Robert Mullen, affectionately known as Bobsie, has branched out with the opening of Kentigern’s in Glasgow’s Merchant City.
The bar, formerly The Black Bull on High Street, has been completely stripped back but, as Bobsie so eloquently puts it, remains “a wee old man’s pub where you can go for a drink.”
While the venue has been given a fresh new look, it manages to retain its authenticity. “We’ve basically ripped it all out and put in new electrics, lighting, signage, and cellar refrigeration,” he says.
Named after Kentigern, also known as St Mungo, the patron saint of Glasgow, the pub pays homage to the saint and features a mural of the High Street on one wall, which also includes the Waverley.
“It’s fitting that such a pub should open just a short distance from where St Mungo is buried,” says Bobsie. “We’ve loosely themed it around him. It’s a pub for everyone.” Bobsie and his wife Angela also own Babbity Bowster, just across the road, and Ra Ha’s, also in the Merchant City.
“We quietly opened and have already managed to increase the turnover,” he adds. “It will take time to establish, but we plan on running it for the foreseeable future.”