Style: Cosy, modern cafe Food: Soups, sandwiches, cakes Price: £4.90 for soup and a sandwich Wheelchair access: Yes An old saying, attributed variously to Scandinavian sages or Billy Connolly (among others), goes that there's no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes. But if you can dress properly for the wind and rain of our somewhat prolonged winters, what can you do about the seriously abbreviated daylight?
Not much - and only around this time of year do many people (me included) in these northern latitudes begin to feel a bit perkier. But artist and now cafe entrepreneur Elaine Dearie has part of the solution to the seasonally affected blues. Her Strathbungo bolthole, named after the Gaelic word for sunny, has lightboxes on the tables to help the hibernators among us to brighten up.
The disposition of Grianach is, generally speaking, pretty luminous, with whitewashed walls and an Alexander "Greek" Thomson-designed starburst rosette at the centre of the handsome Levant-esque curlicues of the cornicing. The staff are friendly, and you can detect the slightest whiff of baked bread when you walk in. Given Dearie's background, the cafe is a gallery as well, with limited-edition prints of Cadell-like portraits by Alexandra Gardner hanging most recently.
The menu doesn't really break any new ground - at least, not on first inspection. It's mainly soup and sandwiches, complemented by filled rolls and, on Sunday, a concise brunch selection that includes waffles with bacon and maple syrup.
But there is something more inspired here. For example, the piece filling that combines hummus, roast vegetables (aubergine among them) and mixed beans is quite adventurous, and successful. A ciabatta (which appears to be naturally leavened and artisanal) complements a filling of thinly sliced salami and chorizo with gherkins, cherry tomatoes and robust whole-grain mustard. An altogether agreeable combo, though the Spanish sausage is a bit gristly in parts.
The wholesome soups are a further step up. A leek and potato version has diced tatties and alliums in a clear broth, rather than thickened and whizzed up. The gently spicy - that is, warm but not overpowering - and adobe-coloured sweet potato, roast pepper and corn soup is a revelation: the combination of mild chilli seasoning and nuttiness from kernels of maize virtually recalls the climes of Mexico or South America.
In addition, the chalkboard has a quiche special (crispy bacon and sunblushed tomato, for example) as well as a host of cakes and sweets. Beyond the savoury offerings, there are teensy-weensy (dare I say small but perfectly formed?) jam tarts, coconut-flake-crusted chocolate truffles (only 30p) and a robust, if slightly dry, fruit slice of sultanas and raisins with suet-style crust. All are on display atop cake stands in front of the espresso maker, which churns out medium-body lattes. There are various teas, too, including three different styles of caffeine-free green, served in wee pots.
Only Grianach's location might serve as a hindrance. The cafe is less than 100 metres from busy Pollokshaws Road, but its particular stretch of Nithsdale Road, which originally linked Glasgow to Paisley and must once have been a key thoroughfare linking the villas of Pollokshields to more urban Strathbungo, feels a bit cut off today. Despite having a minor work of Thomson's, which other cities might have on a dedicated architectural history trail, the length of street here - originally Titwood Place - has been a bit neglected. (If you're not hip to Thomson, walk north-west from the cafe past Sammy Dow's pub and check out his magnificent Moray Place row of homes.) Of course, only people with a hint of ambition, such as Dearie, are going to turn these vacant commercial spaces around. Soon the cafe's innovative lightboxes will be unnecessary (even in Europe's most northern settlement, the sun has recently returned to the horizon). But even while they're tucked away for the summer season, Grianach should remain a bright spot for southsiders.
