Food&Drink Recent Openings
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The best of the new restaurant, café and bar openings in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Glasgow BLACK RABBIT BARS & PUBS
526 Great Western Road, West End, G12 8EL, 0141 339 1199, £10 (lunch / dinner) Rather like its name, this Kelvinbridge bar is sort of cute and cosy in a dark and moody kind of way. It looks shadowy from the outside and doesn’t brighten up much inside, with dark tables and walls, low lighting, and old drinks boxes as decoration with a discreet TV for occasional sports. The tiny bar has a limited but interesting selection of drinks – much like the food, which includes 2-4-1 pizzas – so crispy they come with a mini pizza cutter – ciabattas, salads, meatballs and wings, plus good burgers in a brioche bun.
CAILIN’S SUSHI JAPANESE SUSHI BAR 1136 Argyle Street, West End, G3 8TD, 0141 334 8637, £9 (lunch / dinner) Suitably situated, globally speaking, next to a Korean restaurant, Cailin’s Sushi is a small, neat and appealing sushi bar offering various lovingly presented Japanese snacks to eat in or take out. The sushi is the main event, encompassing the rolled hosomaki and futomaki, and their variation, the cone-shaped handroll, plus nigiri and the loosely filled gunkan cup variety – all are perfectly formed and delicious. There are also various sides such as excellent vegetable and chicken dumplings, octopus balls and the requisite sushi condiments: ginger, soy sauce and wasabi sauce.
THE GLASGOW CAKE COMPANY CAFÉ AND BAKE HOUSE
1160 Argyle Street, West End, G3 8TE, 07840 012402, £(lunch) Cake-maker Lee Brady’s café is a first move into dedicated premises after a few years creating her bespoke celebration cakes and other bakes at home. This small – only eight seats – but smart and bright café has a contemporary and uncluttered look, 26 THE LIST 19 Jul–2 Aug 2012
skink, but look out too for kedgeree, a sardine sandwich, generous fish pie, roast coley or a barley paella.
THE FOUNTAIN BAR 131 Dundee Street, Fountainbridge, EH11 1AX, 0131 229 1899, thefountainbar.co.uk, £15 (lunch/ dinner) The spread of good quality neighbourhood pubs in Edinburgh comes to Fountainbridge, with this new venture from the owners of Carriers Quarters, the Pond and Bar Kohl. It’s a lovely bar with lots of space and a penchant for matt pastel paints on the woodwork and tastefully distressed furniture, and the menu is a similar model of comforting efficiency. Washed down with something from the wide-ranging international drinks list, highlights include a langoustine fish pie, a braised beef shin pie or a curious starter of scotch egg made with vegetarian haggis. Perhaps it doesn’t have location on its side, but the effort required to draw people out of their way has clearly been made.
INNIS & GUNN AT 32 POTTERROW BAR 32 Potterrow, Old Town, EH8 9BT, 0131 662 9788, fiftysixnorth.co.uk/ innisandgunn, £15 (lunch/dinner) This summer pop-up is a first for the local pioneers of oak-aged beers, and they’ve happened upon an appealingly Festival-centric location just across the road from bustling Bristo Square. The main I&G brands are in bottles and on tap, along with some of their limited edition special brewings, but the doors and beer cellars have also been opened to other Scottish brewers including Stewart Brewing, Williams Brothers and cider-makers Thistly Cross. Food is smart and classic bar staples, with a ‘One o’clock Gunn’ tasting session with ales and food each day worth keeping in mind.
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.
Slam dunk
The much-anticipated café has finally opened in Glasgow’s impressive gardens, as Jay Thundercliffe finds out
T he city’s paucity of outdoor dining spots means the new tearoom in the old curator’s house in the Botanic Gardens already has a headstart over the numerous competitors offering afternoon tea. The council’s caterer Encore has made the most of the spacious patio, with rows of ornate metal tables topped with smart green brollies – add in a very leafy surrounding with views of the Victorian glasshouse Kibble Palace and it is one of the nicest al fresco options in town. Inside the old building there are two smallish rooms, with wood furnishings and local artworks for sale, while staff wear smart green uniforms reflecting the natural surroundings. The menu covers the tearoom essentials: morning breakfast basics include a good bacon bap, local smoked salmon and scambled egg, and pastries, while the lunch options offer sandwiches, panini, baked potatoes and afternoon tea – and lots of cakes ranging from carrot to cup. Don’t expect old ladies stirring soup and baking – most of the food is brought or bought in, resulting in a rather hit and miss experience. It’s all generally fine if a little uninspiring, but the afternoon tea options need a bit more on the tiers – a drink, three slim fingers, a scone and two tiny fruit tarts won’t leave much from a tenner but may well have left space in the belly.
THE TEA ROOM AT THE BOTANICS
Botanic Gardens, 730 Great Western Road, West End, G12 OUE
0141 276 1640, encorehospitalityservices.co.uk Ave. price two-course meal: £10 (lunch).
with impressive cake edifices in the window. The menu offers breakfast rolls, and various sandwiches that are generously filled and well prepared. The fresh and delicious cakes are the highlight, ranging from a dense carrot cupcake to a moist lemon drizzle and much more in between – all can be picked and mixed for an afternoon tea treat. Classes are also available for budding bakers.
Edinburgh SEADOGS FISH
104 Hanover Street, EH2 1DR, 0131 220 5155, seadogsonline.co.uk, £9
(lunch) / £16 (dinner) When Seadogs shut up shop on Rose Street in February this year, it provided an answer to those who had questioned the sustainability of three Dogs locations within a block or so. But former customers made their affection known, and David Ramsden and team recently took the considered decision to sacrifice Amore Dogs and set sail again with Seadogs on the street level site next door to the original Dogs and above Underdogs bar. Which means a return for the varied, sharply priced menu of fish and veggie options with a few meat options: you can get a very respectable fish and chips or Cullen