A Perth restaurant and bar is undergoing a massive renovation.
The Bunker Lounge and Bar on South Street will soon offer a new menu, with owner Colin Bell looking to put a greater emphasis on food selection.
The former bank building, which was opened as The Bunker in September 2019, originally featured two golf simulators and a pair of Formula One racing simulators.
These have now been removed, with Colin looking to include more seating in the space and also expand the kitchen to support the new food offering.
Colin, 48, told The Courier that nearly £100,000 has been invested in the refurbishment.
He said: “We’re looking to put a massive investment in the place.
“It’s not quite £100,000 but once everything is done it probably will be.
“One of the big things is that it’s still got the old bank windows.
“They’re single-pane and as soon as you warm the place up the heat goes straight out.
“What we’re going to do is build them up like a proper bar and restaurant and triple-glaze all the windows.
“The kitchen is going to expand and it’s going to go into the current ladies toilets.
“The ladies toilets are moving to the very back of the room and that’s going to increase from three cubicles to five.
Perth restaurant and bar to undergo renovation
“A big TV will be put up through the back and we’re going to bring back Chesterfield sofas and add a couple more coffee tables.
“We’ve also ordered some cask whisky barrels from Tullibardine and we’ll place some stools round them.
“There will be a ledge along the window facing out to Canal Crescent where you’ll be able to sit and look out.
“It will the same at the old golf bay because there’s no simulators at all now.
“We are predominantly now a bar and restaurant.
“Good food, good wine and beer.”
The bar used to sell curries provided by local Indian eatery Tabla.
But Colin has now decided to make a change, introducing a Spanish tapas menu.
Bunker Lounge and Bar has ‘had to evolve’
“We ran the tapas menu for three months and it went phenomenally well,” Colin said.
“Folk were raving about it but unfortunately, with the kitchen being so small and coming into the busy period, it wasn’t sustainable to do it.
“As soon as we open the big kitchen, we’re going to implement the tapas back in because it was so popular.
“We’ve also been playing with our wine selection.
“We’ve always had good wine but we’re just trying to make them a little bit better and classier.
“It seems to be going down really well.”
Colin said the simulators weren’t taking the money he thought they would.
He added: “Opening this place was never about the food – it was always about the simulators.
“But it’s not worked in Perth and we’ve had to evolve by going with the food element.”
The restaurant will be closed for at least two weeks in January, with Colin hoping to reopen by the end of the month.
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