The Drovers Inn

Great food and staff were friendly. We ordered our food at the bar and went back to our table.
Service was good and food arrives quickly.
This place is full of character with the stuffed animals inside. You can even stay the night.
The plaques on the walls tell you of stories from inside the walls.
Worth visiting and eating here.

If I’d just walked the previous stage of The West Highland Way I’d have loved this place. But I’d be happy anywhere after a 12 mile slog :-/
It wasn’t what I was expecting either. I WAS expecting a dark, old, stuffed beast, ramshackle of a building, set within a beautiful picture postcard backdrop. I got most of that, although the grounds of the Inn and the lodges were an uninspiring grey stone chipped car park, with rubble just laying about and no sign of it having been moved for years. I understand that manicuring the grounds isn’t everyone’s cup of tea and not necessarily mine, but a tidy up isn’t exactly destroying the «natural look».
I WAS expecting a gastro pub type menu. I don’t know why? Maybe because I’ve been to lots of these country Inns over the years and that’s kinda what the deal is. It’s certainly what my business plan would be. However, this was just bog standard pub grub — booo. Yeah, the £10.95 Braveheart Burger (burger, haggis & square sausage) was big, but it wasn’t an individually handmade patty served with hand cut chips. It pretty much felt like it fell off the back of a Brakes Bros, or Halls refrigerated truck. Not necessarily untasty, but fairly uninspiring.
It was also pretty quiet and sedate, but that may be because we arrived for lunch on a Wednesday afternoon. I recon if we’d stumbled in on a cold and rainy Saturday night with a roaring coal fire on the go and the place full of West Highland Way walkers’ it might’ve been a jumping and merry place? Possibly? But that’s maybe just my lack of planning? I do know however, that if I’m planning to go for lunch up this way again, it won’t be here :-(

If you like to be surrounded by a little, or a lot, of history while you dine you can’t get any more historical than The Drovers Inn. Established in 1706 little has changed in this cosy little Inn and tavern since the days of it erection (Ooh Matron moment!), bar the addition of running water, electricity and toilets.
I haven’t had the opportunity to spend the night there, though I have visited the pub on a couple of occasions for lunch.
In the small nook facing on to the outdoor seating, you’re surrounded by stuffed animals (not the toy variety) ancient paintings, and aged walls. The menu is standard pub fare; Mac’n’Cheese, burgers, scampi, steak, and the odd special. This time I opted for the Hot Smoked Salmon, though I’d been toying between that and… something else which, quite frankly, I can’t remember. And the reason for that is I was soooo happy with my choice of meal that anything else pales in comparison. A hot fillet of smoked salmon, skin as crisp as a winter morn, drizzled with sweet chilli sauce, and accompanied by a delicious, balsamic glazed rocket salad and boiled new potatoes. It was devine! I washed it down with a cheeky half of Heverlee, and followed it by a tasty sticky toffee pudding.
They’re dog friendly, and kindly provided our furry companion with his own bowl of water, and plenty of cuddles.

Yes, it’s a trek out of Glasgow, or wherever you may come from, but the scenery on the train to Ardlui is stunning, taking in the banks of Loch Lomond. Not entirely sure if it’s the high road or the low road, you can make your own decisions on that :)
It’s a couple of miles from the Ardlui station, although the bus service does stop right outside both if you’re doing that version of public transport.
As for the Drovers itself, it’s a proper «ye olde Scotland» type of place — if you have an aversion to stuffed animals, steer clear. The place is full of them, including the famous door bear the minute you walk in.
I was there for a wedding reception, and couldn’t fault the staff or setting, everything went as smooth as these things go, so I’m told. I know as much about weddings as I do rocket science, also a similar chance of going into space as having one of my own!
There’s a wide range of draft beers and lagers including a Drovers Blonde, which may or may not be masquerading as something else *cough*Stella*cough* and as you’d expect, a heeeeeeyooge selection of whisky to guzzle.
People I know that had the food were raving over it, and everything seemed a success — the Drovers itself was the setting for the wedding too, and there were no problems encountered by anyone… always a good sign!
If it was even slightly easier to get to, I’d give this a straight 5 star review without blinking. If you have visitors from elsewhere and can drive, this would be an excellent run out on a sunny day to show off the best our wee country has to offer.
Don’t try and kidnap the bear after a few drinks though. He fights back, and he fights dirty.

It takes 30 minutes to get to Balloch, the gateway to the highlands and if you have a few hours to spare you can drive up and round Loch Lomond which is exactly what we did. Starting at Milngavie, we paused at Callander then onwards, admiring the view, pausing at lay-​bys here and there before we realised we were hungry; lo and behold, the Drovers Inn came into view.
I’ve been here before, although it was over 20 years ago (I realised with some incredulation!) and whilst it has changed a little, the entrance is still the same — be warned, if you have a phobia of stuffed animals you might want to avoid here.
The Drovers Inn proudly claims it’s title as Pub of the Year 1705 and that’s where the charm starts. Over 300 years old and I’m pretty sure parts of the pub haven’t been changed since then, but don’t let that put you off, they have a good bar and offer a good range of pub fare.
Inn keeping (geddit!) with the surroundings, we stuck to tradition for our late lunch, sausage and mash for me, scampi and chips for her. We grabbed a seat in the corner, next to the fireplace and pretty soon the food arrived.
Four pork and leek sausages which had a nice peppery kick to them presented on a bed of homemade mash, with a good helping of onion gravy. The scampi and chips was a hefty portion and tasty enough. The food won’t win any awards but for pub grub it was perfectly acceptable.
You don’t go to the Drovers Inn for the food though, you go for the experience, the history or maybe just because you are passing. If you’ve walked the West Highland Way you’ve probably been there yourself, and whilst we ate five strapping lads came in and quickly ordered some cold beer, stretching their legs as they waited.
Dog friendly, the seats outside are nice but right on the A82 so can be a little noisy, and the staff were all friendly and cheery. Ohh and the staff uniform is t-​shirt and kilts… an added bonus some would say! ;)

Ein total uriger schottischer pub. Die public bar hat einen riesigen offenen Kamin. Wenn man auf dem West Highland Way unterwegs ist sollte man unbedingt einen Abstecher machen. Es lohnt sich. Der Pub ist in Invarnan nördlich vom Loch Lomond.

The Drovers Inn is a popular stop for walkers and people visiting the Loch Lomond area. It’s an ancient old pub established in 1705. It’s probably not been decorated since and is full of old stuffed animals including a real dead bear which adds to it’s charm. Walking around the pub looking at the old relics and stuffed animals was the best bit of my visit to the Drovers on Saturday.
I was a bit disappointed by a boring menu of pub classics like scampi and chips, steak and chips and burgers. I was expecting Scottish classics using the best of Scotland’s larder but instead I could have been eating in any pub chain in any city in Britain. Everything about my dinner was average, (broccoli soup followed by the scampi)… it filled a hole and that’s it. And my boyfriends steak was definitely not worth £16.95.
As a pub alone it would be good for a drink and can imagine it would be lively and raucous if it were later at night and a band were playing. Perhaps we we were there too early. I’d definitely go back for a drink, but I would avoid the food. Over priced and average.