Recent Openings
The best of the new restaurant, café and bar openings in Glasgow and Edinburgh
Glasgow CAFFÉ AMARE CAFÉS
161 Byres Road, West End, G12 8TS, 0141 334 8833, £10 (lunch / dinner) Byres Road is hardly crying out for a new café, especially one of the Italian variety, but this new place slots into the scene quite nicely. Long and thin, it’s not the roomiest place but there is a nice vibe, almost continental in its casual comfort and Euro-pop. The menu blends Scottish breakfast offerings with more substantial Italian dishes such as paninis, pastas and salads, plus various pastries and good coffee. The food, prepared behind the large counter, is nicely priced and enjoyable in the main although little errors may accumulate – a bagel slightly singed, a salad frigid from the fridge, and insubstantial meatballs.
INDEPENDENT BAR AND KITCHEN BAR 35–41 Queen Street, City Centre, G1 3EF, 0141 221 1779, £12 (lunch /
SUPPORTED BY For more food and drink visit list.co.uk/food-and-drink
dinner) In a playfully literal extension of its name, the (slightly shabby) black interior at this bar is covered by front pages from a certain liberal newspaper (clue: it’s not The Guardian). Very much in the realm of mainstream bar/ pub, with a menu of pizzas, burgers et al, there are workaday nachos, and a decent burger in ciabatta bread, and good old fish‘n’chips aren’t too bad either. With a location just off Argyle Street, this place is perhaps best suited to a quick re-fuelling stop during the day, or as an evening rendezvous before venturing forth. Edinburgh THE SKYLARK
BISTRO-CAFE 241–243 High Street, Portobello, EH15 2AW, 0131 629 3037, theskylarkportobello.com, £7 (lunch) / £12 (dinner) The Skylark solves a lot of problems for Portobello locals: it’s a brunch hang-out, takeaway coffee and cake joint, all-inclusive evening bistro and even off-licence. Coming from the team behind Leith’s Word of Mouth Café, the décor has a fashionable and wry hint of beachcomber to it with oak tables mixed with Formica and a smart open kitchen sitting next to a rough and unfinished wall. Monthly changing menus are stocked with crowd-pleasing café staples of generous proportions and generally consistent cooking: the menu features a charcuterie and cheese board, a big-hitting goat’s cheese and butternut squash salad, steaks and daily quiches.
NANYANG MALAYSIAN CUISINE FAR EAST Unit 1, 3–5 Lister Square, South Pavilion, Quartermile, EH3 9GL, 0131 629 1797, nanyangrestaurant.com, £18 (lunch/dinner) Despite a healthy range of Asian-fusion restaurants in the capital, there’s only
a couple that predominantly serve Malaysian food. Nanyang is modern and upmarket in keeping with the rest of the smart new Quartermile development. The towering penthouses and converted infirmary blocks return the favour, creating a pleasant suntrap for outdoor tables. Reflecting the hotch-potch of influences that is Malay cuisine, the menu is a pan-Asian affair, although pride of place is given to more traditional indigenous dishes including creamy Rendang Daging (beef), which offers a hint of sour tang and a slow-burning heat, while Nasi Kelapa – rice steamed in coconut cream – is sweet, but not overly so, balancing the spices nicely.
IN CO-PROMOTION WITH REAL FOODS, EDINBURGH
Try the speciality mixed salad bags packed with interesting, healthy, organic salad leaves and
edible flowers.
Look out for seasonal Cyrenians Farm produce
– runner beans, shallots, mange tout, spinach, rocket, raspberries and strawberries, garlic,
onions, French beans, potatoes, mixed salads,
edible flowers and 28 varieties of heritage apples. Cyrenians Farm’s free range eggs are renowned
for their outstanding quality and flavour.
REAL FOODS Natural Healthy Ethical Shopping
■ LOCAL SEASONAL PRODUCE ■ WHEAT-FREE/DAIRY-FREE/GLUTEN-FREE
■ SUPERFOODS ■ RAW FOODS
■ ORGANIC WINES
■ ORGANIC HEALTH & BEAUTY ■ NATURAL BABY PRODUCTS
• 10% Early Bird discount available in both shops. See website for details. • Free recipes, health advice & online shop. • Free UK delivery on orders over £15. • Student, Senior citizen and Early Bird discounts.
BURSTING WITH LIFE! Tom Phillips from Edinburgh originally worked in theatre but a chance encounter led to a job as Project Farm Worker with the local charity Edinburgh Cyrenians Farm which Real Foods has always supported
fruit and vegetables (and edible flowers) on just eight acres of carefully tended land where they
produce some of the highest quality organic fruit, vegetables and eggs around. With sustainability
and biodiversity at the heart of the farm’s
principles they produce delicious, traditional varieties of fruit and vegetables with amazing
The Cyrenians Farm charity offers young people depths of flavour. Packed with health-giving
at risk a place to stay in a family style therapeutic properties their fresh produce is literally bursting
community, whilst equipping them with the life with life.
skills needed to move on to independent living. The whole array of Edinburgh Cyrenians Farm
Staff, residents and volunteers plant, nurture produce is available in Real Foods’ two central
and harvest a huge range of traditional organic Edinburgh shops.
REAL FOODS | 37 Broughton Street | EH1 3JU & 8 Brougham Street | Tollcross | EH3 9JH | www.realfoods.co.uk 23 Aug–20 Sep 2012 THE LIST 27