(Actually, since we’re in Hyndland, it’s probably more accurate to say it’s been the talk of the Steam Room at the Western Baths.) Who, for example, is Nick?
And is this former beauty salon, ironically once called Eden and now renamed by new owner Lawrence “Antipasti” McManus, a neighbourhood restaurant with bar – or a neighbourhood bar with restaurant?
Last Sunday evening it looked distinctly like the latter. The bar area in this beautifully designed space is dominant, its exposed brick and waxed wood artfully lit to create a welcoming wine-bar atmosphere (though it has
to be said that any actual warmth is killed off by icy blasts coming in every time the glass door opens).
Even though the west end is treacherously ice-bound, the place is hoaching with a rather raucous fortysomething crowd, and nobody seems to mind being overlooked by a huge black and white photograph of the smiling playwright John Byrne.
The wine by the glass list is good, and a Sicilian Nero d’Avola (£3.45 for a small glass) is light enough to enjoy as an apperitif while we’re waiting for the rest of our party.
A quick glance up to the mezzanine level restaurant, cleverly designed as a private space, confounds the theory that the bar is the main business. It’s absolutely packed, and apparently with a different crowd altogether. There are couples, families and groups of girls. We booked in advance, and our table for six is ready and waiting for us. Ten minutes later we’ve ordered our drinks and are perusing the menu, though in the end they take longer to arrive from the bar than the food does from the kitchen.
From the imaginative brasserie-style menu I choose calamari fritto with fennel salad (£4.95), a tasty combo of crunchy minty/aniseedy salad and light tempura coated fish, with the flavour shining through.
Generous portions of gambas pil-pil (£5.95) and Italian sausage with fagioli beans (£4.25), all presented with toasted foccaccia on dinky wooden platters, are all pronounced delicious.
For mains, two of the boys in our company go for the home-made, hand-pressed beefburgers which have already made something of a name for themselves in local foodlore.
They’re not disappointed, though one half of the bun is rendered soggy by a pile of damp, undressed, salad leaves.
One of the boys wishes he’d gone instead for the beef and barolo stew with potato dumplings (£12.95) when he sees it served up to the delight of our third man, who declares that if he could eat nothing but this for the rest of his life, he’d die happy. Confusingly, however, he leaves all his baby carrots.
Two of us girlies choose lobster tortellini (£9.25), which come with big fat prawns hidden in the cream and vodka sauce.
The cream is loosened by the alcohol, making the sauce surprisingly light but robust enough to match our sturdy fresh pasta pockets stuffed with meaty minced lobster.
Droplets of deep green virgin olive oil are a nice visual touch. Our sixth dish, a rigatoni with chicken (£8.95) is, by contrast, distinctly average.
A huge helping of vanilla ice-cream makes up for that disappointment, but the rest of us are unable to contemplate any of the puddings, which include tiramisu, strawberries and cream or lemon Madeira cake.
Coffee is, naturally, by Illy. Which just goes to prove that chez Nick, the devil is in the detail.
NICK’S ITALIAN GRILL
168 Hyndland Road
(0141 357 6336)
STYLE: 1980s London wine bar (in a good way)
FOOD: Italian ristorante meets French brasserie
PRICE: Around £50 for dinner for two, with wine
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article