FAR EAST
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GLASGOW
interest are the signature dishes. Many dishes have a chilli undercurrent and a deft hand with spicing enhances rather than overpowers. Malaysian-style chicken wings have crisp skins dusted with aromatic salt, while hard-boiled eggs are deep-fried and topped with a punchy anchovy and chilli sambal sauce. King prawns, peppers and stink beans (a delicious crunchy legume) are fried with a complex, spicy belachan sauce and served with boiled or coconut rice. Owner Vivianne hails from Hong Kong, where desserts are a national obsession, and she’s brought many of her favourites to Glasgow – good picks are cooling red or green mung bean sweet soup, squidgy peanut-filled dumplings bathed in hot coconut milk or mango pomelo sago. + Exciting Asian desserts - Noisy air conditioning
NEW Temaki FUSION 113 Hope Street, City Centre, 0141 248 1869, temakiglasgow.co.uk | £14 (lunch) / £14 (dinner)
There’s a distinct canteen vibe in Temaki’s long narrow dining space – benches line the walls, there’s just one table in the window and food is served in cardboard trays, with disposable bamboo chopsticks the only cutlery available. Paper placemats double as tickbox menus, covering a range of sushi, bento, a few noodle and rice dishes, and k-cupbop (Korean street-style cup noodles in a variety of flavours with vegetable additions). Well-known dishes such as maki and nigiri are turned out with ease by chefs working busily in the open kitchen, while the eponymous temaki is a generous hand-rolled sushi cone spilling with rice, vegetables, and the filling of your choice, such as tempura sweet potato, BBQ eel or salmon and avocado. Temaki’s star item is the sushi burrito, a giant sushi roll, filled with their signature pink rice and loaded with avocado, shredded lettuce and a protein filling such as salmon, tuna or teriyaki chicken. There’s a brisk trade in takeaway and while the ambience is pleasant, the hard chairs may not encourage diners to linger too long. + Super sushi - Side-by-side seating
Thairiffic THAI 303 Sauchiehall Street, City Centre, 0141 332 3000, thairifficrestaurant.com | £9.90 (set lunch) / £18 (dinner)
Thairiffic has a large first-floor premises on Sauchiehall Street yet the high-ceilinged corner restaurant is impressively serene and gives diners a great vantage point on the silent hubbub of activity below. Service is accordingly slick and subtle. The menu features a greatest hits of Thai favourites, most available with your choice of meat or vegetables. Staff are diligent and well informed about the dishes on offer. They are enthusiastic about some of the more creative dishes on the menu, keen for diners to take a chance on something they might not have tried before. Wellappointed for nearby theatres and music venues, Thairiffic makes the most of the fact with impressive lunch and early dinner deals designed to pull in some of that footfall. Their two course lunch and pre-theatre menus represent good value for money (prices start from £9.90 and £13.95 respectively for two courses). Dishes on offer reflect the highlights of the à la carte – the massamun curry and popular chicken basil stir-fry (a fragrant Thai street-food dish) are among the selection. + Great pre-theatre deals - Drinks selection could be improved
FISH Fish fans are spoiled for choice in Glasgow. The city is, of course, blessed to be within a van’s drive of Scotland’s coastal fish markets, but there is much more in play than simple geography. It takes great skill and confidence to run a seafood restaurant; apart from the practicalities of keeping supplies fresh, the ideas have to be fresh too, and the delicate task of balancing flavours with the subtleties of seafood is a crucial consideration. As a result, the fish section is very strong. The good news is that the section is also reasonably small – so anyone with a modicum of commitment can sample them all before next year’s update. Reviewer: Andrea Pearson, Tiff Griffin
✱ NEW A’Challtainn 54 Calton Entry, East End, 0141 237 9220, achalltainn.com | Closed Mon/ Tue | £18 (lunch) / £25 (dinner)
Taking its name from the Gaelic for hazel wood (and Calton district), A’Challtainn is more than a cool bar and restaurant. A former covered market in the Barras is now reborn as Barras Art and Design and planned as the hub of an enterprising neighbourhood – the surrounding units house artisan producers and potential collaborators. Events in the adaptable indoor-outdoor space range from guest chef Long Tables to after-gig Q and As and vintage fairs. It is a bold vision, but the energy and experience of Ricky Scoular and David Traynor (from Sub Club), together with the creativity and enthusiasm of head chef Garry Gill,
TIPLIST FOR A GOOD LUNCH DEAL • Black Dove 119 Lively bistro in the heart of Shawlands serving impressive food of exceptional quality, joined by an extensive wine list.
137 • The Fish People Café A classy neighbourhood fish specialist next to Shields Road subway – with sourcing from the associated fishmongers opposite. 158 • Hotel du Vin Bistro A grand townhouse hotel with bags of style and top-end dining – a real special-occasion venue. 148 • La Lanterna Long-established Italian restaurant in the city centre with skilfully prepared food that is traditional and inventive. 161 • The Spanish Butcher Rusk & Rusk’s latest venture, set within New York loft-style interiors, with fine cuts of Galician beef and seafood. • Two Fat Ladies 138 at the Buttery A sophisticated Scottish and fish favourite from the Two Fats group, with a lavish Highland country hotel feel.
Gandolfi Fish: high-quality seafood and great wines from the Gandolfi group
should make this a reality. Food is modern and beautifully presented as a proper meal – not as stingy small plates. Expect dishes showcasing seasonal ingredients and skills – charred asparagus, sea trout in a white wine cream, or sweet beetroot gravlax – garnished delicately with truffle oil, micro coriander or pansies. Low season online-only offers also make this a truly affordable gastronomic experience. Hazel trees can live for 80 years – here’s hoping. + An international city-break feel – in a good way - Low light levels after dark lessens the full effect of pretty presentation
almost unchanged since it opened in 2009 to great excitement in the then comparatively uncharted Finnieston but the extra-long specials board always has intriguing and tantalizing options. Crab cakes are great (are they smaller now or is it a Curly Wurly-type thing?) and the seared scallops in anchovies will persuade you to ignore current medical guidance on daily butter intake. Now open seven days a week, it’s an ideal place to swoop in for a quick seafood fix – but then perhaps slope off to a neighbouring establishment for more comfortable afters. + Butter, seafood, more butter - Restaurant prices, kiosk comfort
Arisaig
✱ The Finnieston
1 Merchant Square, Merchant City See Scottish
1125 Argyle Street, West End, 0141 222 2884, thefinniestonbar.com | £15 (lunch) / £25 (dinner)
City Merchant
The Finnieston may look like a casual harbourside-style pub but it is really a pretty sophisticated eatery. A commitment to Scottish produce is evident throughout the menu – most notably in signature Scottish fish and seafood from named suppliers. It also screams seasonality: in winter, roots, brassicas and nuts feature – sometimes taking centre stage (a vegetarian could dine like royalty). The results are delightful and surprising in equal measure. A very lightly pickled red cabbage sits beautifully with a charred mackerel that evokes a shoreline barbecue, while roast cauliflower and a celeriac purée lift tender scallops to even greater heights. Cauliflower, puréed this time, adds a duvet of comfort to roast sea bass. Slightly
97–99 Candleriggs, Merchant City See Scottish
Crabshakk 1114 Argyle Street, West End, 0141 334 6127, crabshakk.com | £28 (lunch) / £32 (dinner)
If Crabshakk were chocolate it might eat itself. Granted it serves what could be the best langoustines in town – large, sweet, juicy, piping hot and stunning – but why make people teeter on stools at the bar, or balance these fruits of the sea on little wobbly wooden benches? The crowds don’t seem to mind though so it is worth booking early to avoid these stingier perches – other tables are available. The small menu has remained
136 The List Eating & Drinking Guide
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11/04/2017 15:54