Ron’s reviews

THE MALLETSHEUGH, 340 Ayr Road, Newton Mearns, Glasgow 0141-260-0356

“The veg pakora? A half dozen, cleanly fried, attractively presented for, crikey, £4.50. Okay, it’s seven bangers for the Amritsari Fish Pakora but it’s decent if the fish is way more firm than flaky.”

Menu: Indian restaurant menu; starters and mains; generally pretty familiar stuff with Baba’s Shora Chicken, Sholay Shoolay. 3/5

Atmosphere: Looks a lot better inside with a soft furnishings, twinkly lights, comfy chairs vibe. 4/5

Service: Proper, highly professional, very affable and warm service. Obviously well run out front. 5/5

Price: Nowadays? Pakora for £4.50, poppadoms at £1.50 and mains hovering around the £12 mark passes as pretty reasonable. 4/5

Food: Liked the Shora Chicken a lot, the Okra Fries too the rest is largely competently prepared without setting any heather on fire. 6/10

Total: 22/30

BOMBAYWALLA, 186 WEST REGENT ST, GLASGOW

Tel: 0141-628-6400

“The food? Yeah, pretty good. Portions are small, be warned. And yet when we head back up the stairs and onto West Regent Street and I ask the inevitable question would we go back it’s a universal: meh.”

Menu: Bombaywalla Chicken Curry, Utta Pizzas, Ghee Dosas, Vada Pavs, Indian street food. Different. Interesting. 5/5 Atmosphere: Okay it’s a Sunday afternoon. In February. Plain basement joint needed something more to bring it to life. A tired and weary feel. 3/5

Service: They don’t waste much time on the warm welcome, or even do much in the way of interaction. Food brought efficiently enough. 3/5

Price: Two poppadoms and chutneys, £4.25, Utta-Pizza £10.95, Chicken curry £9.95. Given portion sizes it can add up.

3/5

Food: That curry was good, the Utta-Pizza enjoyed, the Ghee Dosa a clear standout, overall simple but decent. Needs to sparkle though. 7/10

Total 21/30

EIGHTY-EIGHT, 88 DUMBARTON RD, GLASGOW. TEL: 0141-212-6050

“The butterflied mackerel with miso, white kimchi and chicken sauce (may contain bones) looks fabulous. The fish skin seared to a bubbly black and gold, the kimchi juices and chicken sauces melding beautifully.”

Menu: They don’t make a big deal of it but superb, light, inventive vegetarian delights, butterflied mackerel, hanger steaks, and pasta. 4/5

Atmosphere: Cosy little nook of a place, there were other customers just in for a relaxing drink, great vibe even when pretty empty. 5/5

Service: Young waiter dude was cool, calm, relaxed and helpful even with this customer who thinks he’s funny – when he’s not. 5/5

Price: Prices have gone mad everywhere post-Covid, so small plates ranging from £7 to £10, plus £15 for the fish, and £8 for desserts. 3/5

Food: The meat-free dishes by far the best, all three first plates were a joy, mackerel not so good, but overall to a high standard. 8/10

Total: 25/30

WAGAMAMA, 97 WEST GEORGE ST,

GLASGOW. 0141-229-1468

“Far better are the glazed mackerel fillets on brown rice fried with kimchee, broccoli, chilli, bok-choi shiitake (spicy mackerel miso £16.50), so much so that I’m still flicking up the last of the oaty brown rice and spearing pan-fried veg, as the ramen over there goes completely cold.”

Menu: They pretty much cover all bases: donburi, hot-pots, teppanyaki, soul bowls, bao – though so does just about everyone else nowadays. 3/5

Atmosphere: Is the secret the lighting, the open kitchen or the long picnic tables? Certainly seems to attract families, couples and single diners. 5/5

Service: Variable from cheery “here’s your food” from one server to otherwise all-dayrestaurant disinterested.

3/5

Price: It’s certainly not in bargain territory: small bao buns £7.80 for two, duck gyoza £7.80. Mains hitting £16 easily. 3/5

Food: Liked the spicy mackerel miso with the brown rice and the pan-fried vibe. Bao buns were OK if not the cheapest. Otherwise, inoffensive. 6/10

Total: 20/30

IL PASTAIO, 80 ST VINCENT ST, GLASGOW. TEL: 0141 237 2230

“Yet I almost like the papardelle, porcini, brown butter, black truffle. Also £13. The papardelle itself is soft, silky, as it should be. The mushrooms pleasant if a bit over the top.”

Menu: It’s a fresh pasta restaurant, made in-house every day they say. Not an original idea but a hard one to pull off. As they prove. 4/5

Atmosphere: To be fair, on a Tuesday night in January, the place is deader than a dodo. It’s surely more enjoyable and atmospheric at weekends. 3/5

Service: No complaints at all here. Waitress engaging and chatty and very enthusiastic about her job. 5/5

Price: They sidestep it’s generally £13 for a plate of pasta (yes it’s freshly made) by serving big portions loaded with ingredients. 3/5

Food: Everyone has a bad night. I thought the pappardelle prawns was truly terrible, the pappardelle porcini managed OK. 5/10 Total 20/30

DULSE, 17 QUEENSFERRY STREET, EDINBURGH. TEL: 01738 718387

“Actually? That Abroath smokie spring roll is light, crisp, filled (though certainly not packed) with warming haddock and adrift in a sea of Connage Gouda fondue, which to the untrained may look like gloop. But it tastes much better than that. Sort of cheesy, tangy, moreish ... gloop.”

Menu: Proper seafood restaurant in a proper capital city, complete with smokies, hake, cod of course and dulse – like the name. 5/5

Atmosphere: They’ve gone plain vanilla with the decor on the basis, you come for the food. January probably not the best month to appreciate it. 3/5

Service: Old-school, very efficient, yet slightly distant service. It was a dull, cold, Tuesday night though and hard for anybody to warm up. 4/5

Price: It’s fish. It’s Scotland. It’s high-end too, of course it’s going to be pricey.

Big hit is on the small plates, mains and desserts. 4/5

Food: Those ginger toffee madeleines at the end? Outstanding. The tandoori hake too: deft, light, worth the journey. Nothing fell below very good. 8/10

Total: 24/30