FOOD & DRINK RECENT OPENINGS
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The Richmond, a new bar-bistro in Glasgow’s Woodlands area, offers a refuge of calm and cocktails from the students, spit and sawdust, as Jay Thundercliffe discovers
J ust off the main drag of Gibson Street, this bar and bistro is a pleasant diversion from the numerous student-oriented, rougher- edged offerings nearby. There’s an enticing feel of a bygone-age cocktail bar – think gents’ club rather than shooter-necking, hen-party apocalypse – thanks to wall-to-wall chunky wood panelling with inset mirrors, comfy seats and an air of composure, lending the place a whiff of the golden age of mixology back in the 1920s. A conspicuously bright white bar among all the wood rather dashes the prohibition vibe and seems like a beacon to the unwary, who may settle in with the menu of two-dozen cocktails that concentrate on modern twists rather than old classics. The Richmond also does some very decent food with a fairly standard bar menu that is elevated by a diligent kitchen offering the odd retro touch (gammon and steak, ‘real’ scampi, hotdog) and a bit of quirkiness such as yesterday’s soup, claiming the near-indisputable ‘It always tastes better the second day’. A separate lunch menu offers similar but cheaper with added finger food, and there is also a selection of brunch options to go with that Bloody Mary on Sunday morning.
THE RICHMOND
144 Park Road, West End G4 9HB, 0141 334 3571, therichmondglasgow.com
Ave. price two-course meal: £11 (lunch) / £17 (dinner)
The best of the new restaurant, café and bar openings in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Prices shown are for an average two-course meal for one.
Glasgow
PAPERCUP COFFEE COMPANY CAFÉS 603 Great Western Road, West End, G12 8HX, £5 (coffee and bake) While these coffee-istas may not be roasting their own beans just yet (machines should be hotting up soon), they certainly take the black stuff very, very seriously, sourcing it from local roaster Dear Green among others. Expect lots of tinkering, tweaking, tasting and more tinkering as they strive to make you a great brew to enjoy in their rundown-chic café or bag some beans to take away. Cakes and bakes are available but all talk of blueberries and blackcurrant and melon from the passionate baristas is more likely to be about the l avours of the exciting beans they’ve sourced from the global grinder.
ROCK LOBSTER BISTROS AND BRASSERIES 1/4 Virginia Court, Merchant City, G1 1TN, 0141 553 2326, rocklobsterbarandgrill.com, £13 (lunch) / £23 (dinner)
Rock Lobster is secreted away in the redeveloped Virginia Court, an attractive shopping-dining complex blending modern architecture into a historic wynd. Set within the window-laden new build, this clean-cut
modern grill specialises in seafood and steak – though there’s not much rock beyond the music, Ramones cushions and instrument pictures. There are good value lunches such as i sh and chips with an Indian-spiced beer batter or pasta with spicy steak and peppers, while more sophisticated evening meals riff on the surf and turf theme from oysters, carpaccio and lobster to the daily catch and various steaks.
THE SPARKLE HORSE BARS 16 Dowanhill Street, Merchant City, G11 5QS, 0141 562 3175, thesparklehorse.com, £12.50 (lunch / dinner) Replacing the lot formerly occupied by rather shabby ‘old man’s pub’ The Dowanhill, The Sparkle Horse has retained the traditional pub feel, adding eclectic little touches and a younger, more modern outlook: St Mungo’s on tap, a Krusovice and steak pie on the menu, and a puy lentil shepherd’s pie. Décor is spartan right now (a lick of paint to get the place going) but the sign that says ‘toilets for customers and passersby only’, or the blackboard at the bar keeping i ve-bar- gates of days since opening, suggest the owners really care about their place and the details.
Edinburgh STACK DIM SUM BAR CHINESE
42 Dalmeny Street, Leith, EH6 8RG, 0131 553 7330, £12 (lunch) / £20 (dinner) Tucked away along a side-street off Leith Walk, Stack Dim Sum Bar is named for the bamboo steamer baskets which stack upon one another, each containing its own delicacy. Among the selection of homemade steamed dim sum, Chao Chou Provence Dumpling is a delicately wrapped pastry parcel with sun dried shrimp, pork, chive and peanuts. The dim sum come fried too: the pork-i lled ‘Pot Sticker’ dumplings Cantonese style
have a gorgeously tangy vinegar and ginger dipping sauce.
THE PANTRY CAFÉ-BISTROS
1-2 North West Circus Place, Stockbridge, EH3 6ST, 07595 432214, thepantryedinburgh. co.uk, £9 (lunch) / £13 (dinner) Just before Christmas, The Pantry opened its doors in Upper Stockbridge (it’s the New Town, really). Principally a roomy café with multi-functional, all-round menus operating both daytime and evening, there’s farmyard wallpaper, basketware and solid wooden tables to proclaim its credentials as urban farm shop. Those are coni rmed in a mini-deli located in a sizeable alcove and rustic, well-connected soups, stoups (soup-stew), platters, serious sandwiches, some great baking and early evening main dishes.
THE BELLEVUE BARS & PUBS 49–51 London Street, New Town, EH3 6LX, 0131 556 9808, £10 (lunch) / £16 (dinner) The Bellevue name has returned to its former site on the corner of Broughton Street and London Road after 12 years as Mezz. The décor won’t win any originality awards: in contemporary pub style there’s some exposed brick here, chunky wooden tables there, with chalkboards offering room for staff expression, but it’s well executed for all that. The menu has a comfortable, slightly retro feel, and is written in a fun, knowing way – advertising the likes of ‘Yesterday’s soup of the day’ and ‘Salt’n’Shake Whitebait’.
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 32 THE LIST 24 Jan–21 Feb 2013