FOOD & DRINK RECENT OPENINGS
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It’s rare for an out-of-town celebrity chef to dip their toe into Glasgow’s restaurant scene – even if they are just a figurehead. David Kirkwood samples the latest big name in town
I t’s 15 years since he left the kitchen, but Marco Pierre White is still a culinary name that gets a reaction. Now the great man (via one of his franchise businesses) has put his name to the Indigo Hotel’s restaurant. Photos of MPW (brooding, reclining, brandishing knives) adorn every free bit of wall as hotel reception merges into dining room. On the menu, meanwhile, a ‘Best of British’ sharing platter is a rugged spread of cured ham, potted duck and Glamorgan (cheese) sausage – lots of big flavours and textures. It’s a good quality, if pricey, start. Other notable dishes include a ‘Wheeler’s of St James’ fish pie where hake and salmon vie with sweet little prawns in a cheesy, salty sauce; and a signature trifle dish with a toasted crust of pistachios and almonds. Bizarrely for a grill, there are only four steaks on offer – all ‘Campbell’s Gold Cut’. It’s this greater emphasis on sourcing that might set the place apart (the staff also do that – they’re lovely). There’s definitely a broader range of clientele than under the venue’s previous incarnation, and if, as planned, greater autonomy and locality is allowed, this could become the destination restaurant it aims to be.
MARCO PIERRE WHITE STEAKHOUSE BAR & GRILL
75 Waterloo Street, East End, Glasgow, G2 7DA,
mpwsteakhouseglasgow.co.uk Ave. price two-course meal: £30 (lunch / 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 THE ANCHOR LINE TRANSATLANTIC GRILLHOUSE & BAR
patty with a booming chipotle mayo, while Breaded Piece chicken is calmer, moist and crispy with sharp pickle. Sides are good – mac’n’cheese is gooey; rooster fries impress. Craft beers are joined by milkshakes (or liquor-laden hardshakes), delivered with four scoops of ice-cream. Lacking frills such as plates, the venue is aimed at the 18–25 crowd, but is a welcome addition to GWR.
12-16 St Vincent Street, City Centre, 0141 248 1434, theanchorline.co.uk, £15 (bar lunch) / £24 (a la carte dinner) Di Maggio’s latest flagship sails into the relatively uncharted waters of a venue serving Scottish produce with a strong USA influence – think Josper-grill steakhouse meets seafood restaurant with classic transatlantic cocktails. The food, while decent enough, is overshadowed by the impressive restoration of the listed offices of the shipping line that ran for about a century until the 1930s, taking many Scots, often one-way, across the pond. Original nautical features drip from exterior walls and interior stylings – designed to resemble an opulent ocean- liner – with walls of framed nostalgia, while the central new bar is all lights, twinkly glass and marble allure.
TRIBECA NORTH AMERICAN CAFÉ-DINER 144 Park Road, West End, 0844 357 7777, tribecacafe.com, £14 (lunch / dinner) This third instalment of Tribeca’s burgeoning US-flavoured chain was first to roll out a food partnership with street-fooder Smoak, whose evening BBQ and burgers menu is a good fit for a brand built on Americana. Underneath all the new branding and tie-ins, it’s still a solid American diner at heart and at its core are breakfasts: big, bold, a tad pricey maybe but comprehensive, suitably Yankee, and gloriously bad for you. It’s in a top parkside spot, keeping a little of the swish from the previous cocktail bar, making for a more relaxed, and less flag-waving, setting for a lazy brunch than the cramped Dumbarton Road original.
BRGR NORTH AMERICAN BURGER BAR 526 Great Western Road, West End, 0141 339 1199, brgr-glasgow.com, £10 (one-course lunch / dinner)
This latest player in Glasgow’s beefy sandwich scene has sculpted a diner-style burger bar from untreated wood and a thumping sound system. Seven burgers and a special offer sufficient variety, along with wings and sides. The Hot Coo is a spiced
Edinburgh POLENTONI ITALIAN DELI-CAFÉ
38 Easter Road, 0131 661 6182, polentoni.co.uk A deli opening up a few doors down from somewhere with the renown of the Manna House Bakery would do well to be on its game, and fortunately this new Italian café does a good job. It’s friendly, homely and well-stocked with a range of sandwiches, quiches, biscuits and cakes, with the latter revealing interesting recipes including a pear, amaretti biscuit and plum crumble cake. The breakfasts offer a few alternatives to the norm, including a dish of roast asparagus, Parma ham and poached egg with hollandaise sauce.
FRONTIER NORTH AMERICAN
8 Gillespie Place, Tollcross, 0131 228 1145, frontierestaurant.co.uk, £15 (lunch / dinner) Having established themselves as Edinburgh’s go-to café for old-fashioned, Brit- style comfort food, the owners of Mums Great Comfort Food have crossed the Atlantic for this new venture. The surroundings are more elegant and restaurant- like than the original, but the food is nothing if not downhome. The standards on the menu aren’t unexpected – bacon cheeseburger, Big Apple hot dog, buffalo wings, grilled ribeye steak and fries – but the variety is enticing. Also featured are Colorado chipotle chilli, slow-roasted pork carnitas in tortillas and catfish baked in orange, as well as a range of American beers, wines, tequilas and bourbons.
JUST BURGERS & BEERS NORTH AMERICAN 192a High Street, Old Town, 0131 226 1214, justburgersandbeers.co.uk, £17 (lunch / dinner) For something so seemingly straightforward, the beer and burger combo is a tricky beast; done well it’s alluring, but it just as easily slips into paint-by- numbers. This Royal Mile operation certainly boasts all the requisite constituents: fresh-baked glazed buns, hefty patties and an array of intriguing toppings, with some exotic refreshments on hand, but the menu – a mish-mash of fonts, rhyming slang and last year’s internet memes – is the first hint that it’s reproduction rather than Rembrandt. The Mac Attack promises much, but a breadcrumbed mac’n’cheese fritter is chewy rather than crispy, the inside claggy, while the burger it sits atop is overdone, although a homemade beer mustard adds kick.
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 13 Nov–11 Dec 2014