Editors Note: This review was during the 2019 EUFA Champions League Final, which is unlikely to be representative of the the overall Whey Pat Tavern experience. Please take that into account.

Date and Time: 1 June, 2019, Saturday at 8:00 PM

Sitting on the round-about just outside the walls of “downtown” St. Andrews, the Whey Pat Tavern is a good looking old white stone structure with some large signs.

After a quick lap on North Street, and determining that the EUFA Champions League Final was, in fact, a big deal here in St. Andrews (who knew?!?), seats were found at the Whey Pat. Even though the place was packed, a couple of nice dudes who were slamming pints of Guinness like water shared their table with us.

The beer was a Twisted Thistle IPA, which, brewed by Belhaven, isn’t the best IPA in the world but is certainly drinkable. Smooth with a hint of citrus, but not too heavy, it finishes with some bitterness, but nothing too major. Solidly middle of the road, but available in a lot of places due to it’s Belhaven tag, it’s a step up from Tennants or Stella (neither of which are IPA’s, but are widely available in Scotland).

Went for the basic burger again, due to the time constraints, and the suspicion that the kitchen may have been short staffed and/or overwhelmed due to the busy day. After an unfortunate but expected long wait, the burger arrived, with a sizeable but very mediocre side of fries. Adorned with pretty basic and standard toppings (lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo), the burger looked a bit anaemic which was immediately cause for some concern. First bite revealed those concerns were well-founded. It suffered from the classic burger mistake of being too soft on the bun and ingredient, and then too firm on the patty.

While it’s not clear what exactly made up the patty (aside from hopefully ground beef…), or if the storage system and time constraints this particular day results in poor cooking conditions, the burger had the density of plywood, and about the same taste. And not a satisfying crunch, which is brilliant, but a dense feeling that leaves you with a mouth full of material. All in all, would not do the burger again, although I have it on good authority the vegetarian selection, a falafel burger was deemed “surprisingly good”.

The vibe in the Whey Pat is slightly confusing. The interior is very well-lit, clean, spacious, and if you order a gin, they’ll ask you what flavour you want. All of which seems more North American hipster than Scottish pub. But the clientele seems to be predominately white older males, drinking heavily but quietly and respectfully, with fairly heavy (Scottish) accents. This is the first place reviewed that doesn’t seem like a heavy tourist location. I won’t go so far as to claim it as the ‘local bar’, as I am not a native St. Andrean, so can’t go there.

Sports viewing is also easily accessible, as each of the main areas (front right, front left, and back room) have North American sports-bar style TV’s, but depending on your interest in the event, you can choose how big and in your face they are depending on the area. Although based on this apparent student-eulogy of the Whey Pats’ 2018 renovation, there is some debate over whether a TV has a place in a pub.

To sum up, it’s not a great burger or beer, and it’s not totally the quintessential UK pub experience. The Whey Pat misses the mark on both by a little bit. But it’s also not bad, as the environment itself offers some variety depending on your pub-going evening goals.

Good For: Watching sporting events if you’re late and disorganized. Staying outside of the downtown core area. Quiet corners. Old white dudes. Drinking affordable (3.50 GBP a pint) Guinness at a fast rate.

Bad For: Good burgers. Variety in beer. A fancy dinner with your parents (or your kids). People who like dark corners.

Cost: ~12.50 GBP for a beer and a burger