FOOD & DRINK RECENT OPENINGS
SUPPORTED BY
LIGHTING UP DARKEST DENNISTOUN
A number of enticing venues are helping the East End of Glasgow shake off its old badlands tag. Tiff Griffin checks out the latest opening which is helping to revitalise the area
S erving an intriguing mix of curious locals and the hipper denizens of Dennistoun, Redmond’s is very much a home- cooked project. With hands-on owners who are keen to support the community – some ingredients are grown locally and staff receive an official minimum living wage – the menu is consistent in quality, with fresh, simple flavours carefully combined. Citing New York chef David Chang as an influence, the Korean street food on the mixed menu is the stand-out offering: steamed buns with various fillings melt deliciously in the mouth but have enough structure to support the likes of prawns with spicy mayo or hoi sin pork belly: original, unusual and enticing. Generous salads are bistro standard with the mackerel version skilfully balancing beetroot and biteable chunks of fish. Even the sides have a twist; the excellent rosemary potato wedges are too good to share. Further NY influences are found among the bar’s brickwork layout: sociable tables for groups, booths for couples and window seats you can imagine sneaking onto alone and letting the bustling street provide entertainment.
REDMOND’S OF DENNISTOUN
304 Duke Street, East End, Glasgow, fb.com/redmondsofdennistoun Ave. price two-course meal: £5.50 (set lunch) / £12 (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. creation on every visit. Local producers are named, and this is backed up by expert cooking and creative dishes, from chicken and roast veg ciabatta to chunky rosemary chips and pickled beets with salmon pâté.
ENZO ITALIAN 8 Lister Square, Quartermile, 0131 229 4634, enzo edinburgh.co.uk, £12 (lunch) / £22 (dinner)
Glasgow THE GRUMPY GOAT PUBS & BARS 90 Old Dumbarton Road, West End, 0141 237 4730, thegrumpygoatglasgow.co.uk, £12 (set lunch) / £18 (dinner)
Sitting close to Kelvingrove Art Gallery, and replacing an old- school boozer favouring the city’s blue team, this tucked-away pub has been spruced up and now offers good food in an appealing interior,
with nods to the less contentious side of local culture and history. Tony Matteo, whose family had City Merchant for many years, shows his experience in crafting a mix of traditional-feeling pub with a modern bistro element. The well-constructed, appealing and occasionally playful Scottish menu is big on top regional suppliers including St Bride’s chicken, Tapa bread, and Cairnhill ox cheek, which comes as a cleverly deconstructed boeuf bourguignon.
BELL & FELIX CAFE / BISTRO 248 Kilmarnock Road, Southside, 0141 649 1684, £10 (lunch) This latest exponent of the Southside’s new self - confidence is clearly run by people who love food. The menu looks like standard burgers, soups and sandwiches but delve a little deeper and the delight is in the detail. A daily special doesn’t just mean a soup: cakes, salads and even the pâté is a new
THE RAVEN PUBS & BARS 81–85 Renfield Street, City Centre, 0141 332 6151, theravenglasgow.co.uk, £12 (lunch) / £18 (dinner) The Raven’s menu is filled with meats, pulled, smoked and manipulated into bar snacks. The prominent smoker offers heavily smoked chicken, pork and bacon popping up in sandwiches, burgers and burritos. A seductive space of wooden benches and exposed stone, it makes a perfect place to slip down a craft pint, and West, Williams, Brewdog and Stewart all feature. It’s a very good effort from Maclays: family friendly without being crass, though on the food front, it’s all a bit smoke and mirrors.
Edinburgh MONTPELIERS BAR / BISTRO
Carefully curated and precisely targeted at the capital’s youngish and affluent socialites, Enzo brings a flash of Milanese glitz to Edinburgh. Spilling out onto Quartermile’s Lister Square, where handsome
ex -hospital brickwork, towering modern architecture and boisterous marketing all jostle for attention, the bar has seating in strikingly coloured leather, shiny dark woods and two sunken bar pits that help create a feeling of stylish but intense conviviality. Upstairs is an equally sleek restaurant, with some serious Italian food across lunch, dinner, bar and weekend brunch menus by head chef Christian Picco. CAFÉ TARTINE FRENCH
159–61 Bruntsfield Place, Southside, 0131 229 3115, montpeliersedinburgh.co.uk, £16.50 (lunch) / £18.50 (dinner) Long standing Morningside establishment Montpeliers has recently undergone a renovation which suggests a desire to reboot its broad appeal. There’s a bit of allotment chic happening with pot plants and a green and brown colour scheme, plus chintz with the mismatched pictures, and a wholehearted stab at the real ale market. It all hangs together though, partly because of the location’s bustle and partly because the food is so good by bar standards. The homemade Orkney beefburger is very satisfying and the macaroni cheese is excellent, while extensive lunch and evening meal deals will catch the eye of those after a decent value feed. 72 Commercial Street, Leith, 0131 554 2588, facebook.com/cafetartine.edinburgh, £14.50 (lunch / dinner) To the restaurant strip on the ground floor of the old bonded warehouses along Commercial Quay (already home of the Kitchin and Bond No9) comes a touch of homely French elegance. Within a long, slim, fresh dining room, selections include grilled steaks sourced from East Lothian, moules marinière, croque monsieur (and madame, etc) and the signature Tartine open sandwich. The owners used to run the Crepearray van in town, so the range of crêpes is also a distinct speciality. A small range of patisserie, a fine selection of wines, and family and dog friendliness until late into the evening combine to make a pleasant and distinctive local hangout.
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 36 THE LIST 18 Sep–16 Oct 2014