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WEST SIDE TAVERN, 162 DUMBARTON ROAD, PATRICK, TEL: 0141-286-6617

“We recoiled too when we tasted it. This time in a good way. Woah. Is that honey, I said as a wave of spicy, sweetness galloped past the meaty tomato hit and enveloped us. Stop. Scan the menu. (Always, always keep the menu.) Yes it is. Hot honey initially confusing the palate, but ultimately a nice combo of flavours.”

Menu: It’s a pretty successful pastiche of a moody New York tavern serving big pizzas, pastas, burrata in potato bread, bavette steaks. 4/5

Atmosphere: It’s a dive vibe, lots of bare brick, wood panelling, dark colours and art on the walls. Kinda works for me. 4/5 Service: Full marks for relaxed, friendly attitude, general swiftness and maintained when the tagliatelle was removed unasked from the bill. 5/5

Price: Prices are high all round these days: £9 for three meatballs, £10 for a half-plate of pasta. And £15 for a large pizza. It’s not cheap. 3/5

Food: Liked the pizza, really liked the burrata; tagliatelle was a car crash but they didn’t charge for it and someone needs to taste the anchovies. 6/10 22/30 DIM SUM, 69 WEST NILE STREET GLASGOW, 0141 328 0800

“The crispy duck rolls (OK enough, every dim-sum is £6.80) surprised us both with their hot, flaky crispy casing crunching into a salty, seasoned, almost runny filling that does indeed taste of duck.”

Menu: It’s called Dim Sum Restaurant yet has a surprisingly small selection, amongst more mainstream dishes, but they’re at least interesting. 3/5

Atmosphere: It was busy when we were in mid-week, but with a quite relaxed, oldschool feel about the place. 3/5

Service: Pleasant, efficient, boss man wandered over to chat to us in the end and there is a well-run feel to the place. 4/5 Price: For the dim sum? Come in threes largely. Cost £6.80 mainly. It can easily add up. 3/5

Food: By no means was every dim sum a winner. But haddock and leek, scallop and Stornoway, and those salted lava – worth a whirl. 6/10 19/30 MOTHER HUBBARD’S, 3A SPRINGFIELD QUAY, GLASGOW. TEL: 0141-429-3355

“The fishy problem is this: it’s not that hot. It’s also been carelessly put out with some strange, hard-chew moments, variable quality and surely would be better if it hadn’t been sitting in that display. Chips: ditto.”

Menu: Making fish and chips since nineteen-canteen in England, with haddock suppers, fiery fish and brick-hard jam rolypoly. 3/5

Atmosphere: You’ve seen this movie before: blow-ups of old newspapers, upholstered booths; still a cheap chain feel about it.

Service: Woefully slow counter service; didn’t even have the basic skills to shout an explanation or apology. Pretty poor. 2/5 Price:The spicy fish is £8.95, a large

3/5

portion of fish and chips is £10.45, plus there are those bargain onion rings. 3/5 Food: If they get the service working properly and get the fish from the fryer to the table a lot faster, this could well be reasonable. 5/10 16/30 TIMBERYARD, 10 LADY LAWSON STREET

EDINBURGH. TEL: 0131 221 1222

“A beetroot and cherry blossom parfait,

Sweet cicely on the side; then fat scallops with pan-fried crispness, unveiling their pale, perfectly mellow interior, salty seaweed and coastal greens for mopping.”

Menu: A new one Michelin star restaurant. What do you think? Quail, turbot, clever stuff with buns, cheeses, scallops, the full shebang. 4/5

Atmosphere: Got to be Scotland’s prettiest dining room: fabulously lit, oozing comfortable hand-hewn wooden quality. Interesting music too. 5/5

Service: It’s very low-lit and while the staff are pleasant they’re low-key, with a tendency to loom. Not much chat, perhaps a bit more warmth. 4/5

Price: The full tasting menu is £105, which is par for the Michelin course, with entertainment. There’s a four-course a la carte at £85. 4/5

Food: It’s rare to have a main course that sparkles, but that quail was beautifully cooked; scallops and that superb turbot.

9/10 26/30 SEVEN21, 721 POLLOKSHAWS ROAD GLASGOW. G41 2AA. BOOK ONLINE “That agnolotti, folded with the sort of artisan clumsiness only the human hand can achieve; stuffed with ricotta; set in a tiny bowl with peas so fresh I could actually taste them.”

Menu: A multi-course, fine-dining tasting menu at a bargain price: mackerel, mutton croquettes, hand-made agnolotti, grelot onion. 4/5

Atmosphere: It’s a shoe-box of a place that’s been many different restaurants recently but still relaxed and fairly comfortable. 3/5

Service: Almost Scandi in its minimalism but pleasant – though the gapping from the kitchen between courses went awry at times. 4/5

Price: Their knock-out punch. At £30 for a multi-course meal, it’s well worth a try. 5/5 Food: Great value and though the portions are small there are some great dishes including that gazpacho and the three-piece beef ensemble. 8/10 /30 GUIDO’S CORONATION RESTAURANT, GALLOWGATE, GLASGOW. 0141-5523994

“The fish supper now. Two big but fine fillets, batter so crisp I could eat them like biscuits, splattered too with extra crunchy bits, and then the moist, white fish inside. Chips? Excellent.”

Menu: Come on: it’s a chip shop. A proper, historic, reassuringly old-school one. King ribs, pizza crunch is about as exotic as it gets. 4/5

Atmosphere: Bright colours, upholstered booths, non-stop chit-chat from behind the fryer and the customers: great feel. 5/5 Service: Super-friendly and not in a formulaic fashion; warm, comfortable feel about the whole place. 5/5

Price: £9.45 for the large fish tea: two large fillets, chips, pot of tea and a slice of nonsourdough bread. £6.45 for half ‘n’half and chips. 5/5

Food: Is it the best chip shop in the world? No idea. But there ain’t many that can still turn out fresh crisp golden fish and decent chips. 8/10