper. That summed it up.

Downstairs had a cosy main bar area and a back room which was used for smokers frequently. Upstairs was a large lounge. This was the area where live music was performed in. Sometimes organised, sometimes improvised. If some regulars brought in their instruments, that would often trigger a spontaneous session, whether it be folk or rock. Local musicians Michael Marra and Peter McGlone were regular visitors.

It was probably the nearest I got to having "a local".

Oh yeah, and despite the fact that The Howff Restaurant was next door, the peh's & beans and the toasties in the Bothy were so scrumptious, I didn't need to visit it!

As is the way these days, the building is one the demolition team have since visited!