SWADISH BY AJAY KUMAR, 33 INGRAM STREET, GLASGOW, 0141 553 0581
I would have liked to have Instagrammed the reaction as we picked up menus to choose starters. And saw the prices. Uh, £12, £15, £14, £18, £14, £14 jump out. Just two at £8. For starters?
This is followed by a somewhat ungentlemanly scramble to the vegan section overleaf where prices are (slightly) more palatable. To say Swadish seems to have a big hit for itself is to put it mildly but then they have just won a restaurant of the year award....
Menu: Lamb nihari biryani, tandoori salmon, poached salmon, Goan monkfish. Ambitious menu with interesting rejig of Indian classics from award-wining restaurant. 4/5
Atmosphere: Slightly awkward up and down seating area in former firestation but pleasant enough. 3/5
Service: Plenty of staff. We were served by three or four different people; all pleasant and efficient. 4/5
Price: Expect to be hovering around the £20 mark for mains sans sides, and it’s very easy to hit mid teens for starters. Desserts start at £9.50 2/5
Food: Lamb biryani at £22 is worth a trip on its own, the pepper fry satisfying, starters freshly spiced. Some overreaching though so not yet universally good. 8/10
21/30
RESTAURANT AT THE BURRELL COLLECTION, POLLOK PARK, GLASGOW
Now, are you thinking the remodelling of a global treasure like The Burrell has provided the opportunity to do what many other museums have recently done and open an exciting, say cutting edge, possibly even fine dining – gasp – independent restaurant befitting the surroundings?
Think again. It hasn’t. This is run by some giant corporate blandorama entity; looks like Baxter-Storey from a quick internet search. But we won’t hold that against them....
Menu: Gargantuan Tuna Nicoise, Chicken Caesars, flatbreads, burgers – amongst the usual scone and soup o-rama. Nothing cutting edge but perfectly okay. 3/5
Service: Table numbers needed for counter ordering, staff deliver on trays. It’s all vast, impersonal. On a quiet Wednesday it kind of worked. 3/5
Price: Nothing unusual about a Nicoise or Caesar Salad or haggis bites, but it is fresh, competently prepared and served in vast portions. 5/5
Atmosphere: The Burrell still has a kind of magic and the restaurant still has that glass-house view of the greenery on a mid-week afternoon. 4/5
Food: They could have tried something innovative or independent, instead they have gone for simple, easy assemble, big portions. Fresh and good value. 6/10
21/30
MOWGLI, 78 ST VINCENT STREET, GLASGOW
Now, if you’ve missed the memo, and judging by how busy this place is on a Wednesday evening not many have, Mowgli is not just yet another mega chain restaurant finally getting round to opening up in Glasgow. But a whole new way to eat street food. In a chain restaurant...
Menu: A lot of effort has gone into thinking up new names for Indian dishes that have been about for aeons. Fenugreek Fries, Yoghurt Chat Bombs and Picnic Curries do have a zingy ring. 4/5
Service: They are clearly ordered to do the tiresome let-me-explain-the-menu in detail chat, but otherwise pleasant and helpful. 4/5
Atmosphere: I sat in the mezzanine in a restaurant that was crowded even on a Wednesday tea-time. Good buzz about the place in its opening days. 4/5
Price: Small dishes always equal pretty big bills. That four prawn curry was £8, yoghurt bombs a fiver, main-ish dishes are pretty small but don’t top £9. Rice and rotis extra. 3/5
Food: Mowgli may be a chain, and it shows in the presentation, but their skill is in packing flavour into low fat Indian food. You’ll probably remember what you ate. 7/10
22/30
KELP, 114 COWCADDENS ROAD, GLASGOW, 0141 332 4032
AH yeah, I get what they’re up to here. They’ve fired a few straggly seaweedy things at the high open pipework on that ceiling, plunked a moody picture of some langoustines on the wall, put up an octopus mural and suddenly it’s a sustainable seafood restaurant. Taaraa.
And yet, with its window-hugging booths, glass box vibe and high bar area right at the top of the town this place has a classy, comfy, slightly Sex and the City vibe...
Menu: Seafood in a small plates style. Interesting-sounding combos including chicken fried skate, coley with ham hock, Tobermory trout. 4/5
Service: Perfectly pleasant, very professional, good job all round. 5/5
Atmosphere: Likeable, comfortable, loft-like decor with booths to watch the world go by at the top of the town across from the Piping Centre. 5/5
Price: It’s fish but they don’t go completely mad with the pricing. Small plates from £7 to £12 though, as usual, it mounts up. 3/5
Food: There isn’t a fish restaurant on every corner because it’s very hard to get right, at a price. They get some right but not enough. 5/10
22/30
LA CHOZA, 84 ALBION STREET, GLASGOW, 0141-552-8667
TRUE story: I’m perched at a high table at La Choza here scooping so-so guacamole with giant fried plantain chips and simultaneously and pretty aimlessly Googling: why do these tacos keep falling apart.
It’s a slack mid-week night on downtown Albion Street, La Funka by Ozuna is playing (think of music to drown by) over the air. Beyond those plate glass windows people wander languidly by completely unaware that Houston: we have a problem...
Menu: Proper freshly made, hand-pressed masa-harina tacos are quite rightly now a thing and they’ve worked that out in here with slow beef, marinated pork, white fish fillings and many more. 4/5
Atmosphere: They’re proudly not going overboard with the Mexican food cliche decor so it’s cool, spacious, comfortable, but weirdly ends up with a minimalist Japanesey vibe. 3/5
Price: Seen some grumbling about £7.50 for two meaty tacos and £8.50 for tiger prawns, I actually think the prices are okay for the Merchant City. 3/5
Service: Chirpy and cheery, pretty quick off the mark on a quiet mid-week night, no complaints. 4/5
Food: Liked the beef shin flavour, the pork carnitas too, maybe the formulaic side flavourings lack punch but the biggest problem is after all that work making tortillas they’re served on cold steel and collapse. 5/5
Total: 19/30
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