Hard to find but worth the trek

By David Pollock

Details Oboeru  3 - 5 Cowan Street  Stirling  Stirlingshire        01786 849474 You would hardly think that a pub would be hard to find in Stirling, especially when you have a car and decent directions. Let's face it, the place is hardly the thriving nightlife hub of Scotland. After a couple of rounds of the maze-like one-way system up by the castle and some non-plussed shots in the dark from everyone we asked for directions, the unlikely thought that maybe there are two Stirlings in Scotland and we had the wrong one began to surface threateningly. But one quick call to the bar and some detailed instructions later, we were there. In fact - annoyingly enough - we'd already driven past Oboeru about three times. Just up the road from the train station and the far more recognisable structure of the Rob Roy boozer, this stylish bar is all but hidden away under an Indian restaurant as you turn and come back in towards the city centre. If you happen to miss the small and not exactly clear sign above the door, the only other clue that this is any sort of watering hole is the bouncer lurking shadily in the doorway. Despite being down the quiet end of the town, it's quite handily placed. Just about five minutes along the road, you see, live a large proportion of students who go to the university and this is the first stylish, youthful bar they'll come across on their way into the heart of town. So student loans inevitably account for most of the spending in here. Opened in December 2002, Oboeru recently celebrated its first anniversary and already seems to have developed the sort of comfortable feel that only a pub with its own set of regulars can achieve. Deliberately drawing on the fashionable ambience that bars in Edinburgh's New Town or Glasgow's West End create for themselves. It might not exactly be situated to draw in the same crowd of monied, financial district-working customers, but it has the mechanics of a contemporary bar experience down to a tee. In a rough triangular shape with a semi-open alcove in the centre, Oboeru isn't huge. But it does come with all the trimmings, including DJs (reggae on Mondays, soul on Tuesdays, house on Friday and Saturdays and open deck night on Sunday), a well- rounded collection of imported foreign beers and young, trendy, welcoming bar staff. The vodka collection is also huge, with all mainline shots of the stuff coming your way for a dirt- cheap £1 on Tuesday and Wednesday nights only. With low wooden tables and leather-effect stools blending in with the fairy lights and fashionable dimness, it's still not unwelcoming - it's actually quite cosy, in fact, and the music isn't played so offensively loud that talking to your friends becomes a chore. And as for that name? Well, the manager tells us the story of a Japanese teenager who was mugged in Aberdeen and made his way to Stirling to find work. Winding up in the manager's old bar, he went to work in the kitchen to help fund his journey back home. Later, as the staff attempted to teach him some English, he told them the Japanese word for learn is oboeru. Once he was safely on his way back to Japan, they actually discovered that the most direct translation is actually "remember". Which makes for a sweet little tale. But then, character like that makes this friendly local posing as a style bar much more three- dimensional than the modern bar blueprint. Open: Sun-Thu, 11 am-midnight Fri-Sun, 11 am-1am Drinks: Staropramen, £2.60; most mainline vodkas, £1.75; cocktails, £3.75- £4 (except champagne cocktails) Rating: Three out of five

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