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ALL FINO IN FINNIESTON Flavours of Spain and a great vista impress at a Clydeside newcomer, as Emily Henderson discovers
O pened in November last year, tapas restaurant Fino is located on the top floor of the Rotunda, once the northern entrance to a pedestrian tunnel under the Clyde – and these days situated in a prime spot just a stone’s throw from the new Hydro venue. Grab one of the window booths amid appealing surrounds and gaze out across the Clyde at what is surely one of Glasgow’s best table views. Spain is to the fore on a menu that is loaded with complex and complicated meat dishes – though choices are limited for vegetarians. The filling of the croquettes, made with stew and mushroom, may not look the most appealing but creates a winning dish that is hearty and rich. Garlic prawns in filo pastry are lovely and crisp, while a good-quality paella features saffron-infused chicken, pork and vegetables. There’s a sense of the crowdpleasers about the mini-burgers featuring chicken, haggis and black pudding, and squid and cuttlefish, and they feel a little out of place among the Iberian tapas. The lunchtime menu of three tapas for under a tenner offers a simpler selection and great value for money.
FINO
28 Tunnel Street, West End, Glasgow, G3 8HL 0141 375 1111, finorotunda.co.uk
Ave. price two-course meal: £9.90 (set 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
sauce, will keep many satisfied. Accompanying the laid-back menu is an accessible wine list for all, and a revolutionary cocktail dispenser means house cocktails are poured from draught and served in period style glasses. An elegant and sophisticated experience with a nod to its roots and a New York-style twist.
COOK & INDI’S WORLD BUFFET GLOBAL CUISINE MIA ROMA PIZZERIA
46 Bath Street, City Centre, G2 1HG, cookandindisworldbuffet.com, £6.95 (lunch) / £12 (dinner) While social media sites have been lamenting the demise of Dino’s on Sauchiehall Street, around the corner a new breed of diner is emerging with its sixth restaurant and second in Glasgow’s centre. Cook & Indi’s serves the ‘world on a plate’. There’s Italian, naturally; then food from the next wave of UK immigration – Indian and Chinese; and finally, the backpackers’ favourites of Mexican, Thai and Japanese. It would be easy to dismiss the idea as gimmicky. But the chefs replace dishes regularly and the food is remarkably good. With a midweek lunch at a staggering £6.95, it’s easy to see why Cook & Indi’s has been so successful. THE HILL COCKTAIL BAR & BISTRO
94 Byres Road, West End, G12 8TB, 0141 339 8558, thehillbyresroad.com, £14 (lunch / dinner) The Hill takes pride of place in an area which had long felt dormant. Nostalgic images of the West End are hung against decadent wallpaper and contrasting exposed brick. Bistro-style plates offer a rich Cullen skink, while the homemade beefburger, enhanced with a slither of Cashel blue or a good peppercorn
302 Sauchiehall Street, City Centre, G2 3JA, 0141 332 1098, £8 (lunch / dinner) Mia Roma’s selling point is almost purely pizza by the slice – or al taglio. Large square pizzas on the counter range from the somewhat plain to plusher, more imaginative options such as ricotta and prawns, pesto with cherry tomatoes, and sausage with leeks and chilli. Given a quick blast in the oven, slices are served on wooden boards or on-the-go cardboard boxes. Sparsity in the décor is often a wipe-clean necessity for Sauchiehall’s late nighters such as this (4am on weekends), but it’s easy enough on the eye, with blacks and reds chiming with the brandings of Kimbo coffee - an added attraction, as is the Equi’s ice-cream.
Edinburgh PAPAVERO ITALIAN
18 Howe Street, New Town, EH3 6TG, 0131 225 8204, papavero-restaurant.co.uk, £9.95 (set lunch) / £16 (dinner) Occupying the former premises of A Room in the Town, Papavero is run by one of the chefs of the previous incarnation, and offers a range of Italian and Scottish dishes. The décor is muted, with black leather chairs and little in the way of wall decoration. There’s a lot on the menu here: steaks are a favourite, as are black pudding, haggis and rack of lamb. Scattered among these are Italian staples – pizzas, pastas, risottos. Busy at weekends, Papavero offers a range of discounts, with half-price pizza and pasta early in the week.
NATURAL FOODS ETC WHOLEFOODS SHOP AND CAFÉ 5 Clerk Street, Newington, EH8 9JQ, 0131 662 0820, facebook.com/NaturalFoodsEtc, £9 (lunch) The rather decadent burnished copper frontage of this late 2013 arrival contrasts a little with its clean-living ethos, but with positivity emerging from every pore, the bold approach does reflect a warm, confident aura. Essentially a retail space with organic, free-from, fair- trade and speciality produce stacked along each wall, a long, central wooden table allows it to double up as a café. With a downstairs kitchen coming on-stream in late February, the full offer of soups, crêpes, salads, smoothies, cakes and hot drinks – mostly sourced from small artisan operations in and around Edinburgh if not created in-house – will be available.
ROLLO ITALIAN BAR / RESTAURANT 108 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge EH4 1HH, 0131 332 1232, facebook.com/barrolloedinburgh, £16.50 (lunch/dinner) Equal parts smart wine bar and cosy neighbourhood restaurant, Rollo is pitched firmly at the more affluent patrons of Stockbridge. Space is used effectively in the small, converted storefront premises, a family project led by fashion designer Ailsa Rollo which sees cool burgundy tones and sculpted busts complement wall-
mounted wine displays. The menu is similarly understated. A tapas- style arrangement which can be adapted into an à la carte meal, it offers smaller bites including crispy, breaded haggis served with a whisky- infused marmalade, and
larger plates including sea bass, scallops and a rich tomatoey gumbo of king prawns and mussels.
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 30 THE LIST 20 Feb–20 Mar 2014