GetStuffed FoodDrinkRestaurants
A rosy future Is the natural home for a clean-looking and clean-thinking new café-restaurant really the capital’s once-notorious drinking strip? Donald Reid takes a look at Rose Street’s newest arrival, pickledgreen
> RECENT OPENINGS The best of the new restaurants, café and bar openings in Glasgow and Edinburgh from the last four weeks, reviewed in every issue
Glasgow
COOKIE 72 Nithsdale Road, Pollockshields, 0141 423 1411, www.cookiescotland.com, £8 lunch/£17 dinner Set in a former garage, the busy artwork, funky furniture and well-displayed food of Cookie indicate that this is a café-bistro with a quirky, friendly and enlightened approach. Chef Iain Walker runs the show in the deliberately open and busy prep area, his food displaying a simplicity born of confidence in good ingredients, some of them from small farms in Umbria, others from local organic sources.
THE BATH STREET PONY 207 Bath Street, City Centre, 0141 2221 9444, www.bathstreetpony.co.uk, £6 lunch/£15 dinner Setting up in the old Brick Bar towards the western end of Bath Street, the Pony aims to offer a New York-style Italian diner that’s busy, noisy and entertaining. Pizzas, pastas, specials and sharing plates make up the majority of the menu, with soup and flatbreads available for a quick lunchtime snack or takeaway. A stage and large tables downstairs are set up for regular DJ sets and live bands.
R ose Street is a right hotch-potch when it comes to its eating and drinking scene: from bland chain restaurants to venerable old boozers, unadorned Japanese noodle-bars to buzzy seafood bistros. Into this unlikely setting, and fired with the optimism and energy of youth, owners Steve Brown and Melchior Colmant have set up pickledgreen. Exuding ethical attitude, their green principles go well beyond good sourcing into the use of wood offcuts in the design and working with the Cyrenians charity to manage waste. At first sight it’s a bright, light café with a long, blond wooden communal table dominating the ground floor space alongside fridges offering freshly prepared sandwiches and salads for takeaway. The sit-in menu begins with a range of snacky items including a crab and
10 THE LIST 7–21 Jan 2010
lemon tart, a mini bowl of soup and ‘toasts’ with toppings such as ham hock and lentils. More substantial options with a clear seasonal theme, such as caramelised parsnip tarte tatin with chestnuts or sticky oxtail with mash, beetroot and apples, follow. It’s Rose Street, Jim, but not as we know it. + Food that’s as bold as it is right-on - Upstairs bistro area feels a little detached
PICKLEDGREEN
158 Rose Street, New Town, Edinburgh,
0131 220 0477, pickledgreen.co.uk, Sun–Thu 8am–7pm; Fri/Sat 8am–11pm.
Two-course meal average £7.50 lunch/£15
LUCKY 7 CANTEEN 166 Bath Street, City Centre, 0131 331 6227, www.lucky7canteen.co.uk, £7 lunch/£12 dinner The branding claims ‘No Frills, No Fuss’, which you might imagine is a euphemism for a lack in service, quality or quantity, but nothing could be further from the truth. In the space previously occupied by Catch 22, Lucky 7 Canteen has a hip, considered bohemian feel. What they’re doing is quality bistro food at crazy prices: no starter over £4, all mains £7, nothing over £4 at lunch.
Edinburgh ILLEGAL JACK’S
113–117 Lothian Road, West End, www.illegaljacks.co.uk, £11 lunch/dinner The menu focuses on Tex-Mex, but whereas most