Glasgow

Glasgow! I still need to write about our days in Glasgow (this was back in Easter!). Blogging has not come easy as of late though I am still prolific on Instagram. I think after a whole day of looking at a computer, I’m just not feeling as inclined to open up my laptop yet again at night. But there’s Glasgow to write about! And also a recent trip to Canada! And a day in St Albans too! Onwards!

On our arrival in Glasgow, it was first waiting out the rain in a bookshop and then our hotel before heading out for dinner – Paesano! This purveyor of authentic Neapolitan pizzas is rightly popular with the locals; there was a wait for our table but it was worth it. Our fresh Tuscan fennel sausage …

… and prosciutto cotto and mushroom pizzas were excellent.

A side of artichokes and sun blushed tomatoes were lovely – the tomatoes were particularly good.

Dessert was one of the cakes of the day – a chocolate fudge cake with a side of soft serve ice cream. The portion was massive for £4!

The next morning, we trekked out to Glasgow Cathedral – it’s magnificent! I’d never visited the cathedral despite spending a little time in the city 17 years ago and I was surprised by its size.

Across the street was the most interesting Provand’s Lordship, which I also highly recommend visiting! It’s a medieval building kitted out to be exactly like how it would have been around the 16th-18th centuries and it’s free to visit. Highly recommended if you’re visiting.

We then took the subway to the West End where we lunched at Kimchi Cult!, a kind of fusion Korean joint that’s quite popular. A bibimbap with pulled pork…

… and bulgogi brisket bao were both alright. The vegetables in the bibimbap were just raw and not blanched or seasoned which made it not taste entirely right to me.

Of particular note were the fries with kimchi mayo – they’ve hit on a winning formula here. I hear their fries topped with everything are very good.

The entire afternoon was spent in the brilliant Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, where we learned about the Glasgow Boys and their influence on UK art.

And then I was back at Crabshakk – or should I say, I introduced Blai to the brilliant Crabshakk. We noshed on a few things by the bar. Let’s see… first were salt and pepper tentacles and gurnard (what a combo!).

Octopus with onion puree, chorizo, garlic pesto (!!!).

Crab cakes (these are a must).

And finally seared scallops with anchovy (always go with the anchovy butter). Brilliant as always.

We walked all the butter off on our way to Crollas Gelateria, where we shared freshly baked chocolate chip cookies with two scoops of gelato. Yes. Yes. Yes.

As you can imagine, we rolled back to our hotel that night.

On the morning of our last full day in Glasgow (and Scotland), it rained cats and dogs and we could only sprint to the nearby Gallery of Modern Art where we spent a curious morning before we continued through the damp to Cup Tea Lounge where we shared a pear and orange salad and eggs royale.

While the food was average, the setting was absolutely gorgeous with its ceramic tiled walls and its impressive gin bar!

We continued up towards Sauchiehall Street, making a detour towards the Glasgow School of Art. Alas, the original Mackintosh building was under scaffolding for a refurbishment but there was an excellent exhibition about it all in one of the new buildings.

We dropped into Singl-end for coffee and cake – well, hot chocolate and coffee and a vegan (!) cake. It was the most delicious vegan baked good I’d had – a raspberry, chocolate and pistachio cake. All their baked goods looked excellent as did their savoury brunch options.

Our final dinner in Glasgow, in Scotland!, was at Bread Meats Bread, a popular and highly rated burger joint. My Wolf of St Vincent Street was a juicy patty topped with cheese, bacon, pulled pork, crispy onions and ‘nduja was almost too big to get my jaws around. But it was good!

As was Blai’s Full House burger which was topped with beef brisket and pickles. Our accompanying sweet potato fries and poutine were also excellent. I like the creativity they exhibit through their fries – our neighbour’s maple and bacon sweet potato fries looked brilliant!

The next day, it was back to Edinburgh and then back to London from there. We had a fantastic time in Scotland – everyone was very friendly, there’s plenty to see and do, and, gosh, the food was good. As is usual, all photos from our Easter trip to Edinburgh and Glasgow can be found in this Flickr album.

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Eating in Edinburgh

It was yet another Easter weekend and we weren’t going to let these free days off go to waste. On Blai’s request, we headed up north to Scotland, a country I’d visited briefly but where he had never set foot. Off we went by train from London to Edinburgh, a pleasant few hours journey which saw us deposited right in the centre of the Scottish capital. We dumped our bags at our B&B and then immediately set off up the hill to the castle.

While we didn’t visit Edinburgh Castle on this trip, we could still marvel at its impressive location.

We criss-crossed the city, walking all the way down to the Scottish Parliament and the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Of course, such an appetite that has been worked up must be addressed! Dinner! And it would be at The Dogs, a well priced British bistro that was packed with locals and tourists alike. Home smoked trout, fennel and mint slaw, capers was a lovely little starter of lots of textures and flavours – that toasted trout skin was wonderful against the soft trout flesh.

Pork cheeks in cider, celeriac + pear mash, buttered Savoy cabbage were served in a very thick sauce that seemed to consist of apple puree. While the mashed was a bit too texturally similar to the tender pork cheeks and its sauce, the cabbage added a nice little crunch.

Ling, prawn + spinach pie, herby potato crust was a very comforting fish pie.

A side of mangetout, honey and pumpkin seeds was great! I think I’d been expecting the usual boiled veg but here the mangetout was sauteed. Much better!

Desserts were outstanding. A fruit crumble was the furthest away from the usual institutional crumbles I’ve encountered. As well, their pear cheesecake was incredibly light and flavourful.

The next morning, we woke up to a full Scottish breakfast at our B&B – the B+B Edinburgh. Turns out I do love me a potato scone and a square sausage. Love ’em.

A couple hours were spent first at the wonderful National Museum of Scotland. I think it was more crowded that usual that weekday as the was a science festival taking place within. Either way, loved it. Definitely recommended.

We looked for a light lunch and found it at Ting Thai Caravan. We got spaces at a shared table and tucked into fried rice noodles and this lovely light beef noodle soup. Yes, those are pork rinds on top… They were very good but didn’t really add anything to the dish.

After wandering around Victoria Street and Grassmarket, the rest of the afternoon was spent at the excellent Scottish National Gallery.

We were chased out of the museum at closing time and came out to see this over the city!

We ended up at First Coast for dinner (our second choice restaurant) when we couldn’t get into our first choice Sushiya (we made it there the next day though).

A Middle-Eastern inspired aubergine and flatbread was a nice little cold starter. Perhaps it wasn’t the most inspiring but it was tasty.

We loved the Octopus, saffron aioli, black rice. The rice was gorgeous, as was the ridiculously spoon tender octopus.

A Brazilian seafood stew, coconut milk saw off more of the cold in our bones.

A Middle Eastern vegetable stew, apricots, olives, bulgar, pomegranate felt very healthy after the morning’s full Scottish breakfast! Of course, there was another one the next morning…

The next morning after breakfast (oof), we headed around behind our hotel to see the very picturesque Dean Village, a former industrial part of the city. We could have followed the path along the path all the way to the north of the city but turned around as our remaining time in Edinburgh was limited.

Lunch was in nearby Haymarket at Sushiya (yeah, we made a reservation this time), which turned out to be one of the best Japanese restaurants I’ve tried in the UK. Everything we had was brilliantly prepared and exceptionally fresh. Here was our perfectly crisp and greaseless squid tempura.

Grilled nigiri and a dragon roll were both superb, both perfectly put together and melt-in-the-mouth delicious.

There was a scoop of white sesame ice cream as well – excellent, and strangely quite unusual as I felt more used to seeing black sesame used in ice creams and desserts. Delicious! We highly recommend Sushiya and reservations are necessary for lunch or dinner.

And then it was on to Glasgow! (And that’s the next post.)

But there was one more Edinburgh eatery to report on – on our way back to London from Glasgow, we stopped in Edinburgh to change trains. The stopover gave us enough time to have a relaxing lunch at Edinburgh Larder, a cafe specialising in locally sourced produce.

A veggie plate contained hummus and roasted vegetables, plenty of salads and little locally baked oatcakes.

A fish plate was filled with variants of Scottish salmon (that now luxury good): cold smoked, hot smoked, paté. And again, there were countless little oatcakes. Delicious little oatcakes! You should see their sandwiches too – proper doorstopper constructions one can barely get your jaws around it.

Finally, an unusual honey and camomile cake was the perfect send off for our trip back to London. It was sticky and chewy and very very good.

 

Two Restaurants and Two Libraries in Manchester

I was up in Manchester at the beginning of this month for work. There were two nights, a presentation, and walks here and there throughout the city as I made my way from the conference venue to my Travelodge room. Here were the highlights for me.

There was lunch the Thai supermarket Siam Smiles (48A George Street, Manchester M1 4HF), where I had a large plate of khao kha moo (the sweet and salty stewed pork knuckle with rice) for £9.50. There was hot and sweet Thai milk tea too.

A visit to the John Rylands Library was a necessity as I have a passion for libraries and I was not disappointed!

The Victorian building was utterly gorgeous and I only wished I’d had more time in there. If you do stop by, make time to have a peek at the working original loos in the basement!

The Christmas markets woven through the city streets were exceptionally charming, lending a festive air to the quiet city. There were plenty of stalls from the European continent as well as more local treats. I wished I had more space to sample the boreks I saw at one stall.

The Mancunian specialty I wanted to try was rice and three and I chose to have it at Kabana (52 Back Turner Street, Manchester M4 1FP). For £6, I could choose from the curries of the day; my choices were lamb, keema and potatoes, and channa. The food isn’t highly spiced but is very comforting with lots of fresh ginger and coriander. You won’t leave hungry!

From a tip from a kind man at the John Rylands, I made my way to Chetham’s Library for a free tour just prior to catching my train back to London. This library is the oldest public reference library in the English speaking world and is part of Chetham’s School (specialising in music). The library dates from the 17th century but is housed in a building dating from the 15th century.

There was first a glimpse at the freezing cold but impressive medieval hall with its humongous fireplace.

The library itself is upstairs and looks like something out of a certain fictional wizarding school. It’s such an important bit of history and I’m so glad to have seen it.

And that’s the very short report of how Manchester fed me and charmed me this festive season!

 

The Parsons Table, Arundel

We both happened to have the Valentine’s weekend free and thought we’d have that weekend away for a bit of a mini-break. We chose the town of Arundel with its magnificent castle though our timing was entirely wrong – the castle doesn’t open to the public before Easter! Still, there was plenty of walking through Arundel Park (bordering the South Downs), various antique shops to browse, and many excellent cafes to while away the time.

There was also one excellent dinner at The Parsons Table, run by a very experienced couple who spent time in London and Canada before returning to the UK to start their own restaurant.

I loved the space, which was apparently the former stables of the castle. The restaurant has only been open for a couple of months, tucked away between little boutique shops, and it’s larger than its exterior suggests, with tables spaced generously apart. Do book ahead; all the tables were taken that Saturday evening, which wasn’t a surprise given the occasion. I had chosen this restaurant based not only on reviews but also that they didn’t force a Valentine’s set menu on everybody that weekend. The only concession to Valentine’s seemed to be a big vase of red roses and a small selection of extra dishes only available that weekend. We mixed and matched selections from their regular menu and this Valentine’s one.

Warm bread and butter was set down after we ordered. Slices of sourdough and a rosemary bread were brilliant. Good start.

Pulled Ham Hock Croquetes, TPT Piccalilli were beautiful. These perfect spheres were chock full of shredded ham with the tangy pickles perfectly matching the croquetes’ richness.

Quail Ravioli with Mushroom Juswas off the Valentine’s menu. These fat parcels were clearly homemade and were served with a good amount of wild fungi.

Slow Cooked Beef Cheek (Bourguignon) was a special that day that had nothing to do with Valentine’s day…. They just happened to have some nice beef cheeks in, I guess! And I’m glad we ordered this as that beef check was just melting away and its gravy was perfect with the pureed potatoes and vegetables. A couple of lardons and mushrooms were the nod towards the Bourguignon style.

Pan Roasted Loin of Sussex Coast Cod, Saffron and Cured Tomato Risotto, Padano Cheese was from the regular menu. The combination sounded like perhaps an odd mixture – I don’t think I’ve ever had fish with risotto or risotto with tomato. But it worked as the tomatoes provided the acidity for the fish.

Again from the Valentine’s specials was the Assiette of Desserts, a selection to share for two. There was a chocolate ganache tart, a slice of lemon tart, a white chocolate cannolo on poached rhubarb, and a scoop of rum and raisin ice cream. Everything was excellent but of particular note was the cannolo with rhubarb. I’ve only just recently learned to appreciate rhubarb and these tender pieces were superb.

With Blai’s post-meal tea also came a couple of perfectly crumbly buttery biscuits. I think I may have scoffed them both!

The bill for all the food (but not service) came to a very reasonable (approximate) £60. I’m not sure what I expected from Arundel but they’re lucky to have such a fabulous place on their doorsteps.

I definitely hope to return … perhaps later in the year to see the castle too!

The Parsons Table
2 & 8 Castle Mews
Tarrant Street
Arundel, West Sussex
BN18 9DG

 

Crabshakk, Glasgow

I spent a couple nights for work in Glasgow last week and took myself out for a nice dinner for my first evening. A recommendation from Rachel was Crabshakk and rather conveniently, it just so happened to be located very close to my hotel. I had made a booking for my lone self and that turned out to be a good idea even on a Tuesday night; the restaurant was packed the entire evening with both reservations and walk-ins. It’s a small space with bar seating and a few tables on the ground floor and a few more tables upstairs. I think I went there expecting a rustic looking place (I mean, shakk!) but the place is surprisingly modern with a few vintage touches here and there.

I discussed the menu with the very friendly waiter and went with a mix of his recommendations and my absolute must-haves. We both agreed that instead of the usual starter-main meal configuration, I’d go with a selection of starters. The Tempura squid with soy and coriander dipping sauce (£8.25) was indeed excellent but I could have swapped this for something a little different. The portion was generous for a starter and many other tables were sharing one order.

Off the specials blackboard were my must try: Queenies with garlic butter (£8.50). These little scallops were cooked on a hot plate with all that butter and arrived bubbling furiously. I leaned back to avoid getting butter all over me! When the noise settled, I tucked in carefully – these were some beautifully tender little scallops. And what a bargain they were – there were plenty in that dish!

Bread and butter (£2.25) was ordered to mop up the butter (just the bread without the extra butter spread on, of course).

An order of 3 Crab cakes (£8.35) turned out to be these petite things. But oh, what crab cakes!

Look inside! These were just chock full of crab and there was barely any discernible binding ingredients. These were some of the most impressive crab cakes I’d ever had.

And thank goodness too for that bit of salad on the side that helped refresh my palate a little. Maybe I overdid it with the bread and garlic butter.

I needed a bit of tea at the end of my dinner to wash down all that richness. My green tea came with a little bit of tablet which is not exactly ‘light’ itself! Whatever – it all went down the hatch as I adore the sweet grainy texture of tablet.

Everyone was very friendly, not just in Crabshakk but in Glasgow overall! It’s a great city with lots of good eating (I had a good meal the next evening as well – but that was a work related one) and I’m keen to go back soon to see and eat more of it!

Crabshakk
1114 Argyle Street
Finnieston
Glasgow G3 8TD