Glasgow West End Dining and Drinking by Roy Beers
Glasgow Restaurant Reservations
Bringing you all the latest news about restaurants, cafes, bistros and pubs in Glasgow West End - and beyond.
Find out what the restaurateurs are planning and what's new and wonderful on the Glasgow Eating and Drinking Scene.
absolutely no-one has more lowdown than Roy Beers.
June, 2009
All the fun of the fair
The opening Festival Sunday parade saw Kelvingrove Park totally mobbed by people, In heaving numbers seemingly in inverse ratio to the amount of entertainment on offer. Staged in glorious sunshine, the parade was fine, but thereafter the various stalls and funfair attractions were besieged by crowds, and at particular “choke points” – for example the entrance to the park by the bridge near the museum – it was taking maybe ten minutes for people to get in and out; no sign of any stewards at this point, but a police van parked smack in the middle ensured the flow of people had slowed to a dispiriting trickle.
Nevertheless there was no visible disorder, it was a “family crowd”, and as a sort of civic gala day the event was a success.
Meanwhile back in Byres Road, which has been abruptly shorn of its red letter day,
things were busy enough but understated. Musicians played to table drinkers sitting in the sun outside Booli Mardi’s in Vinicombe Street, but without the benefit of the usual stage. One or two outlets had burgers or other comestibles to tempt passers-by,
but it was very obvious the rug had been pulled, and equally obvious something better
will have to be organised for next year.
If there was any real festival vibe to be found in the traditional festival heartlands it was outside the Lismore Bar on Saturday, where a number of folk bands were playing to a delighted seated audience – it’s just a pity it wasn’t apparently possible to arrange something similar for the people in and around Byres Road.
Now the official programme is fully underway, venues which could be of particular interest include The Stand, the “alternative alternative” comedy in Uisge Beatha, also Woodlands Rd; Brel, Jinty McGuinty’s, and of course Oran Mor. On Woodlands Road, conspicuous winners from the summer sunshine were The Halt bar, where numerous bands were in full swing; Uisge Beatha, with its decorous outdoor area; Primary and (on Park Road) the good old Doublet Bar.
Mother knows best
The sizzling curry picture on this page by photographer Martin Gray is a nice reminder that the new venue from the man behind Mother India and The Wee Curry Shops appears close to opening, and will be a very welcome arrival in an admittedly jam-packed Indian restaurant scene.
Dining in at Mother India will be a 16-cover sit-in deli, where you can either treat the
place just like a regular restaurant, or buy chilled pre-prepared meals to take home – or buy the actual ingredients and make the dishes yourself.
It will, owner Monir Mohammed tells me, reflect all the core values of its parent venues, and will aim to “engage” with its customers on a variety of levels.
How much Hing (asafoetida) should I use in a particular dish – and what do I do with Methi (fenugreek) leaves? These and many other questions will be answered freely and cheerfully by the staff, who will be much more than just shop assistants.
Meanwhile I can confirm the original product is – in my humble opinion – quite excellent. Monir fed me the lunchtime thali choice at Wee Curry Shop Byres Road, recently, and it was very pleasant indeed – exquisite little pakora; a nice wee side dish of raita, and some other carefully-chosen accompaniments beautifully set off a gingery treat of a chicken curry dish
While I was there Monir told me of a special offer he and his wife Smeena are running on the last Sunday of every month, which I think sounds a brilliant deal.
The couple, whose son Amaan was diagnosed with autism at three years old, are donating the entire £10 from each meal to the National Autistic Society Scotland, helping to raise vital funds for the 50,000 people across Scotland who are affected by the condition. In addition, all staff working at the restaurant have kindly agreed to donate any tips they make that day to the charity. Monir said: “We believe that everyone affected by Autism deserves the greatest level of support we can provide and that’s why we are supporting the NAS Scotland with the launch of this special menu.”
Money raised from the menu will go to vital NAS Scotland services including Daldorch School in Ayrshire, which offers residential care and schooling to children with autism. Other services include a parent to parent support line and social and befriending groups for people with Asperger’s syndrome and autism.
Sweet 16
Nice to see one of the undoubted gems of Byres Road back in full swing, with the triumphant reopening of Number 16 by key members of its former front of house and kitchen team. When the place closed so abruptly earlier this year, along with stablemate Louis’ Bistro in Gibson Street, its seemed the final cruel blow to the bottom of Byres Road, where North of Bondi, Café Francaises and Cabbages and Kings all shut up shop, one by one.
Now, as it happens, all of those sites are fully back in business except Cabbages, which remains resolutely shut. Very recently I had a very pleasant repast in Number 16, which was solidly booked, but as I was in company with a well-known restaurant reviewer I’m saying absolutely nothing about the food until the review piece appears … however I will certainly return to 16 before long.
Welcome to Toni
Some people have observed to me that you can have too much of a good thing, and it’s beyond doubt that Byres Road is becoming “Italian” in a way in which Gibson Street used to be “Indian” (whereas these days, what with Stravaigin, The Left Bank, a Persian restaurant, etc, it’s becoming downright eclectic), and in no particular order we now have La Vita Spuntini, Paperino’s, Little Italy pizzeria and – just open – Toni Macaroni.
Having watched this latest venue being assembled over what seemed like endless months (I wrongly assumed it would be open by Christmas) I can confirm the wait was more or less justified by the lavish refit job on the interior, which has some sort of redolence with the dark woody-Tuscany interior of Spuntini, albeit in a sort of comtemporary way.
Most days I’ve passed there’s been a Mazarati parked outside – the theoretic Mr Macaroni’s, we assume – and together with the low key name the place is certainly cutting a distinctive dash.
Owner Sev Marini has added a chip shop next door, thus challenging the local supremacy in this department of the hallowed University Café, and as well as the usual treats it offers what appears to be a wide range of continental sandwiches.
In the restaurant, meanwhile, a journalist acquaintance opines that an initial sight of a giant plasma screen in the main dining bit is a bit off putting – is wall to wall news coverage and sport part of some metropolitan dining scene which we would do well to follow, or is the aim just to pull in punters who prefer to gape at a screen instead of make polite conversation?
I don’t know, but if (like me), you prefer a more trad restaurant environment, the booths in the basement are probably more your thing. What about the food? A couple of people have been surprised when I’ve told them it’s a full Italian menu, and not a pizza n’ chips offer at all, and a description of its various offers would take some time.
We went for the tapas option, which offers good value, and while this was by no means remarkable a dish of chilli chicken certainly hit the spot. A friend who knows a lot about Italian food has been twice and reckons it’s the real deal, and I’ll certainly visit again too.
Tapas International
From an Italian take on tapas to international tapas, Nasreen Aksi has recently launched the new venue she’s been planning for some time at what had been The Spice of Life Indian restaurant. Now called Tapas International, it’s a bid to bring several global cuisines under one roof with an offer spanning Spanish (tapas), Asian, Mediterranean and even Scottish dishes in a single kaleidoscopic menu – so for example you can order from choices as wildly different in style as Chorizo and black pudding and Desi chicken; Spaghetti carbonara and – Scottish – deep fried haddock and chips.
There are some combi offers as well as the option of buying the smaller dishes at around £4 a go; for £12.95 you get an Asian, “International” or Mediterranean platters.
Somewhat confusingly, the Mediterranean platter also includes Scottish options – perhaps because we’d all like to be in the Mediterranean. There are a number of salads and side dishes too, for example artichoke salad, raita yoghurt, garlic bread with cheese – so taking all the various permutations into account you can certainly have fun experimenting with different combinations as the mood takes you.
Velvet Elvis
From the man who brought critically-acclaimed Basque tapas restaurant Pinxto to Thornwood we now have, right next door in a former butcher’s shop, a completely new venue – which despite the name has nothing to do with the late Mr Presley at all, but which is craftily jammed, in a minimalist sort of way, with plenty of recondite retro flourishes. Like the vintage-choice juke box, which amiable owner Allan Mawn insisted I try out on the afternoon of the day he was getting ready to open to the general public.
He possibly realised this hadn’t been a good move when Lola, by The Kinks, boomed out four seconds later … Perhaps it was the sunny afternoon, and the jolly Damm (or was it Sagres?) branded windcheaters outside (indicating an affection for continental beers) at the tables – continental Thornwood, who’d have thought it? – but initial impressions bore out the verdict from Ken Smith in the Herald diary: “a cool neighbourhood bar”. With the tall continental doors rolled back, the tiled walls, wooden floor, brick bar and ancient boothed seating at the back (it looks like something out of Montmartre, circa 1895), this is yet another “one off” which begs exploration in detail. There’s a stuffed seabird to one side of the bar, which I correctly identify as a Gannet (a joke, you see); and the bar and gantry are a wonderful, towering extravaganza, the back bar acting as a display case for premium spirit options as diverse as Jameson’s Irish whiskey and Laphroaig; there’s a strong accent on quality continental premium beer, and also the obligatory Tennent’s Lager font – because the big red T is, by and by, what most people still prefer to drink. Or you could try a Krusovice (Czech) or Tyskie (Polish) lager from the chiller cabinet. Then there’s the menus, affixed to probably valuable retro LP and singles covers.
But what about the food? Allan has three chefs, all from very “rated” enterprises, and a menu designed to appeal to people who like familiar dishes done particularly well. Here’s an idea of what is on offer: for tasty bar bites you can choose options such as deep fried baby squid or salt cod croquettes, as well as the handcut chips and marinated olives.
There’s a full breakfast menu including a Crispy Morton’s Roll with either Ballencrief Bacon, Aberdeen Angus Lorne Sausage, or a free range egg … and you can add (it says here) a “tatty” scone – that is to say, “tattie” scone; I mean it’s not frayed at the edges, or anything. The deadly phrase: “selection of morning pastries available” introduces the possibility of further treats in store.
The main menu, meanwhile, is a beguiling litany of classics and twists to classics … for example there’s the Jack House Steak Pie, named in honour of the famous writer who knew all that was to be known about Glasgow; it comes with coloured carrots and Pommary Mustard, and takes 20 minutes to prepare, as it’s baked to order. Moules Frites, by contrast, offers fresh mussels in a leek and Addlestone cider cream with skinny fries. There’s also a deluxe chargrilled burger, Rolls Royce fish n’ chips, “slow cooked oxtail on the bone” and crispy skinned duck leg on Puy Lentils with spinach, roasted tomatoes and bacon; besides some interesting-sounding veggie options.
Some of the starters can be main courses too – for example chargrilled sardines; or poached egg with Stornoway black pudding and seasonal asparagus. Allan Mawn appears particularly proud of his salads selection (eg orange-marinated chicken with toasted seeds and summer greens); especially the Classic Nicoise, which he complains you “can’t find anywhere”. For the avoidance of doubt, this is seared tuna with dressed leaves, green beans, anchovies, black olives, potatoes and boiled egg. Rounding off the menu (which has been compiled in accordance with an ethical food-sourcing policy) there’s also a substantial kids selection, starring choices such as “home made fish fingers and real chips”.
The wine list has half a dozen reds and the same number of whites, and is carefully chosen to span the full spectrum, with an accent on New World wines; there’s a “Pink” choice too, a couple of sparkling wines, and three “treats” – dear wines – at a few pence under £40.
However apart from these three the wines are all under twenty quid and most are in the range £13 to £15 – which, given they’re not the sort of wines you’ll encounter in the local branded High Street offie, appears to be good value. There’s the option of numerous wines by the glass, too – all in the range £3,50 to just under a fiver.
Finally, on the sort of hot day we’ve had recently, you might care to try one of VE’s classic cocktails, a snip at £5.75. Allan’s staff could capably produce just about anything from hundreds of options on their cocktail lists, but in practice the ones which people will want will be the time-honoured balmy climate specials, the Mojitos and Daiquiris of old Havana.
Just a little up the road from Velvet Elvis and Pinxto is Bibi’s, a Mexican cantina which has now been hit-listed in the List food and drink guide, and while the former Cherrybean café across the road from Allan’s places is currently shut I learn it is now “under offer” and may soon re-emerge as another café; I hope so.
When you consider there was little if anything to tempt anyone farther than the Crow Road junction a couple of years ago this is a pretty remarkable transformation, and fair play to Allan and the ladies at Bibi’s for making it happen.
While I was chatting to Allan numerous people were already trying to get into the venue, only to be reluctantly stopped with the cry “We don’t open until five o’clock”.
I predict masses of interest in the immediate local area, but also plenty of visits from people across west Glasgow and, pretty soon, from across the city generally.
Whiter Shader of Pale
Back at Partick Cross, meanwhile, the Three Judges has a pale ale festival in progress, to enthral fans of cask beer during the West End Festival – and I’ve already tried one or two of the brews from the ambitious list of options prepared. The IPA’s and their equivalents come into their own in hot weather, and are to my mind the ultimate thirst quencher when – as here – they’re well kept.
Some of the brews on offer include Punk IPA, the award winning 6% beer from BrewDog; Elland ‘Beyond the Pale’ – a 4.2% pale golden bitter that has a floral aroma and a hoppy, bitter finish; Copper Dragon’s Challenger IPA – a full bodied and fruity 4.8% ABV; and Hidden Pleasure IPA – a 4.9% deep amber ale with a strong hoppy bite.April, 2009
A welcome take two on Argan Cafe
My spies in west side Argyle Street tell me that the redoubtable erstwhile owner of Argan Cafe (Moroccan-Mediterranean), Khaled el Masrour, is back with a reprise of the same venture a little farther up the road.
If so, and I'll check it out this week, it will mark only the latest but maybe the most interesting change in this area over the last year or so.
Argan was a place which approached its cuisine with some passion - and took its wine fairly seriously too - and had a culinary repertoire stretching from North to West Africa and back to southern France; it was equally at home with Boeuf Bourguignon or a Moroccan tagine.
It was highly rated by The List, and appeared to have a steady following, but just as it was acquiring its coterie of regulars it vanished, to be replaced almost instantly by Lamora (Italian and Mediterranean), run by the splendid Mora family.
More recently a new cafe venue or two have popped up and disappeared nearby on Argyle St, and it is into one of these now-vacant sites that the maestro behind Argan appears to have moved.
In case you're one of the West Enders who aren't in this area too often suffice to say it has some fairly distinguished restaurants to choose from - not least Fanny Trollope's and (a little closer to town) The Buttery.
There are also about six or eight Indian restaurants around here, each with its own particular following, also Blas (opposite the museum), The Drawing Room, Konaki (Sauchiehall St) and - fairly soon, apparently - a relaunched Kelvin Park Lorne Hotel, under another name.
More Indian restaurants
There's no end to it. Glasgow's West End is now the greatest curry district of any city in Western Europe, including London - by dint not only of the numbers but also the quality and variety of the offer.
If you think that's an extravagant claim, just think of some of the main players - the venerable and evergreen Shish Mahal, established 1964; Mother India (three venues), Wee Curry Shop (three venues), the original Ashoka and its sister venues; Balbir's; West End Balti and Dosa House ... even before you consider Chillies, Bollywood Club, Mr Singh's India and - stretching a point - Kama Sutra.
One of the most interesting ventures, meanwhile, is also the smallest: Banana Leaf carry out at 76 Old Dumbarton Road (more or less across the road from Firebird and along a bit), which, highly unusually for Glasgow, specialises in south Indian cuisine - as witness all the Hindi menu names.
But it still constantly amazes that operators are so confident of their ventures, and in difficult times, that they're apparently happy to open still new ones.
The biggest may turn out to be the 100-seater Indian restaurant apparently planned for the new-style Kelvin Park - this sounds like a very ambitious venture indeed - while right in the middle of Byres Rd, on the site of now-departed Atrio (formerly Bonham's), we're about to see the opening of yet another new Asian venue, called The Curry Leaf (Modern Indian Cuisine).
It's a cracking site for a restaurant, theoretically, with plenty of ground level footfall, but much will depend on what sort of cuisine is on offer and who it is pitched at - just around the corner there's both the Ashoka and the Ashton Lane Wee Curry Shop.
Paradise Found
Persian is now virtually a "category" in local dining terms, what with the delis, the Pars restaurant in Gibson Street (another yet-to-try one for me) and now Paradise at Kelvinbridge.
It's a remarkable place by any standard, and a seeming instant success since it opened around October last year, with a nice line in aesthetically-pleasing exotic decor and a truly amazing water feature - if you don't like dining beside a babbling brook (there's water pouring down the windows too) this may not be for you.
The music is beguiling and relaxing at the same time, and obviously chosen by people who love it - it's completely in synch with everything else in the place.
The menu is slim but more than sufficient to give a broad appraisal of "Persian" regional cooking styles. The "kebab" in various forms is the star turn, but forget any notion of these dishes resembling anything you might find in a takeaway shop. The portions, it turns out, are huge.
In some ways the cuisine appears unremarkable, as it does not set out to amaze, but you soon begin to get the idea that everything may well be perfect here: for example the rice is absolutely faultless, an exemplar of rice cookery; and the unadvertised giant flatbread which appears proves impossible to leave alone. The chicken in the (unskewered) kebab is unscorched, and cooked to a delectable consistency without the merest hint of overcooking or stringiness. Meanwhile a refreshing glass of doogh (a yoghurt drink laced with pepper and garlic) is only £1. The starters section is fascinating, and vegetarians are well catered for in every respect.
There's no drinks list, as such, although apparently you can bring in a bottle, but the food is clearly more than enough to pack the place on a nightly basis.
When I was there half the clientele appeared Middle Eastern, and one or two diners seemed to be asking to have their favourite dishes done this way or that.
If I were going for the first time again, I'd order the mixed starters at %pound;11. I suspect that would make a fantastic "Persian tapas" style lunch for two, in its own right - exactly the same concept as the similar but different mezes dining culture of next door neighbour Turkey.
I mentioned exotic decor. If you're a history buff, and maybe even if you aren't, you'll be riveted by replica friezes and statuettes from the time of the great Achaemenid and Sasanian empires in Persia - as well as some paintings and artefacts which portray the classic medieval and Renaissance Persia ... the Persia of Omar Khayyam. Even if you haven't a clue what they're all about, they add a real note of grandeur to the proceedings; it's the full Rubaiyat, all right.
There are carpet tapestries too, of course ... all within a scheme of things which seems completely at home with itself; this isn't a themed restaurant, but the real thing - a place which has had a fair bit of pride lavished upon it.
Apparently this earthly Paradise is a spin-off of a well-established London venture, and certainly it has an unusual amount of innate "polish" for such a new restaurant. With Aziza shut, next door, it's a very welcome arrival on the local dining scene - of course particularly for lovers of Middle Eastern food.
Burger Wars
Ketchup is reportedly doing good business in Ashton Lane, but the new Ad Lib venue at the foot of Byres Road has been ticking over nicely too, at least any time I've passed it recently.
As reported previously, there's considerably more to the menu there than burgers, but it's certainly the front of house lead item - and for some time now there's been a £4.95 special deal on burgers.
Such has been the popularity, though, that this offer has now been trimmed back a little to five, not seven, days a week; meaning you can still get what Ad Lib insist is a very superior burger at the shopper-friendly price of "half price", any week day.
Art at The Lansdowne
The idea of using restaurant space as art gallery space is not new, but it's always nice to see it done properly - as, for example, in Roastit Bubbly Jocks in Partick (a big high-ceilinged single room, ideal for the purpose); and in Montgomery's Cafe in Radnor Street (whose exhibitions, on its soaring walls, are arranged by Stephanie Spindler of art-organisers Ugly Ducklings, based locally).
Now we're to see something of the same at Kelvinbridge. The Lansdowne Bar and Kitchen recently had a launch party to celebrate its new partnership with the Recoat Gallery, which will see The Lansdowne's conservatory exhibiting work from up and coming Scottish artists selected by Recoat.
Recoat, it turns out, were set an awesome challenge; their artists were commissioned to create a mural "influenced by the West End's bohemian vibe". This latest piece of licensed trade-related public art has since been unveiled, and it will be worth the trip to the conservatory restaurant to see just what they've come up with.
The West End is no stranger to murals, of course, nor its most celebrated artist to pubs.
The vast ceiling mural in Oran Mor makes Alasdair Gray the area's official Michelangelo (an honour due previously only to Daniel Cottier, in his time), but in fact more than 40 years ago Gray also painted a mural - of the Falls of Clyde - in a Lanarkshire pub.
Today I read that he is now restoring his own work, as the new owner of the bar discovered a previous incumbent had covered it over. The new man sensibly aims to make this early Alasdair Gray painting - restored by Alasdair Gray - a key element of his ambitious design scheme for the place. I wish him luck with the pub, and with the rediscovered mural: it is details like this (as Colin Beattie of Oran Mor has proved on such a scale) which can set the "real" pubs apart from the rest.
A news account quotes Alasdair as saying the mural is long and thin, to allow him to show views of the Falls of Clyde at various points along its banks. It's a sobering thought to think nobody has seen this painting for years.
Meanwhile back at the newly-muralled Lansdowne, manager Emma Bell says: "It's brilliant to be able to support another local business while providing a platform for Glasgow's up and coming talent - and giving something new to our customers."
More Pinxto Success
My colleague Henry was off to dine a deux at Allan Mawn's Pinxto restaurant in Thornwood tonight, so tomorrow I shall grill him thoroughly on the merits of the morcilla, patatas bravas, goat's cheese in courgette (one of my favourites) and all the rest.
Last week I read the restaurant had been awarded a rare accolade by a leading lifestyle magazine, adding to a heap of honours which have included being in last year's Sunday Herald top ten Scottish restaurants.
This is yet another terrific achievement for Thornwood's rapidly-developing Latin Quarter (zero venues to two is "rapidly developing"), which also includes Bibi's Mexican restaurant a little farther up the road.
Allan aims to open a quite different venture in premises next door to Pinxto sometime later this year, and apparently work is already well advanced on that project - so more news as it happens on his interesting corner of the Greater West End.
Going like Clockwork
And now for something completely different ... a barely believable round of applause for a pub on the south side, the Land Beyond The Great River.
I visited the Clockwork Beer Company fairly recently (it's owned by the same people as The Lansdowne) and found main man Frank Murphy in characteristic good form.
It's safe to say that the Clockwork is easily the sooside's greatest beer bar, and also one of only two pubs to brew its own beer (the other, on a much bigger scale, is Petra Wetzel's West Brewery on Glasgow Green).
However even the smartest pub can get a bit tired looking after a while, and Maclay have just splashed out on what amounts to a substantial makeover.
The floors have been stripped back to reveal pale oak wooden floorboards and new furniture has been added to complement the colour scheme, while on the revamped mezzanine level we now find comfy leather-look sofas.
Perhaps the most significant change to the Clockwork, though, is the once hidden micro brewery which has been opened up with the addition of glass window panes.
The Clockwork's food menu has also been given a reprise, with the addition of a new Stonebaked Pizza section. Prices start from £3.95 for a Margarita and customers can choose to add two extra toppings for £1.50.
Less than ten minutes' walk from this marvel of a bar you'll find Tinto tapas restaurant in the middle of the main row of shops at Battlefield; I've had a look, meant to go back, but haven't made it yet - however friends tell me it is worth the trip over the river.
Bubbles and Beauty at La Bonne Auberge
Any excuse for a nice lunch is a good excuse, but next month I'm told former Lord Provost of Glasgow Baillie Liz Cameron has found an excellent one.
On May 15 she'll be joined by "the kind hearted ladies of Glasgow" - which could mean you, reader, if you're a lady and also kind hearted - to help a great cause, and also have a bit of a laugh,
The inaugural Bubbles and Beauty Lunch is being held at La Bonne Auberge in West Nile Street on this day, with proceeds going to children's charity, Barnardo's Scotland.
Bailie Cameron will entertain the audience, who will also indulge in champagne sampling, beauty pampering, and a two course meal, before heading home "with a fabulous goody bag from Clarins Skin Spa."
Many ladies, I imagine, will conclude on the basis of this information that there are many worse ways of spending a Friday afternoon - and it sounds as if this event could be a regular little diamond on the city's dining social calendar.
I'm told tickets for the occasion, which starts at 1pm, are strictly limited, and cost £50. Anyone wishing to attend should email emma mcdade or call 0141 222 4702
Going West
The genuine West End lady who runs the West Brewing brewery and restaurant on Glasgow Green tells me she's delighted her products have taken root in a growing number of quality outlets in the area - for example Lansdowne, Republic, Firebird and The Three Judges.
The brewery recently one no less than three gold medals at a major event in Petra's native Germany, a unique honour which has never been achieved by a brewery outside Germany until now, which sort of proves the point that West's beer is the real deal, and with the advantage that to Glaswegians it is available fresh from the local brewery.
There is some interesting news shaping up for Petra's venture, and hopefully in a month or two I'll be able to provide more details.
In the Neighbourhood
A warm welcome to new Argyle Street pub the Neigbourhood Bar, which as a reviewer has already noted "does what it says on the tin". You'll find this one at 1046 Argyle Street, on the same general stretch that includes the Ben Nevis, Lebowski's and The Gazelle, and it sounds like a worthy addition to the area's licensed amenities.
There is plenty of wholesome pub grub on offer, and a drinks selection which includes draught beer choices like Budvar and Erdinger - and Birra Moretti.
Ruthven Lane hiatus
The developing saga at Ruthven Mews and Ruthven Lane is continuing to gather pace, with what may turn out to be a planning battle in this suddenly controversial corner of Hillhead/lower Dowanhill.
Still reeling from the shock of the sudden demise of the upper level of De Courcy's, we now find the Ruthven Property Partnership has been given the council planning nod to demolish old buildings between Ruthven Lane and Dowanside Lane, and put in its place some sort of mixed use feature which sounds as if it's intended to become the focus of some sort of dining and shopping tourist attraction - in which Stravaigin 2 and The Bothy would be just two of the attractions in the way in from Byres Road.
Neither these nor Di Maggio's, on Dowanside Lane, will be affected by the demolition, but traders who have operated in the area for years are reportedly (The Herald) worried they'll be driven out by fancy new rents.
If that does happen then there's the fear that something of real character will have fallen victim to a plan centred more on maximising profit than contributing to the fabric of the area - but information, thus far, is scarce.
According to The Herald the lanes will be replaced by a covered shopping mall, and a new 220-seater restaurant close to Stravaigin 2 and The Bothy.
Council official Steve Inch and the local councillor both appear convinced the scheme is the best chance this area has of improvement - I can vouch for the fact some of the existing buildings are tumble-down - but some may be wondering whether the ambience of the area will be improved by a whopping new restaurant. We'll obviously just have to wait and see how things pan out.
March, 2009
Carnage on Byres Road
The bars and restaurants scene in the West End is beyond doubt going through one of its toughest-ever patches: in the dog-days of February it sometimes looked as if nobody was ever going to go out again - anywhere.
That would be the impression if you took in both the closed restaurants and those still open but offering utter bargains in the hope of luring people in.
On the other hand some places, notably Ashoka Ashton Lane, seem as busy as ever, while pubs which are deserted early week are regularly rammed at weekends
But the overall picture is depressing. You only have to look at what's happened in the disaster area which is the bottom of Byres Road - Cabbages and Kings long since shut, North of Bondi gone west, Cafe Francaises - very eventually, it seems - about to be replaced by Tony Macaroni, Italian pizzeria. Number 16, and this really is a shame, has gone too. The Byre is also currently shut.
Apart from The Three Judges, which is mobbed at weekends and lively-ish from about Wednesday, the circus has pretty much left town when it comes to this end of Byres Road - although at least North of Bondi has been replaced by Ad Lib (of which more in a minute) - and things aren't much better as you proceed farther on towards Hillhead and Ashton Lane.
Atrio (former Bonham's) is closed, but only because of a damaging flood last year. A new tenant and a new business plan promise to bring the place back to life at some point in the foreseeable future.
Then there's Whistler's Mother, as was. The photograph shown here of this visual atrocity is no longer accurate, because in recent weeks large steel plates have been inserted to cover the windows, and the place was even treated to a bit of a paint job a while back.
But somehow this just emphasises the utter dereliction of the once thriving site - now closed for around two years. It's as if owner Punch Taverns realises this one is in no danger of becoming a business again, in a hurry, and has decided to at least make it visually bearable and at the same time burglar-proof.
I would like to write a glowing account of nearby Ashton Lane, but that wouldn't be honest. Coming out of the cinema at 8.30pm on Sunday night it was surprising to find the bars apparently in full swing and an awful lot of young people, particularly women, staggering about in the rain. Not edifying.
Brel is sporting a large white banner which bears the legend "Stuff your face for 3.95", while Cul-de-Sac is offering a two for one deal (check for details) on pizzas and pastas. You could take the view that this is fair enough during a quiet time of year in what's shaping up to be a full-blown recession, and I'm all for a bargain, but it does send out clear signals that we're going through unusually difficult times.
The Laughing Buddha
So it's hugely encouraging to see some newer ventures winning good reviews and, more importantly, custom. Up on Woodlands Road, at the junction with Lynedoch Street, shut venture Oscar's - which appeared set to become Cyrus, a West End evocation of a south side Asian enterprise, has suddenly reopened as Laughing Buddha instead.
It's a restaurant and bar with a major thing about oriental food, along with some curious "fusion" touches - for example dishes involving Stornoway black pudding.
This neck of the woods has tended to be heavily dominated by mainstream Asian restaurants (with the honourable exception of the venerable Four Season restaurant just off Charing Cross) so the arrival of a Far Eastern theme in this general area has to be a good thing - and the early running seems fairly promising.
Persian Promise
Another two places waiting to be checked out are Paradise at Kelvinbridge (a Persian restaurant, not a new Alasdair Gray literary opus) and Pars, another new Persian restaurant, in Gibson Street. Unfortunately that's the end of the good news in this stretch too. The once-was Bar Bola round the corner is still wrapped in wooden cladding, possibly set to emerge as something new, come spring; but in Gibson Street Louis' Bistro, sister venue to Number 16, also shut up shop last month.
I haven't been in, recently, but the critically-lauded The Left Bank appears to be ticking over nicely, as does the original Stravaigin - and no doubt plenty of other places are successfully weathering the storm.
Turkish Delight
None more so, it seems, than Alla Turca in Pitt Street, a short stroll out of the West End along Sauchiehall Street and turn right. Owner Burak Soyuzinmez tells me his downstairs "rustic bistro" has struck a chord with local diners - who consider it worth the short trek from more familiar haunts to sample traditional and Modern Turkish dishes in a friendly and informal setting.
This downstairs Aladdin's Cave of culinary riches (I know that's the wrong country reference, but it will do - it's close enough) runs from 5.30pm to 10.30pm, seven days a week, and offers all sorts of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean specialities at the shopper-friendly price of two courses for 7.50 or three for 10.
Alla Turca, meanwhile, is still the only non-European restaurant I can think of which provides regular traditional live music as part of its regular offer .
It's also the only restaurant I know which offers a thirsty journalist a Turkish lager (recommended).
Aziza shut
More bad news, it appears, back at Kelvinbridge. What had seemed the regularly-bust Aziza Cafe-Bazaar has had the shutters up every time I've passed recently - including Saturday - with no sign to indicate whether this may be just a temporary hiccup.There could be all sorts of reasons for this, and as I say it may prove temporary, but it's more than likely another case of a place which was doing reasonably well in fair times finding it impossible to soldier on in bad times - I hope I'm wrong.
Cherubini Licensed to Thrill
On the plus side, a little farther along Great Western Road the splendid cafe Cherubini - which now "exports" its sought-after "house" Italian sausage, has finally acquired its drink licence. This means you can at last enjoy a glass of wine or a beer with your meal: if you're going as a party check for times and details - and booking is essential most nights anyway so it's always worth a phone call.
Civilised Lunch
A vast (or at any rate "big" - it's only Glasgow) market has grown up around the business of supplying sandwiches to office workers who can't be bothered (me) or are too proud to take "pieces" to work. The very idea! A colleague of mine recently remarked that he had had to take pieces to school, and had no intention of continuing the practice into adult life. It's a fair point. These days the sandwiches you encounter at some of the cheekier retailers, eg at Central Station, contain all sorts of faddish ingredients like avocado and radicchio and cost a fortune.
Some places have the sandwich business down to something like a fine art. The days of mousetrap Cheddar on white bread appear to be over, outwith newsagents and other places retailing bulk chilled goods of the sort I'd avoid unless there had been a nuclear war and I was scavenging in the ruins for sustenance.
Arcaffe in North Claremont Street is at the other end of the scale, a prime example of the posh sandwich trend, selling almost all of its stock over the course of a typically busy office weekday lunchtime while doing a steady turn in its adjacent (rather smart) cafe. This does good coffee and Italianate snacks, has very nice service, and is well worth a visit outwith "workers' playtime" hours.
There are many, many other options; Subway appears to hold the same fascination it always did for students and school kids - as a brand it has certainly stayed the distance - while Gregg's is another chain which ticks all the right boxes for people who want satisfying food at cheapish prices on an instant-serve basis.
But what do you do if you want an actual lunch, as in real, sit-down food - good food - and have only an hour or so in which to enjoy it?
La Bonne Auberge
A restaurant venture which began in the Park area of the West End but which is now firmly esconced in west city centre reckons it has the answer.
La Bonne Auberge at 161 West Nile Street (older readers may remember the original up Park Terrace way), billed as Glasgow's original French Mediterranean brasserie, reckons it has come up with the ideal solution to assist harassed office workers - I used to be one - "big on appetite but short on time".
The concept is called "Lunch on a Plate" - which would seem sensible, however what they really mean is that your entire lunch is on the same plate; all four courses.
As a typical example, you might expect melon and parma ham and tempura king prawn with chilli sauce; followed by espresso of soup. Next a chicken satay and a miniatute Croquet Monsieur ... accompanied by black olives, sun blush tomato, roquette and parmesan salad. Since there's an obvious Gallic tinge to proceedings, given the restaurant's heritage, dessert is "a yummy chocolate profiterole."
The damage is a trifling 9.95, and the deal is on offer from Monday to Saturday from noon until 2.30pm.
Ad Lib
La Bonne Auberge is an unqualified star of Glasgow casual dining - and I only wish it were still at its former billet above the Park - but as city institutions go Ad Lib is also proving it can stay the distance. Can it work at the bottom of Byres Road?
North of Bondi was an interesting idea, seeking to cut a dash between mainstream Indian and Chinese restaurants with a south-east Asian-cum-Australian brand of cuisine - but it didn't work.
Now the site has been relaunched as the latest in the Ad Lib stable, and the main theme is .... burgers.
They're not just any old burgers, however, and it's possibly significant that the front of house operation is being taken care of by Angus Stewart, manager and co-owner of the Ad Lib venture since 1998.
Besides the "legendary home made gourmet burgers" you can sample home-cooked Creole dishes, along with an ambience and style of service which aims to replicate the vibe in the city centre and Merchant City branches.
The burgers, incidentally, range from a classic Aberdeen Angus burger to a Moroccan-style lamb burger with paprika mayo, tomato and coriander salsa.
For vegetarians there's an Indian spiced chickpea and potato burger with mango raita - and these are all 8.95.
However, and this is a big inducement, to get the place off to a flying start you can knock 4 off these prices for the moment if you're dining (seven days) between noon and 5pm.
There's also a pre-theatre menu available from Monday to Thursday from 4pm to 7pm, priced 10.95 for two courses and 12.95 for three.
Here's a typical example of what you get in the three course option - starter, roast pumpkin and avocado salad with a chilli and lime dressing; then "Ad Lib's trademark soul food" - Southern fried chicken, hash potatoes, sweet chipotle sauce and colesleaw. To finish, there's "a slab of Chicago style cheese cake served with strawberry coulis."
The main menu features Ad Lib standard such as smoked haddock and clam chowder with crusty bread, 4.95, and Tecan beef chilli or vegetarian bean nachos, with a fresh salsa, jalapenos, sour cream and melted cheese at 5.95.
All portions are, we're told, "hearty".
You can have an American-style "Sunday brunch" too, from noon till 5pm ... buttermilk pancakes with bacon and maple syrup at 5.50, Ribeye steak and eggs at 9.95; or eggs bagel Benedict at 6.50, to list just a few of the options.
Then you can nip over the road to The Three Judges and have a pint ... who's to know?
Notte Napoletana
Paperino's in Sauchiehall Street recently staged its first regional cuisine-themed Neapolitan night, and is planning another for April 19 - and it could be worth a try: the February event was apparently sold out within days of being announced.
Apart from anything else you'll improve your command of Italian by the time you've read your way through the menu. I'm guessing that "Gnocchi alla Sorrentina" (below) actually translates as Dumplings, Sorrento-style .. Among the dishes on the 29.50 menu are starters of: Polpettine di Melanzane (vegetarian mixed balls, served with tomato dip); Polipo All'Insalata (cold marinated octopus salad) and Panzarotti Fritti (potato with smoked mozzarella and salami).
The mains courses comprise: Branzino all'Acqua Pazza (oven baked filleted sea bream); Gnocchi alla Sorrentina (potato dumplings oven baked in a tomato sauce, with mozzarella) and Sciallatielli alla Boscailola (Neapolitan homemade pasta in a white sauce, with sausage, peas, and mozzarella).
The desserts on offer are Deliziosa all'Limoncello (light pastry with cream and lemon) and Pastiera di Grano (Traditional Neapolitan pastry) as well as Caffe Nocciolato (hazelnut coffee) and Crema di Limoncello liquor.
Fags for the Memory
Meanwhile back in pub-land another seismic change is about to change the traditional order of things forever.
Following on from the smoking ban - history's most boring infringement of human rights - we're now to receive the fag machines ban.
This is to safeguard the nation's youth, who would be otherwise tempted to rush into pubs when nobody's looking, pour large numbers of coins into the slot, and rush back out again with a pack of fags charged at well over the usual retail price.
Nobody seems to have considered that this isn't really an attractive option for an under-aged smoker.
Bonkers! For once, however, I'm not complaining. In most of the pubs I visit during a typical year people venturing to use cigarette machines are typically advised that there's a perfectly good shop, nearby, selling fags at normal (daylight robbery) prices.
Since you have to go outside to smoke anyway why on earth would anyone pay the Dick Turpin price for the vicious weed for the specious pleasure of not having to leave the pub? You have to leave it and stand in the rain to smoke anyway. Fag machines are the Betamax of tobacco retail, and didn't have any place in the 20th century, let alone now.
However I confess I used one fairly recently. It was over Christmas, I was in a cheerless west coast town where everything shuts at about 4.30pm, and the only source of tobacco was a fag machine in a scruffy local boozer. For the price it was charging I should have been dispensed a large Havana, and not the rather sordid mass brand which was actually on offer - at, I think, about 6 - but addiction won out and I stumped up the coins. That was a one-off, however, and I won't be sorry to see the back of these machines - another of whose tricks is to take your money then break down, leaving you fagless, but with the advice that you should phone an interminable number in Luton (or somewhere similar) to register your loss. Of marbles, possibly.
Minimum Prices
There are yet more profound changes on the way, too. The Scottish Government has finally unveiled a series of measures it aims to enforce to tackle the country's appalling rate of drink abuse, and it appears the cheapest-of-cheap drink offers in supermarkets may soon be a thing of the past.
I don't necessarily agree that simply making alcohol expensive will deter problem drinking, but it could be the perception that it isn't, or shouldn't be, "cheaper than water" any more may eventually make a difference - I don't know.
Recently I tried out the controversial 99p per pint offer at a J D Wetherspoon. It was for 3.8% abv Deuchar's IPA, and as it was in good condition that was certainly a bargain. I had it with a "cottage pie" which the harassed waitress mistakenly took to be lasagne ... a sort of Italian cottage pie, I suppose. I was hungry that day so would have eaten it quite cheerfully even if it had been a lasagne. For a 4 dining experience, however, food and drink, it was certainly not too bad - utilitarian cafeteria food at a shopper-friendly price - except that the pub itself was heaving busy, and the general ambience was "Central Station at rush hour". Somebody did ask me if everything was ok ... but I think it was another customer.
You can get the same "busy commercial" lunch experience in the famous Horse Shoe bar - I don't know the price of the lunch at the moment, but it's certainly very cheap - and enjoy a real living slice of city pub culture too.
One interesting point about JD's, though, was that nobody apart from me appeared to be drinking this not-strong but definitely pukka Edinburgh cask ale at just under a quid - most seemed to be drinking standard lager. This seems to bear out the argument that people aren't always driven simply to the cheapest option (even for a superior beer) but will pay a normal price for the drink of their choice. Although why you would drink lager when you could be drinking Deuchar's is a mystery - but each to his own.
Bad Bargain
Meanwhile at a West End restaurant I won't name, a group of pals recently took advantage of a very cheap lunchtime offer (for the quality involved) and enjoyed an excellent meal - at a price far, far below what you would normally have expected to pay for such cuisine.
So far, so good. But when assured there was "house wine" - and having ordered first one and then another bottle, the trio were aghast at their final bill. Those bottles of rather ordinary wine were at least 50 per cent dearer than typical house wine prices, and what had started as a bargain had turned into a more expensive occasion.
Several things were wrong here. First of all they should have been told what the house wines actually were, along with prices - or better yet, they should have been shown a list (with prices). This didn't happen. They should also have been advised whether "house wine" was available by the glass (apparently not), and again given a price.
It was certainly naive of them to assume that the house wine prices would be close in spirit to the special lunch offer rate, but the final bill shouldn't have been a nasty surprise.
They felt ripped off.
First Class Carry Out
Everything in Hyndland Street seems to be good, these days, and the curry we ordered from Mr India's a few days ago is a case in point. As ever it was a well above average offer, and everything we hoped it would be.
Because it was a filthy night I had phoned for a delivery. About ten minutes later the restaurant manager phoned, very apologetically, to say it would be about ten minutes later than he'd said because of the traffic - the first time I've ever known this happen - and sure enough it arrived shortly after. Thanks, folks, I enjoyed it a lot - as ever.
January, 2009
Out with the old - in with the new
Christmas is already a rapidly-fading memory, and the streets and lanes are strewn with abandoned trees. As I write this, most West Enders are grudgingly preparing to shuffle back to work, amid virtually unanimous predictions of financial apocalypse and the end of civilisation as we know it. Large Alka Seltzers all round.
Certainly it is beyond dispute that job losses occasioned by the unfortunate and regrettable total failure of global capitalism are going to mushroom. Businesses will fold, and there is no apparent light at the end of the tunnel.
So it was mildly surprising, on Sunday, to see so many eating and drinking places appearing to do so well - maybe there's a sort of Last Days of Pompeii spirit in the air.
The Three Judges (of which more in a moment) was packed - I wasn't in myself, for once, just passing by - and establishments as varied as Cail Bruich and (new and
evidently popular) La Vita Spuntini were ticking over very nicely for a dank, dark rainy evening.
One of the first people I met after New Year was the ever-amiable Monir Mohammed, the maestro behind the thriving Mother India empire (which includes not only the satellite MI ventures but also the three Wee Curry Shops.)
He was pleased with his venues' trading performance over the break, but is understandably keen to see how things shape up in January.
My airy prediction for this month and those ahead is that good places - of which Mother India is unquestionably one of the best - will continue to score with diners of all ages and interests.
People have been scaling back their spending for at least six months, now, but don't want to abandon the idea of going out altogether.
From a customer's point of view, deals such as pre-theatre menus will frequently offer incredible value: these are a restaurant's prime means of giving diners a sample of what its "full monty" offer might be like, and many - for example Lamora - are out to impress.
While some ventures failed during 2008, for example Cafe Francais, the last couple of months have seen a scarcely credible wave of completely new ones - and no apparent let-up in the determination to offer value and variety in equal measure.
New restaurants in the West End
In no particular order, here are some of the latest arrivals of the scene, and apologies if I have inadvertently missed one or two:-
Tony Macaroni: A new, guess what, Italian venture to open shortly on the site of the afore-mentioned Cafe Francais at the bottom of Byres Road. This is an off-shoot of a well-established and apparently successful East Kilbride restaurant of the same name, and a quick look at its menu indicates it has a seriously comprehensive offer based on established favourites, but garnished with numerous "specials". I believe children are well catered for too.
Prego: Yes, that's right, another new Italian pizzeria, on the site of what had been an Irish theme bar (in at least one of its incarnations): it has a cafe-bar sort of ambience, a concise but reliably popular menu, and huge picture windows allowing you to see the entire interior from the street. Literally just open, it was quiet when I passed by but is in a location well-placed to get some dining action from people visiting Kelvingrove, just across the road.
Karachi Cafe: New Indian venture on the site of several failed ventures at the top of Bank Street. It isn't trading just yet, and I don't have the full story on what's intended - but if the people I think are about to move in actually do so I think this one could be a hit. Well, we'll see.
Paradise: Ambitious name for a restaurant, perhaps, but I'd agree that any dining experience which whisks you away from the ghastly grimness of a Scottish January for an hour or two probably deserves the title.
It's a Persian restaurant, which has been perpetually busy since it opened a few weeks back, and has a menu based heavily around elaborate traditional kebab-based dishes, with one or two ambitious specials, for example a main based on rainbow trout.
This one is high on my list of must-visit places, because I love the culinary style from this general region - and I've been a frequent flyer to Iranian deli ventures Sherezade, Bank Street; and The Blue Nile, Gt Western Rd, for years.
You'll find this restaurant at Kelvinbridge just round the corner from the top of Park Road - it's the one with a permanent water effect cascading down the windows, and a decor scheme recalling a Pasha's drawing room.
La Vita Spuntini: Back on Byres Road, and back in Italy, this venture offers a "medieval Tuscan" culinary style, while also tapping into the vogue for "sharing", small platters, and so forth - tapas, the Spanish call it.
My enthusiasm for books about the Medici and their chums brings fleetingly to mind the idea that "medieval Tuscan" dining might involve poison rings, Borgias, and sudden death - but this definitely isn't what the management has in mind for its customers.
The interior is something to behold, with enough dark wood deployed to refurbish the lower gun deck of a Napoleonic frigate, while - again - gigantic picture windows allow passers-by to see what's going on and reflect to themselves: "That looks as if it might be nice."
Firm favourites and revamps
Immediately next door long-established take-away Little Italy never seems to go like anything less than a fair, and has the advantage of, yes, a gigantic picture window through which casual diners-in (there's about six or eight spaces on stools, and a counter) can enjoy trying to look a bit "cool" and Italian while surveying the scurrying street life outside.
I think both of these ventures can thrive, as they're offering markedly different propositions from one another, and what with Tony Macaroni, and Paperino's, the cliche "spoiled for choice" definitely applies in Byres Rd - even before you consider bar-restaurant ventures, including Otto, which have a heavily Italo-Mediterranean-influenced menu.
Last time I passed Little Italy a chimerical West End lady I call The Queen of Fuschia was sitting in the window, observing Byres Road, with a Mona Lisa smile playing on her lips. It's nice to see somebody elegant still making an effort in a bleak month - and I wish her many more successful years touring the dining haunts of Hillhead's reassuringly bohemian main drag.
Bar Bola: Not a new venue at all, just yet, but an old one now being comprehensively revamped for some completely new bar-diner reincarnation. This once successful "style bar", as marketing people used to call pubs a few years back, had lately failed to win much regular custom - every concept has its sell-by date - and finally shut up shop some time around summer last year.
It's on Park Road just around the corner from Gibson Street, on the site of what had been the old Blythswood Cottage - a generation ago, now - and in some new guise could theoretically do well from students and local people generally.
Again I don't exactly what is planned, and we'll just have to wait until all that hoarding comes down to find what's afoot inside.
To this round-up we can add a new or new-ish Indian takeaway in the main stretch of shops on Gt Western Road (that is, further of Cecil Street), and a revamped takeaway which now, I can confirm, offers a pleasant sit-in cafe environment with competent food and super-helpful staff.
We can also add Atrio, Byres Road, currently closed but presumably awaiting some sort of revamp, and the newly reopened Amber Chinese restaurant a little farther down Byres Road.
I had speculated that interior design guru Michael Dunn of Dunn Interiors might give the venerable chop house a "House of the Flying Daggers" look, with plenty of "baroque" oriental dragons in the decor, but he has instead gone for a design scheme which says "inviting, smart-but-casual", in an opulent sort of way.
How the newcomers fared in 2008
These, then, are the highlights of the West End restaurant news - but we shouldn't forget some of the slightly earlier established newbies either. Cail Bruich, beside ever-busy Oran Mor, has been doing good business every time I have passed i
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Lesley | Sat Jun 27 2009
Iona Hooton | Wed Mar 18 2009
Brian Macley | Thu Mar 05 2009
Nick | Wed Feb 25 2009
MANUEL | Sun Jan 18 2009
sami | Sun Jan 04 2009
enjoy cafe | Wed Aug 06 2008
Maggie | Wed Oct 17 2007
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westender | Mon Jun 26 2006
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Lesley | Sat Jun 27 2009