Food&Drink Recent Openings
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The best of the new restaurant, café and bar openings in Glas- gow and Edinburgh
Glasgow AKBAR’S INDIAN
573–581 Sauchiehall Street, West End, G3 7PQ, 0141 222 2258, akbars. co.uk, £16 (dinner) Akbar’s 11th UK restaurant is its first in Scotland. The large, attractive venue (once the Tiffin Rooms) is filled with tan- gerine lanterns flickering against mirrored walls, while enthusiastic staff help create the sense of a welcoming, unpretentious restaurant. Attractively presented starters include a simple yet indulgent keema and cheese samosa, or spicy king prawn tikka with a smoky strawberry dip. Numerous baltis include a fairly mild chicken and mushroom option, while desi lamb palak is hotter, rich with spinach, ginger and garlic. Naan bread is worth ordering, if only for the theatrical presentation on a stand, and there is a surprisingly exten- sive dessert menu.
CLEAN PLATES CAFÉ CAFE Maryhill Burgh Halls, 10–24 Gairbraid Avenue, G20 8YE, 0141 946 8392, mbht.org.uk/cafe, £8 (lunch) The restoration of Maryhill Burgh Halls has breathed new life into an important building and with it comes a new café. Situated in the smart, airy foyer, the café is a bright, modern affair run by venerable Woodlands Road operation Grassroots Organic. Customers come from the Halls’ offices and adjoining leisure centre, but there is broader appeal in the breakfast rolls, sandwiches, and fresh soups, while changing light meals may feature pork belly terrine or quiche, and there are cakes from the excellent Bavarian Bakehouse. A must-see are the Halls’ reinstated original stained-glass windows, a mesmerising portrayal of local tradespeople in the 1870s, along with the modern windows commissioned for the restoration.
SIDEWAYS CAFE & BISTRO
141 Elderslie Street, West End, G3 7AW, 0141 237 7141, £5.50 (set lunch) / £13 (dinner) It may be located in an area short on dining options – unless you fancy a curry 54 THE LIST 17 Nov–15 Dec 2011
science is taken seriously. But it’s not just a place for caffeine-geeks; the café has tables and chairs inside and out designed by co-owner Gail Thomson, as well as carefully assembled eats including cakes, snacks and a neat selection of sandwiches designed by supportive chef Paul Wedgwood.
THE VENTOUX BARS & PUBS 2 Brougham Street, Tollcross, EH3 9JH Not yet as lived-in and quite as beset by knick-knacks and bric-a-brac as its sister bar, Leith’s Tourmalet, the Ventoux is set- tling nicely into the space once occupied by the Illicit Still at Tollcross. Already it’s mirroring much of what makes its fellow- velo-themed venue a hit, with the quirky décor (a ceiling-mounted bicycle, a large fish tank, a Cyberman’s head mounted behind the bar) fostering a welcoming atmosphere. There’s an enclosed seating area on the street until 10pm and the Tourmalet’s range of 20 bottled German beer imports is matched, setting the scene for a bar whose personality will surely grow alongside its reputation.
FREEMANS CAFE 2-6 Spottiswoode Road, Southside, EH9 1BQ, 0131 446 0576, freemansfood.co.uk, £7.50 (lunch) Bright, airy and shabbily chic, Freeman’s coffee shop is another worthy local café in an area that’s positively breeding them. With clusters of comfy armchairs and tables surrounded by schoolroom seats spread around the wooden floor, their stated friendliness to both dogs and chil- dren (there’s a chalkboard and a range of boardgames for the latter) makes this a week-round haunt. The quality is high, with rich and fragrant coffee supplied by Monmouth’s and traybakes made on the premises. There are also daily soups and quiches, along with a range of fresh baguettes plus a sharing plate menu due soon.
Independent write-ups on all the restaurants worth knowing about in Glasgow and Edinburgh are avail- able on our online Eating & Drinking Guide at list.co.uk/ food-and-drink Prices shown are for an average two-course meal for one.
Rumble in the gumbo There ain’t no bad moon risin’ in this fun and feisty Delta- inspired bistro, as Malcolm McGonigle discovers
A deep down, underground entrance off the busy West Regent and Renfi eld streets reveals a chic interior of dark browns and muted yellows with pooled lighting, wooden fl oors and leather benches. Revelling in the bayou vibe of the Deep South with its whispery blues soundtrack and plates heaped with shelled- up langoustines, lobster, oyster and crab claws, Creedence hopes to encourage a distinctly rootsy approach to seafood dining. Most dishes come ‘tapas’ style – bigger than starters but smaller than mains – letting the diners assemble a custom-built mix of ultra-fresh Scottish crustaceans and shellfi sh to share or fi ght over.
Scallops with soft pancetta embedded in the fl esh are juicy and smoky in their light, buttery sauce, while burly grilled langoustines are presented in their shells, piled high and spilt lengthways, revealing a seam of succulent, scoopable meat. Thick crab cakes are lightly spiced and loaded with bright, meaty fl avours while a side of hand-cut fries has the deft touch of a chef who values the glory of a good chip. Every table is supplied with a variety of crunching and splitting instruments and a sunken ‘chuck-bucket’ for the wrecked debris. An inspired and attractively different take on seafood dining.
CREEDENCE
48a West Regent Street, City Centre, G2 2RA
0141 353 1301 Ave. price two-course meal: £18 (lunch / dinner)
– but that is to Sideways’ great credit, offering an attractive, laid-back and really rather cool neighbourhood venue for a bite and a drink. The menu blends brunch options and enticing sandwiches and soups with more substantial dishes suited to a relaxed evening meal. The cooking ranges from good to excellent, from a burger heady with chargrilled flavour to a lovely caesar salad, and quick options ‘from the pot’ such as an enjoyably rich Italian sausage stew – plus home-made chips bordering on perfection. The inti- mate but roomy interior with wooden ta- bles and a cosier seating area, chilled yet attentive staff, along with a soundtrack of great music make Sideways a very promising arrival.
Edinburgh FRENCH PRESS COFFEE CO CAFE 25a Dundas Street, New Town, EH3 6QQ, 0131 556 4336, frenchpresscoffeecompany.co.uk, £6 (sandwich & coffee) Get ready for a new phrase to enter Ed- inburgh’s coffee lexicography: the brew bar. French Press isn’t the first coffee bar in Edinburgh by any means, but in offering a variety of methods by which to create a cup of the black stuff: espresso machine, french press (cafetière), trendy Japanese-sourced V60 ceramic filter, clever US Aeropress or even drip-brew chilled coffee, it’s a place where coffee