BAOKLIST
Malrnaison Glasgow (top and bottom right) is one of the city's most stylish places to eat and drink.
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And Malmaison Edinburgh (bottom left‘and centre) gives a new look to the old searnan’s mission.
pammes pure’s and frites and given them a new vitality by ensuring that they are well prepared using the finest raw ingredients. McCulloch perceives a move away from an over emphasis on
‘I wanted to try and offer something unexpected.’
the presentation of food to the detriment of the flavour which is after all the raison d’érre of a good meal. ‘lt’s the food that we all want to eat. I think we’ve stopped fannying about with painting pictures on plates. Christ, you can’t eat that. It may look very nice and we all like to know that the chef
has laid this tomato here. I’m not demeaning that as an art but . . . We resurrected the prawn cocktail and that was a wee bit tongue-in-cheek, a statement in itself. You make sure that you do the best prawn cocktail and it turns out that it’s our biggest seller.’ McCulloch is loath to rest on his laurels but is equally reticent to expand for expansion’s sake. ‘We’re happy to be different to everybody else, we want to be different to everybody else. What we don’t do says more about us than what we actually do. But what we do here we want to do very well.’ (Jonathan Trew) Malmaismzs at 278 West George Street. Glasgow. 04 I 221 6400 and 1 Tower Place. The Waterfront. Edinburgh, ()3 I 555 6969.
available until 8pm, offers
Tommy Miah, The Rai Restaurant and Bengal Tiger House
Glasgow
I Bar 91 91 Candleriggs. 552 5211. This is serious quirk central in the heart of the Merchant City. Just two months old and already Bar 91 is displaying eccentric genius in terms of design and decor. Funky, kitsch cushions on the esoteric chairs provide a convenient space to park your bum and drink in the ambience — big. bold blocks of colour emphasise the high ceiling and wide open space of this cafe-bar. The bar looks across to the City Halls through huge windows which are framed by plaster of Paris- soaked curtains thus providing much amusement in terms of watching punters who don’t realise that the drapes are in fact solid. Surveying the scene is a curious bust complete with an afro perm and goatee. The bar’s proximity to the city’s theatres means that the occasional thesp has drifted in. The most recent coup for star spotters was a sighting of a shaven- headed Robert Carlyle from the latest series of Cracker.
Assuming that you can manage to rip your eyeballs away from the decor then the menu.
croissants and snacks as well as main courses such as Moroccan lamb with spices and apricots served with yoghurt for the red of tooth and spinach and ricotta crépes with tomato and basil for the herbivores. See it with your own eyes.
I Soave’s 524 Great Western Road, 337 3379. Almost every town in Scotland has a cafe like this — a small. unpretentious place where anyone can drop in for a quick espresso. a simple Italian meal or a lip- licking ice cream. Salads. pizzas, toasties, sarnies and the classic Parma ham, melon and prawn will quell that lunch-hour tummy rumble and almost everything weighs in at under £5. lt’s ideal for a quiet perusal of the papers amidst the pastel colours and marble effect of the decor or if time is of the essence then most dishes can be taken away.
Real pride of place goes to the incredible range of sweetmeats on offer. Bags of brightly—coloured sweeties hang from the ceiling; the gantry is filled with jars of glistening boiled sweet and behind the long glass counters chocolate logs the size of tree trunks and swiss rolls of mountainous proportions cry out to be scoffed. Delicate. dark truffles jostle for space
i
VIVA MEXICCfl
with rich chunks of chocolate and velvet creams. As you might expect. and your offspring will demand, ice creams are a speciality. All the favourite flavours and shapes are there from simple cones to knickerbocker glories to the ecstasy-inducing honeycomb sensation — ice cream blended with honeycomb and topped with chunks of the nectar of hundreds of busy bees. Your dentist won’t be
happy.
Edinburgh
I The Ha] Restaurant and Bengal Tiger House The Shore. Henderson Street, Leith. 553 3980. The ever industrious Tommy Miah is celebrating Diwalli. the Hindi Festival of Light, with a return to 1983 prices and exhibitions of traditional dance and music to mark the event in the Hindi calendar. Diners will be treated to such tonsil-tickling delights such as chicken, lamb and prawn cooked with kashmin‘ masala, onions, garlic. coriander and mixed spices which goes under the chortlesome title of ‘All The Raj’ for the wallet-pleasing sum of £4.95. The promotion runs from 4 Nov to 10 Dec.
Mr Miah has done much to raise the profile of cuisine from the subcontinent including getting an entry into the Guinness Book of Records for creating the world’s largest curry and even going to the lengths of flying a curry to a spiceless Raj addict. Other culinary landmarks in the Raj calendar are the Indian Chefofthe Year Celebration in March and April; the Bangladesh New Year in April; the Curry Club Birthday Celebration through June and July and the Bangladesh Festival of
'Food and Culture in August and September. (Jonathan Trew)
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“censed PESCB ur‘ant ;
LUNCH —- 12-—~2.30pm ' EVENINGS — 6—11pm (last orders 10.30pm)
10, anchor close, Cockburn Street ” I EDINBURGH 226 5145
50, east fauntalnbridge EDINBURGH 228 W5)
J.
The List 4—17 November 1994 95