FOOD & DRINK SUPPORTED BY
RECENT OPENINGS
BONJOUR NOT AU REVOIR Glasgow has nailed its Brexit colours to the mast and welcomed a Euro-loving bistro with open arms, as Martin Cross discovers
T aking over the former Chelsea Market spot, Jacques is the ‘wee brother’ to Brel on Ashton Lane. While it lacks the beer garden and conservatory that helped make the original a West End institution, the new Finnieston outpost stays faithful to the continental theme, and the menu, while not identical to Brel’s, shows a distinct family resemblance. Jacques is big on cheese, with fondue a daily fixture and a giant melting wheel of raclette featuring on Sundays, plus there’s a tendency for it to turn up elsewhere – Toulouse sausage and chips comes with a little pot of grated Comté on the side. The Franco-Belgian alliance carries through to big bowls of mussels with chips, while the ‘poisson frîtes’ is a reassuringly Scottish piece of haddock in a light, crisp beer batter. Enterprisingly, Jacques offers a vegan cheese fondue, as well as a vegan seitan sausage and a chickpea burger. Bare brick walls, bar stools and well-upholstered booths give the interior a comfortable, pub-like feel, complemented by a wide-ranging drinks list naturally including half a dozen Belgian beers, as well as more than 20 gins.
JACQUES
1146 Argyle Street, West End, G3 8TF 0141 339 6909, jacquesbar.co.uk
£22 (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. base pancakes are loaded with sweet or savoury toppings, from standard (maple syrup, Nutella, bacon) to adventurous (marinated king prawns, pickled red onion). The self-serve bar is a gimmicky bit of fun, too.
Glasgow CLAY OVEN
INDIAN
67 Kilmarnock Road, Southside, 0141 632 2324, clayovenonline.com, £19 (dinner) Another curry house doing Punjabi-style favourites . . . but wait . . . things are different. First clue is the cool contemporary styling of this unlicensed diner (BYOB £1pp), then the cheeky menu wording (‘Layered paratha: Round. Flakey. Yaas’). Another indication is the eating. Sizzling plates of succulent chicken tikka grilled to smoky delight are big crowd- pleasers. But it’s not all meat madness – there are veggie dhals, deliciously light and fluffy paneers, and a vegan section, too. Patron Shazad Mohammed has a solid rep after four years at his Giffnock takeaway, and this Shawlands sit-in has a good mix of folk giving his home-cooking style the thumbs-up.
STACK AND STILL PANCAKE HOUSE
100 West George Street, City Centre, 0141 471 0417, stackandstill.co.uk, £13.50 (lunch/dinner)
HALLOUMI SOUTH GREEK
697 Pollokshaws Road, Southside, 0141 423 6340, halloumiglasgow.co.uk, £9.95 (set lunch) / £19 (dinner) More European chic than traditional taverna, only the Hellenic pillars at this Southside sister to the city centre spot hint at the nature of the cuisine. That and the cute piles of cut pitta adorning tables and waiting to be dipped into creamy, delicious tzatziki. Small mezze plates are the way to go here. Lamb souvlaki is a fine choice – tender pink meat under crunchy chargrilled edges showing a deft hand over the charcoals, while vegetarian dolmades are light and nicely textured. The subtly lit interior, with trailing plants and splashes of Athenian colour, is cool without ever feeling cold.
Edinburgh
MUMBAI DINERS’ CLUB INDIAN
3 Atholl Place, West End, 0131 229 8291, mumbaidinersclub.co.uk, £10 (set lunch) / £25 (dinner)
With a boast of being the UK’s largest pancake house, Stack and Still is certainly large. Surprisingly large. Do 200 people in Glasgow really want pancakes all at the same time? Regular weekend queues suggest yeah, they Located in a plush renovated townhouse in Edinburgh’s West End, this elegant Indian restaurant impresses. The menu fuses Scottish produce with Indian flavours, including North Sea monkfish grilled in the tandoor, hake
do. It’s easy to see why – this place has nailed the interactive family dining experience. Over 10 million combos mean you can be your fussiest self. Various smoked in-house and served with tamarind spiced courgettes, and the restaurant’s most popular dish – venison boti kebab. If you fancy a blowout, there’s also
a nine-course tasting menu which features Shetland scallops and grilled tawa lobster. A sommelier guides diners through an extensive wine list, while a dedicated patisserie chef crafts exquisite desserts, including saffron poached pears with homemade cinnamon ice- cream, and star anise and hot chocolate mousse.
EL CARTEL MEXICAN
15 Teviot Place, Old Town, 0131 370 8189, elcartelmexicana.co.uk, £14 (lunch) / £14 (dinner) The Teviot Place version of El Cartel serves up the same Mexican delights as their original Thistle Street restaurant in a slightly bigger space (15 tables to 10). Expect funky calaveras (skull art) and Mexican tiles with hip hop beats, as well as 80 tequilas, mezcals and agaves, Mexican beers and Margarita slushies turning slowly in the machines. Unlike Thistle Street though, they take reservations here, so don’t let the thought of queuing on a rainy night put you off their brilliant spicy small plates, like cream cheese balls with jalapeño and black onion seed, guacamole with plantain chips and frequently changing taco selections.
THE LOOKOUT BY GARDENER’S COTTAGE SCOTTISH
Calton Hill, New Town, 0131 322 1246, thelookoutedinburgh.co, £27 (lunch) / £27 (dinner) With course after course of beautifully curated dishes, a theatrical open kitchen and all the views, the Lookout is a feast for the senses. To begin, thick slabs of malted sourdough from their own bakery are spread with an aerated seaweed butter. Then hare, yakitori, plum and spring onion appear, garnished with flecks of burnt leek powder and glazed with a fermented birch sap and yakitori syrup. Food isn’t always presented in its most obvious form: chanterelles are blended through the barley on a venison main, while cockles in the sustainably farmed halibut – a true bowl of the sea – are camouflaged into the emulsion.
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 50 THE LIST 1 Feb–31 Mar 2019