SIDE DISHES
It’s springtime, and while you’re definitely not to eat the daffodils, we’re glad to see that Scotland’s Year of Food & Drink is getting off to a galloping start with an impressive gathering of producers, pop-ups and street fooders as part of Springfest at Loch Lomond Shores in Balloch. Over the weekend of Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April, they’re offering live food, slow food, wild food, pedal-powered cinema food, tipples, tea and tastings.
Check out pages 19–24 for further festival feastings to be found across the country over the next few months, while GastroFest events are on page 40. Despite a fight that utilised crowd-funding for legal costs, Tchai-Ovna in Glasgow’s West End looks set to close at the end of April after a settlement with housing developer Hugh Scott. Plans to relocate near Glasgow School of Art are in development.
EAST, WEST, STREETS AHEAD Now that we’re getting comfortable with street food, casual pan-Asian dining is bursting out from its exotic enclave, as Kelsey Farrell reflects
F rom the crowded streets of Cambodia to the hustling alleys of Singapore, street food is an everyday occurrence for millions of people. Something that’s so mundane (to them) as a pandan pudding in Kuala Lumpur or a kimbap in Seoul suddenly becomes trendy and exciting when introduced to a set of new palates and perceptions on the other side of the globe.
The concept in the UK has taken a slight detour in terms of presentation. Instead of hurried street vendors hawking their wares, the realities of climate and eating habits mean these foods are brought inside, whether to supplement an existing restaurant menu, liven up a takeaway menu or to spark up a bar snacks offer. In urban Scotland, Bar Soba is one example of a venue that has latched onto the appealing combination of beer and pan-Asian street food, developing the concept over a decade ago in the centre of Glasgow, and more recently in outlets in Glasgow’s West End and Edinburgh’s New Town, mixing the energy of humid South East Asian streetlife with the popularity of casual, small-plate eating and the rise of the indie bar. It is common for food to follow people, as has been marked over the decades with well established Chinese and Indian cuisines in many parts of the world. Yet these genres, as well as some of the more traditional Thai styles, are becoming hackneyed in comparison to less formal expressions of their cuisine, as testii ed by the popularity of casual eateries such as Ting Thai Caravan or Tuk Tuk. In addition, lesser-known nationalities have pushed their way forward, even from relatively small bases in terms of immigrant populations. Koreans and Malaysians have achieved a
SUPPORTED BY
News to nibble on Just up the road, in even grander surroundings, Heritage Portfolio have announced plans to launch a new café, Colonnades, within the Signet Library in June.
It’s one of the perversities of life in the relatively prosperous west that as the level of tinkering with our food increases, so the number of proper investigative food journalists dwindles. Edinburgh’s Joanna Blythman subjects processed food to a withering and, at times, disturbing analysis in her latest book, Swallow This. Don’t believe that your careful selection of natural-sounding products tiptoes through the minefield of the food industry’s chicanery: the book exposes the disingenuity of the so-called ‘clean label’ on products as familiar as yoghurts, bread, cereal bars and salads. See our full review at list.co.uk
The launch of our Eating & Drinking Guide each year (see page 54) is a reminder of just how many new openings there are appearing all the time in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Recent arrivals in Edinburgh include Slighhouse in place of Bar Kohl on George IV Bridge, Anfora wine bar in the former Vintners Rooms in Leith, while Swedish Affär café brings a bit of Scandi cool to Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square. There’s a new indoor market space in the Tron Church on the High Street in Edinburgh. Run by Pete Jackson of Earthy, the Royal Mile Market combines a decent pop-up café with a small food shop and various craft stalls.
Bar Soba
dynamic local foothold in restaurants including Edinburgh’s Kampung Ali Malaysian Delight – now making a bigger deal of its street food offer – and Ong Gie in Tollcross with its table-top grills. Likewise, Scots themselves are bringing back the l avours they’ve experienced abroad: The Hanoi Bike Shop in Glasgow’s Ruthven Lane or Saiko Kitchen in Marchmont in Edinburgh being two of the more recent local examples. Informal eating opportunities, lively l avours, open-minded diners: the stage is set for pan-Asian street food to grow and grow. It’s just a shame our often cold, wet streets aren’t playing their part.
2 Apr–4 Jun 2015 THE LIST 61