DISHING UP TOP TREATS
WE are moving closer to a maskless existence and this brings a renewed sense of connection and warmth to the experience of local hospitality.
It’s quite startling to see so many full faces and beaming smiles again. As we arrive into May, there’s a culinary cavalcade of food and drink places to visit ahead of what promises to be a blockbuster summer of events and festivals.
To get things started, the Glasgow Coffee Festival is back at The Briggait this weekend. Cafe culture gets a further boost as 50 local coffee places will be offering special discounts and deals across the city until May 15.
In the city centre, Locavore at Garnethill, Gordon Street Coffee and Bare Bones Chocolate will be taking part. Zennor, Akara, Mayze and Andina are part of the Dennistoun coffee crowd in the East End.
Then there are the likes of Meadow Road, Cottonrake, Haylynn Canteen and Broken Clock in the West End. Southsiders can pop into Deanston Bakery, Cafe Salmagundi, Strange Brew, Canary Girl and any of your friendly, neighbourhood Grain and Grind cafes to find out what they have to offer.
It’s boom time for coffee and cake in Glasgow. You can find the full list of participating cafes at glasgowcoffeefestival.com.
If you feel like seeing your city in a new light, City Sightseeing Glasgow has launched a new music tour. Aboard the open-top bus, you will hear local stories behind venues like King Tut’s, Barrowland and the Royal Concert Hall, narrated by singer Eddi Reader.
Fat Lobster opens tomorrow on Hope Street, where the Mussel Inn used to be. The new restaurant continues the seafood tradition of the location, alongside small plates, organic wine and cocktails. Expect lobster rolls.
It’s a fine time for fish, with Shucks opening at Hyndland and the newly unveiled Crabshakk on Vinicombe Street. It’s a dazzling new addition to the charming Botanic Garden Garage building, which also houses Ka Pao. The opening menu offers salt and pepper squid, crab cakes, monkfish cheek scampi and home-cured gravadlax.
Radisson Red hotel celebrated its fourth birthday last week with a party to showcase their impressive pizza oven and a growing roster of music events that take place both in the ground floor OUIbar and the rooftop Skybar where you can enjoy fantastic views over local landmarks, including the
Finnieston Crane.
Book your seat for sundown cocktails. On the menu, I like the red devil pizza with mozzarella and spicy salami on top of a Neopolitan style base.
One of the most-talked about restaurants in the city right now is backed up by a dose of nineties nostalgia. Sanjay and Jiggy Majhu ran late-night Finnieston spot Murphy’s Pakora Bar from 1996 to 1999. Now their son, Nitish Majhu, has brought the restaurant name back to Argyle Street.
Murphy’s Pakora Bar, the next generation, start service from 4pm each day stay open until 1am on weekends, reviving the family tradition of serving food to postpub passers-by.
The new venue is at 1293 Argyle Street, a few doors down from the location of its predecessor. Ask for Indian fried chicken – boneless chicken thigh dusted with house blend tandoori seasoning and drizzled with honey – or the haggis, neeps and tatties pakora served with whisky sauce is a delight.
A recent visit to Ting Thai on Byres Road confirmed this is one of the best new restaurants to open in Glasgow this year. Order a massaman ped curry with duck leg cooked in coconut milk, potato, onion, peanut, nam pla, lime and palm sugar. There are all kinds of street foodinspired treats like caramelised sticky pork with sesame and chilli pickle or shallow fried king size prawns in beer batter with mango salsa and sweet potato. Talking of street food, Dockyard Social continues to assemble some of the finest examples in the city every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The lively event brings together international comfort food with watermelon daiquiris and music in a warehouse setting. Go for Lebanese flatbread filled with hand-made falafel, soft herbs, pomegranate molasses, fattoush and mint yoghurt. There’s an incredibly impressive selection of local options available when putting together a picnic for Queen’s Park when the sun is shining, but let me recommend a toastie from Babo’s on Pollokshaws Road – beans, bacon and cheese filling for me – followed swiftly by a 99 ice cream. Taste sensation.
Further afield, Glasgow chef Paul Tamburrini is in the kitchen for his first summer at Cameron House’s fine dining restaurant.
Tamburrini & Wishart is a collaboration with Martin Wishart who Paul previously worked with at The Honours in Edinburgh. The tasting menu is a showcase for modern Scottish cooking with an influence from Japanese and French cuisine.
Roasted Orkney scallop is served with broccoli, togarashi and white wine while veal shortbreads come with cauliflower soubise, truffle and hazelnut.