ITALIAN
In association with
GLASGOW
ethos, including Jamie’s desire to make more of fantastic local produce – so a special of Scottish langoustine risotto is enthusiastically promoted by well-versed servers. Jamie’s ambitiously evolving food philosophy encompassing healthy eating, procuring fine British and Italian produce and advocating sustainable business practices are tangible among the staff, menu and on the brand’s website. The crab and avocado bruschetta is nearfaultless, although a minor seasoning adjustment of adding more than just a hint of the lemony gremolata to the already delicious dish would provide the va-va-voom to boost the dish from great to bellissimo. Enticing, enjoyable food that comes in fairly conservative portions at reasonable prices mean four courses is comfortably doable. + Well judged menu, upbeat atmopshere - Music can be too loud
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La Lanterna
35 Hope Street, City Centre (Map 6: D5, 90) 0141 221 9160, lalanterna-glasgow. co.uk | Closed Sun | £12.95 (set lunch) / £25 (dinner)
A meal at La Lanterna feels like a dining event, with an impressive menu that is both familiar and surprising, along with regular specials of chef Luca Conreno’s invention – dishes that are wonderfully balanced and prepared with great skill. Order the piatta nordico – marinated tuna and swordfish – and be presented with thinly sliced, slightly pink cured fish, light and delicious, with deep-fried courgette flowers. Or start with pasta, where the ravioli really stands out, light and delicate with a rich, smoky stuffing of aubergine and scamorza cheese, or duck and apple, the deep meatiness of the duck cut through with the sweetness of the fruit – clear your plate with disappointment that the little pasta parcels are gone. Saltimbocca alla romana, rose veal cutlets topped with pancetta, mozzarella with a deep, creamy sage and white wine sauce, is sublime – and a nod to Glasgow here with a side of crunchy, twice-fried potatoes. Desserts are luxurious, with the tiramisù – made to owner Christopher Martinolli’s mother’s 40-year-old recipe – surely one of the best in the city.
TIPLIST FOR COFFEE • All That is Coffee A bright, spacious café attached to the WASP artists’ studios serving up coffee of the highest quality. 114 • Artisan Roast The cool serenity of Artisan Roast makes it an ideal spot to hide away with a cup of coffee. 135 • Avenue Coffee With in-house roasted brews at two West End sites, Avenue Coffee are serious about the black stuff. 135 • Coffee, Chocolate & Tea Small Finnieston café with 40 teas and over five in-house roasted coffees on offer. 142
+ Fantastic food, authentic and inventive - No disabled access
Michaelangelo’s 9 Helena Place, Busby Road, Southside (Map 8: A5, off) 0141 638 7772, michaelangelosglasgow.co.uk | £9.95 (set lunch) / £20 (dinner)
Tucked behind an unassuming frontage, Michaelangelo’s opens into a chic dining space and a warm haven of Italian cuisine. The kitchen team headed by Federico Volpi approach their work with gusto, working with good local ingredients, baking bread and making pasta from scratch daily – and it shows in the quality of the food. Familiar starters such as melanzane alla parmigiana are presented with a flourish, creamy aubergine topped with oozing cheese, but the Scottish mussels, fresh and fat, in garlic and white wine cream sauce and a chunk of fresh baked bread for dunking, really stand out. Mains are equally impressive. Pollo in pardella, with chicken so tender the knife goes through it like butter, in a white wine and rosemary sauce, beautifully presented with a shower of green and purple shoots, is complemented by a heap of fresh spaghetti rich with garlic and pepperoncino. Tagliatelle Roma Mia, the signature dish that is a nod to Michaelangelo’s well-loved antecedent Roma Mia, has thin ribbons of pasta with a rich ragù and three different Italian sausages, chilli and fennel, so each mouthful is deliciously different. + Delicious fresh seafood - Cheesecake a bit ho-hum
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NEW Mora Bar & Kitchen
1166–1170 Argyle Street, West End (Map 9B: D2, 17) 0141 560 2070, morabarandkitchen.com | £17.50 (lunch) / £17.50 (dinner)
Having recently undergone a rebranding, Mora Bar and Kitchen, formerly Lamora, is an understatedly classy bar-restaurant in the heart of Glasgow’s Finnieston area. It’s a reassuringly small menu for an Italian diner, where a selection of starters or smaller versions of mains can be ordered to share tapas-style over drinks. For something more substantial, their grill section offers some serious protein, with rib-eye steak or chilli and garlic grilled king prawns. Around half a dozen pizzas come on a handmade base with a variety of enticing toppings. Steamed mussels are served with a tomato, garlic and chilli sauce, which fairly packs a punch with bold flavours and a spicy kick. Lobster ravioli is more subtle, but equally delicious, with the addition of basil giving a savoury bite to a tomato and cream reduction. Mora’s innovative use of flavours reaches into their cocktail menu of Italian classics as well as ‘Mora favourites’, with more unusual ingredients, such as rosemary-infused gin. If you’re more of a traditionalist drinker, a comprehensive list of Italian wines and a good beer selection is also on offer. + Small but versatile menu - Slightly dubious background music
the meal. The open kitchen gives a good view of the chefs at work and the red-brick mouth of Glasgow’s first-ever wood-fired pizza oven. The menu has been honed over the half century of the restaurant’s life, crostini O Sole Mio – ciabatta with figs and parma ham, with sharp, fresh mint leaves and sweetened with a drizzle of honey – is wonderfully simple and quite delicious. Black squid ink spaghetti with clams is light and fresh as the sea, delicately flavoured with garlic and olive oil, while the stew of Tuscan sausage and green lentils, piping hot and brimming with diced veg, is a homely bowl of comfort food. Of course, with such a venerable pizza oven the hand-stretched pizza has to be tried – the pulcinella is topped with a fine combination of crumbled salsiccia, mushrooms and delicious blobs of creamy, salty gorgonzola. + Delicious hand-stretched pizza - Bit draughty at the window
pizzas all priced between £5 and £8, and a handful of sides, salad and olives. There are also two specials on the board. And that’s it – but far from all, because the pizza is the most authentic Neapolitan pizza to be had in the city. The kitchen, with its crew – hailing from Naples of course – makes two-day-proved dough from regional Caputo 00 flour, while the Strianese tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and olive oil all come from Campania. It’s not just the ingredients though, it’s the way they are put together. The No. 3 comes with a deep, rounded saltiness from its topping of tomato sugo, olives, anchovies, garlic and capers, while the special of iron-rich broccoli flowers and coarse fennel sausage, served without sugo pizza bianco-style, is fresh, earthy and simply delicious, all served on handshaped dough that gives a soft, crisp light crust. + Delicious, quick, artisan pizza - No bookings so first come is first served
NEW Osteria del Tempo Perso
Panevino
17 John Street, Merchant City (Map 7: B1, 7) 0141 552 6009, osteriadeltempoperso.info/glasgow/#1 | £8.50 (set lunch) / £17 (dinner)
1075 Argyle Street, West End (Map 9B: D2, 38) 0141 221 1136, panevino.co.uk | £9 (set lunch) / £18 (dinner)
Having opened in 2015 in Glasgow’s Merchant City, Osteria del Tempo Perso brings relaxed Italian dining to this frequently busy part of town. Translating as ‘The Inn of Lost Time’, the mother and sons team behind this restaurant provide classic Mediterranean cooking in a setting that feels both traditional and modern. A starter to share – their board dell’osteria – comes with a vast array of Italian meats and cheeses plus a selection of bite-size versions of their starters – fantastic value at £14.50 for 2. Pizzas have a lovely thin base and the addition of garlic potatoes as a topping does not in the least feel stodgy. Pastas are mainly Italian classics, with sauces ranging from bolognese to mixed seafood, and most are available gluten-free. Plenty of meat and fish dishes are on offer, too, such as pan-seared sea bass in a saffron sauce and escalopes of veal. From their extensive and interesting list of Italian wines, most are available by the glass, and if you fancy an aperitif to kick off proceedings they’ve a fine selection of Italian-inspired cocktails. + Relaxed and welcoming surroundings - Large portion sizes
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NEW Paesano Pizza
With a central marble bar as its focal point, this busy, modern Italian in Glasgow’s Finnieston is a great little spot for cocktails and snacks, or something a bit more substantial. Having recently moved away from the ‘small plates’ approach to dining, the menu now takes a more traditional starter/main format. Sizzling chilli and garlic king prawns and carpaccio of beef with rocket and parmesan are two particular highlights from the starters. Invoking authentic Italian flavours, their osso bucco, a rich veal shin ragù, is oven-baked for no less than eight hours and served with a classic accompaniment of creamy risotto alla milanese. Zuppa di pesce is more of a stew than a soup with an unctuous tomato sauce. Desserts can be a bit heavy-duty with cheesecake, tiramisu and chocolate lasagne among the offerings, as well as pear cannelloni – sweet ricotta encased in crêpes, with a deeply flavoured pear and caramel sauce. The wine list suits most tastes and budgets, with all available by the glass, alongside a list of expertly blended classic cocktails and flavoured bellinis. + Stylish surroundings - Limited choice of beers
La Parmigiana
94 Miller Street, Merchant City (Map 7: A2, 2) 0141 258 5565, paesanopizza. co.uk | £11 (lunch) / £11 (dinner)
447 Great Western Road, West End (Map 9A: F2, 66) 0141 334 0686, laparmigiana. co.uk | £17 (set lunch) / £32 (dinner)
With long rows of bustling tables leading the eye to a back wall given over to huge pizza ovens, there is a wonderful simplicity to Paesano Pizza. The menu, printed on a single sheet, lists eight
This long-established, time-honoured restaurant next to Kelvinbridge has been providing a sophisticated slant to Glasgow’s Italian dining scene for nearly 40 years. With classic, understated style,
North Star 108 Queen Margaret Drive, West End See Cafés
O Sole Mio
• Laboratorio Espresso Contemporary coffee bar, offering a good choice of espressos and guest filters. 142
34–36 Bath Street, City Centre (Map 6: E3, 46) 0141 331 1397, osolemioglasgow.com | £9.95 (set lunch) / £17 (dinner)
• Papercup Coffee Company Brilliant home-roasted coffee, plus a vibrant, veggie-friendly menu. 139
Slap bang in the city centre, O Sole Mio has the cosy, familiar feel of the neighbourhood restaurant and, though its location can mean it sees a lot of lunchtime and pre-theatre traffic, the quieter evenings lend an intimacy to The List Eating & Drinking Guide 159
EDG16-Glasgow listings PM.indd 159
12/04/2016 12:56