Continental, but where's Papa?

By David Pollock

Details Papa Jacques  314 Brook Street  Broughty Ferry  Dundee  Angus  DD5 2AN    01382 739782    Get a Map    Get Directions My only disappointment during a recent visit to Broughty Ferry's exotically-named Papa Jacques was that I didn't actually get to meet Papa himself. Okay, so I didn't exactly expect to see some beret wearing French bloke sitting out front smoking Gitanes, but come on ... surely that name's not a tenuous continental link used to inject a touch of glamour into the place? Otherwise what's wrong with Papa Jock's? Not that Broughty Ferry exactly needs to play itself up in the affluence stakes. A one-time fishing village and ferry crossing, the place reinvented itself as a seaside resort around the turn of last century becoming a picturesque hideaway for Dundee's well-to-do residents. This led to it at the time being christened everything from `the Brighton of the North' to `Europe's richest square mile', although these days fellow Dundonians know it simply as `the poash bit ay the toon'. Although you wouldn't know it by looking at Papa Jacques. It's not a dive by any means, but it's certainly no different from any other High Street pub in any town you care to mention around the country. On the bustling Brook Street, however, you can't help but miss Papa's blue neon autograph shining out from above the door, even if you're miles away from it. Inside, it's compact and from the way the bar fits snugly within a row of terraced shopfronts it's pretty easy to guess that's what the place once used to be. But still, for a pub that's smaller than your average McDonald's, whoever designed it has done a good job in making use of the space. It's a whole mish-mash of styles with the brick side-walls, the glowing beer adverts and the wooden seating booths immediately reminding you of an American diner. But the generic, colourful art prints on the wall suggest a continental cafe, while the central hub of a bar complete with glass display shelves and a halo of lights around the ceiling is straight out of the DIY-style bar handbook. Somehow it all works aside from for the poor DJ, who has to stand in between a couple of booths and face the wall all night. Or possibly it's just that he's just done something wrong, we don't know. Anyway, another thing that works are the drink prices pounds 2.16 for a Tennent's. Now that's a bargain. In fact, they're almost throwing the stuff at us with a three-bottles-of-Bud-for-a-fiver deal, and regular promotions like free shots all night. Come on now, it's not like the folk of Broughty Ferry need to worry about paying a bit more for their bevvy, is it? In any case, they're lapping it up and most are probably trolleyed enough by the time they need the toilet to actually laugh at the fact they've been christened `Mamas' and `Papas'. Service is friendly and fast, while the atmosphere's also pleasant enough. Okay, so there's a bit of Saturday night testosterone in the air as all the lads check out the Ferry's nicely turned-out ladies. But there was no active growling while we were there, which is good enough for me. A nice-enough joint, then, but perhaps nothing to go out of your way for. Still, the folk of Broughty Ferry obviously know and love it. And judging by the free minibus service to its sister nightclub Jacques, along the road have made it a fixture of their night. In fact, maybe that's where Papa went to get them in early? Open: Mon-Sat, 10am-midnight; Sun, 11am-midnight. Food: Mon-Thu, noon-3pm, 5-7.30pm; Fri-Sat, noon-7pm; Sun, noon-6pm. Drinks: Pint of Tennent's, £2.16; bottle of Breezer, £2.50; vodka and coke, £2.00. Three out of five

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