Food&Drink Recent Openings

The best of the new restaurant, café and bar openings in Glasgow and Edinburgh Glasgow

For more food and drink visit list.co.uk/food-and-drink

regularly: a crumbly feta, pan-fried red pepper and onion tart, for example, while the sandwiches are wholesome and filling. Star billing is given to the homemade cupcakes. Raspberry and white chocolate, peanut butter and strawberry daiquiri are just a clutch of the delights on offer. Sixteen loose leaf teas completes the picture.

CONNECT CAFÉ CAFES 153–155 Comely Bank Road, Stockbridge, 0131 315 2003, £7 (lunch) TV foodie Nell Nelson’s new venture is also a card and gift shop, but follow the red polka dot tablecloths and soon you’ll find yourself tucking into some wholesome grub. The menu includes Arbroath smokie paté served with oatcakes, while the broccoli and walnut soup is chunky and flavoursome. A fun innovation for those with a sweet tooth is the choco-spoon a wooden spoon encased in chocolate for stirring into hot milk, coming with glitter and marshmallows or in grown-up varieties like white chocolate and cardamom.

EL QUIJOTE SPANISH 13a Brougham Street, Tollcross, 0131 478 2856, quijotetapasbar.co.uk, £13 (lunch/dinner) The most recent opening on Edinburgh’s Spanish dining scene is also a strong contender for being the best. Although the boxy storefront premises aren’t the most versatile, it has a homely café feel and the food is lovingly prepared. As well as a full tapas menu, daily blackboard specials and selected desserts sit alongside signature plates such as a rich and meaty caldereta de venado (venison stew) served with thin-sliced fried potatoes and the house’s own el quijote, garnished with Serrano ham and three grilled eggs.

Independent write-ups on all the restaurants worth knowing about in Glasgow and Edinburgh are available on our online Eating & Drinking Guide at list.co.uk/food-and-drink Prices shown are for an average two-course meal for one.

MALAGA TAPAS SPANISH 213–215 St Andrew's Road, Southside, 0141 429 4604, malagatapas.co.uk, £5.95 (set lunch) / £16 (dinner) Owners Guillermo and Christobel double as chef and head waiter respectively, oozing enthusiasm for all things Spanish and specifically Andalusian. You can taste southern Spain in every bit of a tapas of chilled mussels with tomato vinaigrette, while a subtle but flavoursome paella with chicken is available as tapas or a main. The handful of daily fish specials complete a menu that’s well worth a try.

THE KHYBER AFGHANI 221 St Andrew's Road, Southside, 0141 429 5959, £13 (lunch/dinner) A few doors along from Malaga, Khyber brings Afghani cuisine to Glasgow. The menu is as simple as the décor, with mainly kebabs for starters, and kebabs again for mains. Not encouraging for vegetarians, but ask and a magnificent curried chickpea naan may appear, accompanied by a first class lentil chilli dahl. The mixed starter of lamb, chicken and seekh kebab, is also a bit of a revelation, while Peshawri Karchi stew comes as a mighty portion of tender lamb on the bone, tomatoes, garlic and ginger garnished with chilli.

ALBA CAFES

481 Great Western Road, West End, 07725 893 037, £4.50 (set lunch) This welcoming little café in Kelvinside shows real ambition. Daily specials include home-made quiche and pasta, bruschetta and mini pizzas, while the regular menu offers an array of tasty organic seeded baps all served with a crisp, nicely dressed side salad. The chicken peperonata sandwich marries juicy grilled chicken breast with sweet, spicy roasted peppers, while the speciality meatballs are lifted by a Thai lime sauce. There’s a great range of home-made cakes too. 24 THE LIST 28 Apr–26 May 2011

Hyndland highlight Epicure’s versatility gives it instant appeal in Glasgow’s West End, as Malcolm McGonigle discovers

W ith impressive floor-to-ceiling windows comprising the restaurant facade, this latest addition to the cluster of eateries around Hyndland Road is not easily missed. Epicure’s light and spacious interior is divided into two levels with the industrial chic of metal steps, exposed brick and heating ducts tempered by arty wooden booths and an impressive bespoke bar. It’s the kind of place that changes mood as the day progresses laid-back breakfasts merge into locals doing chatty lunch, and then into more formal evening dining with serious foodies enjoying dinner from an inspired kitchen. A starter of crab cakes comes as two hearty patties, filled with a surprisingly delicate mix of herbs and sweet crabmeat, while marinated baked Crotin goat’s cheese has a creamy middle with sharp appley undertones. From the mains, the Serrano ham-wrapped chicken is moist and juicy, laced with tangy blue cheese and served with a light risotto cake. Elsewhere, the ground hache is light and crumbly with intense beefy flavours, served with thick twice-cooked chips. Service staff are energetic, sociable and knowledgeable and handle the frequently busy space with professional aplomb.

EPICURES OF HYNDLAND

159 Hyndland Road, West End, Glasgow 0141 334 3599, epicuresofhyndland.com

Mon–Sun 8am–10pm. Ave. price two-course meal £9.50 (set lunch)/ £20 (dinner)

Edinburgh CLASSICS INDIAN 10 Windsor Street, New Town, 0131 629 9987, kerclassics.co.uk £13 (lunch / dinner) Hidden away in the basement of the Cairn Hotel, don’t let Classics’ unprepossessing location put you off. With dishes cooked from scratch, you may want to set aside an evening for slow dining. The chilli paneer and hara dhal (a lentil and spinach stew) both make ideal starters. Southern Indian cuisine is represented by the speciality

Travancore lamb curry and dosas rice and lentil pancakes stuffed with meat or veg, served with coconut chutney and a sambar or vegetable chowder.

CUCKOO’S BAKERY CAFES 150 Dundas Street, New Town, 0131 556 6224, cuckoosbakery.co.uk, £8 (lunch) So named because the co-owners think they’re ‘probably a bit cuckoo’, there is much charm to be found in this new venture. A 1930s inspired cupcake café, it already enjoys a bustling collection of followers. Specials change