Added on Wednesday 23 Jan 2013

It's perfectly true. There on the menu of the former Dowanhill Bar in Dowanhill Street, in clear and unmistakeable type, are the arresting words "Horse burger" - which could worry diners aware of the recent brouhaha over horse meat found in some supposedly normal beef burgers sold by a well-known multiple retailer. And inevitably the people behind exciting new pub venture The Sparkle Horse, via their Facebook page, have been the very first to point out the unintended joke - while promising prospective diners that no actual horseflesh is included in their burger.

In fact recent comments reported from customers indicate the Horse's (beef) burgers are one of the main attractions in the pub's tight but imaginative selection of dishes - which offers everything from a £4 "fast lunch", in which you choose any two of several options, to vegan specials and even a steak pie cooked with Krusovice, the premium lager from the Czech Republic. In what appears an ambitious wine offer there are also seven wines available by the glass, and by way of more premium beer there's St Mungo from the West Brewery, besides a spirits offer which includes the likes of a Hendrick's perfect-serve G&T.

Together with a sophisticated but un-flashy makeover of the old Dowanhill - formerly a traditional bar known to have been in operation for well over a century - to the casual bypasser it might look as if someone has decided to bring the gastropub experience to Partick, but what appears to be on offer seems much more clever than that.

The name originates from the American indie band Sparklehorse, and a selection of eclectic sounds from the 80's and beyond is likely to figure.

Meanwhile Monday night is quiz night, adding a spot of intellectual colour to an otherwise soulless early weekday night.

At a time when news reports concentrate on the apparent meltdown of retail business at the bottom of Byres Road (of which more in a minute), this dazzling new arrival on the local licensed trade scene is another salutary reminder that Glasgow is teeming with licensed trade entrepreneurs determined to bring new and individualistic ventures to suit specific local audiences - and much more on this particular pub in weeks to come.

Apocalypse Now?

A newspaper report this week centres on the angst surrounding the mushrooming number of closed units and To Let signs on Byres Road - noting that the bottom end of what's described as the West End's main shopping thoroughfare has been very badly hit.

Anyone who's followed this column on a regular basis will know we've been saying the same thing for a couple of years now, while last year a Byres Road action group was launched in a bid to prevent the area becoming yet another "ghost" strip dominated by mass brand supermarkets and charity shops.

The newspaper article spells out the recent carnage in detail - the formerly highly successful venture Three Steps to Heaven closed before Christmas, with no explanation beyond a sign in the window advising that a refurbishment of some sort was being planned, along with the "hope" that it would open at some time in the new year.

It also flags up the unexplained closure of Otto - still grimly shuttered down in steel cladding - and quotes various local people as hoping that "something will be done".

However while the depressing trend of closures cannot be denied, that's not quite the full story.

Recent months have seen the launch of Assagini at the very bottom of Byres Road, effectively rescuing a site which nobody had managed to turn into a success - the smart money says it is in safe hands with its new owner, the Tony Macaroni chain - and on the site of a former launderette across the road we've now got the splendidly-named Euphorium Cafe, only the second ever Greek dining venture on Byres Road (if you except Stakis and the Grosvenor in yesteryear) ... the first was the once legendary Kebab Inn in the far-off 80's, in what's now Bar Soba.

Meanwhile the former Chocolate Emporium, which for years was prized local bakery The Pantry, had been "under offer", was then "unexpectedly back on the market" ... and is now "under offer" again.

Another new-ish business which appears to be flourishing is an Italian wine shop and deli in Chancellor Street, of which more once we've had a chance to study it properly, which has been fairly described to me as "a beautiful shop - a fairyland of Italian wine and food".

For the record, it has the most stunning window display I have ever seen in a wine-and-food shop, hinting at myriad Mediterranean delights inside simply begging to be explored in detail.

Across the road at Partick Cross, Bruadar pub reopened in time for the Christmas season, and has clearly been working hard to win itself an appreciative local custom, and new bar-restaurant Hyde should soon be opening on the site of the nearby former Memories bar.

And in Thornwood the New York Cafe is now offering its own take on the great American diner experience - burgers, inevitably, a house speciality - beside existing ventures Velvet Elvis and The Criterion.

The bottom of Byres Road, incidentally, also plays host to quiet but potent success stories Two Figs and restaurant Number 16, so while there have been plenty of failures there are also some hard-won success stories to enjoy while visiting this neck of the woods ... not least the Wee Curry Shop venture operated by our sponsor, Mother India.

When you consider we're in the tightest month and in the depths of a recession it's little wonder that some ventures are finding it impossible to take the strain (as witness the abrupt closure of one of the boutiques farther up the hill), but there appears no shortage of operators eager to win their share of a sometimes fickle local market.

Iconic attraction

Which brings me back to the Euphorium Cafe run by Greek operator Mr Antonis Xenos and his charming Scottish wife.

They have created a very welcoming bistro within premises which benefit from large picture windows and low-key but attractive decor (such as those reproduction Byzantine icons over the lintel, in pride of place).

Here you can enjoy many of the staple dishes such as Pastistio and Moussaka we all expect to find in a classic Hellenic dining venture - to which we can wistfully hope to add outdoor dining on the sunkissed pavement outside when summer finally arrives.

Mr and Mrs Xenos have clearly been aiming to open in this stretch for a while, but have faced difficulty gaining lets for premises - just possibly because there's some sort of systemic built-in resistance to new cafe ventures being opened in the area.

This particular claim needs wider investigation, but if true it's not acceptable. Lively independent ventures are exactly what Byres Road and Partick need (I think most would agree) - not Tesco Town, building societies and so forth, and particularly not permanently-closed shop and pub units.

Incidentally we're not talking about licensed premises, which always raise hackles (usually ill-advisedly) but straightforward cafe-diner propositions - and there should be no limit to the number of these whatsoever, beyond "what the market will bear".

Enterprising and original ventures whose owners are willing to stake all on success should surely be given elbow room to help win their trade, and shouldn't be presented with swingeing council rates levies and pointless red tape.

However according to a newspaper report the council has "exciting plans" for the area, and is aware of the economic blight said to be festering in the West End's once premier shopping and dining road ... so the turbulent saga of the business maelstrom between University Avenue and Partick Cross clearly has a long way to run.

No Rest for the wicked

I originally thought the Maclay Inns revamp of the old Captain's Rest pub near George's Cross would be all singing and dancing in time to rake in some festive cash, but what's clearly a major revamp - even more ambitious than the transformation of Uisge Beatha to Dram! by the same firm - is a job that cannot be hurried.

As I passed by today the old Rest was still very much a building site, but with enough taking shape within the temporary ruins to give an idea of what lies in store.

Most obviously, and just as with Dram!, what were blank walls are now punctured with large window spaces, allowing customers to have a good gander at the milieu inside before venturing in - and full marks for that.

Meanwhile the bold new pub sign has appeared over the door, bearing the legend "The Captains", with no apostrophe or suggestion that the word "Rest" (which sounds too tranquil for a live-an'-happenin' young-leaning bar-diner) will be added later.

So we're talking "Captains" plural - exactly which captains isn't explained, but I don't think the design scheme will in any case feature nautical paraphernalia such as anchors, nets, and all that jazz (if only because The Finnieston has already covered that base with a very crafty and sophisticated design take of its own on the seafaring theme).

More on The Captains as the general plot is made available - but it could be that yet another genuinely "different" quality pub is about to emerge on an already glittering local scene.

New star on Park Road

My biggest recent surprise was walking around the corner from Gibson Street into Park Road to find - shazam! - that the long-shut site of Bar Bola, hidden by wooden cladding for years, has suddenly burst back into vibrant life as The Richmond, a rather ritzy-looking new wine bar and diner.

Readers with long, long memories may recall this site was once The Blythswood Cottage pub, upstairs and downstairs, a boozy n' bohemian haunt whose interior decor, all plastic "oak beams" and cream paint, had been assembled by the same people who decked out the legendary and immortal Doublet Bar ... back in 1964.

The old Cottage sadly faded away, to be replaced after a mammoth refurbishment by Bar Bola, a "style bar" - one of the earliest - whose attractions included a back window view of the River Kelvin.

That was more than two decades ago, and while Bola soon won a regular customer base among sophisticated young trendies it didn't manage to adapt to meet changing tastes ... and finally shut up shop around four years ago.

Now, despite rumours its licence would be surrendered - making it difficult to gain a new one beneath tenement residential properly - the place is back in business under new operators, and with a vengeance.

There's a full dining offer, of the sort which again suggests - horrible, hackneyed phrase - "gastro pub", incidentally proving that the terms "bar-diner" and "restaurant" are now purely relative.

In fact we're possibly looking more at high end "pub grub", of the sort which tries to produce excellent examples of staples like fish and chips, burgers and hotdogs while also adding imaginative vegetarian and more obviously "exotic" choices ... and there's a children's menu too.

The Richmond also has one very ambitious wine offer, in a range which soars all the way up the price spectrum to #80 or so for one of the dearer bottles.

However a glance at what appears a very carefully thought-out cocktails menu shows you do not have to pay eyewatering prices to enjoy some of the premium drinks, and since the venue is still very new it will be interesting to see how things develop further in months to come.

Most obviously The Richmond (with a striking interior centred on exposes stonework and a magnificent centrepiece bar and gantry) already offers a counterpoint to nearby Stravaigin and The Left Bank as an evening-out choice, adding an extra dash of upper-end flair to an already vibrant local scene in and around Gibson Street.

Take all of the above threads together and it's obvious there's simply no let-up in the hectic pace of new or improved dining and drinking ventures in the West End, with several operators showing they can deliver something highly attractive to local customers at prices you couldn't hope to find for the same quality in many other areas - notably Ediburgh.

Nobody in the trade I have spoken to recently is pretending things have been anything other than "very challenging", but it is heartening to see people prepared to invest in ventures that promise to add new lustre to our existing collection of first class bars and restaurants.

Whether it's Finnieston, the Park area, Partick, Dowanhill, Hillhead, Kelvinbridge, Woodlands or Hyndland (which boasts, for example, The Hyndland Cafe, Jelly Hill and Cottiers) - or Anniesland, soon to be home to a novel new Spanish restaurant - the West is still reassuringly wild about its brilliant and continually-evolving dining scene.

And as if we needed reminding, we've also got the best Indian restaurants in the country, and the fascinating and entertaining story of how the West End circuit got to be just so good is now being told in fine style in the memorabilia, articles and photographs on show in The Glasgow Curry Shop (run by our sponsor Mother India), in Ashton Lane.

We'll have much more on this elaborate homage to yesteryear - but also its thoroughly enticing cuisine - in due course.