Monday 22 April 2013

Behemoth burger at Nice n sleazy's.

HI has decided to use James vs burger as his guide to eating his way round Glasgow's burgers. Being quite hard to please normally he was quite taken with the Behemoth, no doubt in part due to the rich bone marrow gravy. Being in the vicinity we decided to pop in to check how consistent an offering it is. It being my first time here I had to fight the overwhelming urge to repeatedly wash my hands and to check my seat before I sat down ( middle aged or what) I also felt slightly envious of the hipster dudes drinking White Russians at 3 pm in the afternoon. The burger priced £7.25 with chunky fries was quite the messiest burger I have eaten ever. The gravy was excellent and was the brisket. The burger cooked medium well ( not our specification) was too finely ground for my tasty but had a good meaty taste.yhe chips were more like wedges and were ok. A tasty meal all in all. They had a special called the hogwash which I intend on trying next.



Sunday 7 April 2013

Wannaburger Edinburgh

In London the burger war rages with patty and bun, meat liquor, Byron, burger and lobster, Tommis all vying for first place. Edinburgh and Glasgow are following suit it would seem. James vs burger is a comprehensive and useful resource for the latest in the Glasgow Burger scene.
HI had sampled what the Cambridge bar in Edinburgh had to offer so now it was Wannaburgers time. I desperately wanted to like it with its too cool for school vibe and free condiments but the burger was far too American ( in a bad way) for my taste. Although the patty itself was decent the bun was too sweet, the cheese plastic and the gherkin sweet as well. No, no and no. The shake was decent but still not as good as Byrons. I have emailed them again asking when they are opening a branch in Glasgow!





Friday 5 April 2013

Battlefield Rest

The only up side of being in the Victoria Infirmary is its close proximity to the Battlefield Rest. This place serves tasty fresh Italian food at reasonable prices. We went there one lunchtime to celebrate Ninas birthday with both children in tow.
The food was good.
Mussels in an amazing marinara sauce, so good we mopped it up with the pizza.
Caeser salad with the most decadent garlicky deep fried croutons I have ever had
Pizza with Italian sausage
Lasagne







Thursday 4 April 2013

Hanoi Bike Shop

There is a dearth of Vietnamese restaurants in Scotland. So far the only one I know of is the Pho cafe in Edinburgh, so this is a long overdue addition to the eating scene in Scotland,let alone Glasgow. It is found on the site of the old Stravaigin 2, a place I found devoid of character especially compared to its elder sister and somewhat redundant in its purpose. The clever folk at Stravaigin have reinvented it into a very nifty looking place with cycling accoutrement all over the place. The food is meant to be good here, the main criticism being the small portion size which is passed off as a small plate sharing kinda place. Our favourite Vietnamese in London is Cay Tre and the cuisine suits 3 years olds well being rich in flavour without relying heavily on the chilies. This was a good test 3 adults and two 3 year olds. What could go wrong?
As it turns out not very much. The good was very very tasty. Each dish had its own
distinct flavour there was no shortage of fresh herbs and chili, we ordered a lot so
We weren't aware of the portions being small
FIVE SPICE CHILLI PRAWNS
with Bike Shop coriander, lime & soy salad cream 6.95
PORK MEATBALLS & CHARGRILLED PORK BELLY
with vermicelli noodles & mixed herbs 6.25
GREEN TEA SMOKED CHICKEN
with mango, wombok cabbage, shallot & mint salad 6.95
These three dishes in particular were very good, fresh and light
COCONUT BRAISED PORK SHOULDER
with soft boiled egg, fresh cucumber & lime 8

CA KHO TO
CARAMEL HAKE
in sweet galangal, chilli & garlic sauce 8

Whilst good pieces of pork and hake and good flavour verging on the slightly too sweet?
SAVOURY CARAMEL CHILLI & GINGER CHICKEN
with peanut, mint & hot basil 8
Very good
Not being an aficionado I don't know how good this was but large portion with pieces of meat and the requisite garnish
THE CLASSIC BEEF PHO
Fillet & flank in marrow bone broth 9

Pulled pork bahn mi special crusty fresh baguette plenty of meat and fresh herbs and fried onion
All in all a very tasty meal with a very attentive waitress who put up with two 3.5 year olds.
I would definitely go again. Meal for 5 with food left over and drinks came to £70

















Seewoo

If you don't mind the racial segregation, this place can serve you up some of the best Sichuan food in Glasgow. We used to like Asia style but Seewoo has the added benefit of being open during the day and very child friendly. The large fish tank with lobster, crabs and fish is a bit hit. Ignore the menu you will be given as it contains the very bland generic stuff that can be found in most Scottish Chinese takeaways. Instead go off piste and order
Beef in hot oil
Salt and pepper king prawns
Seabass steamed with ginger and spring onion
Beef with 3 kinds of chilies
Pork chop in clay pot
Diced chicken with dried red chilies
Morning glory with garlic
All very fresh and very tasty.











Mark Greenaway

Saturday lunch. Very good. I would come again! Good service, pretty food, tasty food, good portions. Standout puddings!
He has not yet got a star but I reckon it won't be long till he has one. That plus a couple of appearances on Great British Menu will mean his name will be as well known as Tom and Martin.





















La cova Fumada 2012

We had Saturday breakfast here before the beach and it was jam packed. The staff were very friendly and tolerated my pidgin Catalan. We ordered practically everything on the menu- mackerel, gambas, tomato salad, pan amb aioli, the bombas, chickpeas, all washed down with cold beer. The mackeral (caballa) and chickpeas were my particular favourite. We had a feast for a very reasonable price. It's full of locals in fact we were the only tourists and it is somewhere I would go again if at the beach, and it's child friendly too!

Vioko and Cremeria Toscana

you can't go to Barcelona and not eat ice cream. I favour Cremeria Toscana de to the fact that it has a more creamy consistency. My favourite flavour combo is a scoop of coconut and of plum. The little one inhaled the dark chocolate ice cream and woudl up-end the container to get every last drop.The two locations, one diagonally across from Paco Meralgo and the other in Born are also quite handy. Vioko is on the other end, v modern with some unusual flavours like lavender and black pepper. The portions are huge so get one between two! Its great for the beach.

Cuines Santa Caterina 2012

Probably the most disappointing of our meals. Again chosen because it was child friendly and had a varied menu. Some of the food was tasty but the portions were on the small side and it was one of our more expensive meals. The service was brisk and efficient which is fine as it was a busy lunchtime. The fact that I can't actually remember what we had speaks volumes to the fact that it was not a memorable meal, whereas others are burned into my mind. If in the area I would probably head to Barcoa the sister burger restaurant to Kiosko.

Can Ravell 2012

This was one of our most favourite and tasty meals, although one of the most expensive. It is majorly old school and exceedingly charming. We had the menu de tapes, which had 5 dishes and was shared between us all. I had the arros del dia, which was rich and umami filled. The ous ferrats chistorra again, very tasty with a generous amount of chorizo. The tomata escabet was fresh and light, and we had a mini portion of 3 puddings. We will definitely return here. A feast for 4 came to 131.73 Euro with a lot of food, some soft drinks and a couple of glasses of wine.

Bubo

Another old favourite. Still providing exquisite creations at prices that would be unheard of in this country. I don't know how they do it. The little one was like a child in a sweet shop (which he was). Tucked in a little corner by the Santa Maria Square in Born it's definitely worth a stop.

Kiosko burger

This places serves really tasty burgers, and its child friendly. Its the perfect place to pick up lunch or an eraly dinner if you have had a day at the Parc Cituadella. you have to join a queue and then give your order at the desk much like the original maccie d's but what you get is vastly superior. They were so tasty that I forgot to take photos. We tried the Catalana and the Asturiana with their french fries and a drink each for 24 euros. I would go back.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

Cacao Sampaka

Travelling with a child gives the experience of eating all things chocolate another dimension. The brownie was a bit dry but the hot chocolate and in particular my cold chocolate with passionfruit was immensely pleasurable. It had my tastebuds singing, so much so I tried to go back the next day for another but it was shut :(

Hawksmoor Spitalfields Bar

The Spitalfields venue is the only Hawksmoor branch we have been to and it's one that we have made a point of going every trip we have made to London over the last 8 years. The reason for this is not only the excellent steak that they serve but also because the bar upstairs served what we considered the best cocktails in London. Of course now there is more competition with the likes of Nightjar, wsws and Purl but when I heard that they had developed a bar downstairs with its own 'snack' menu I thought that it sounded like heaven. I wasn't far wrong. I loved it. Having used reclaimed materials the 1920's shabby chic look was the perfect setting for prohibition era cocktails. We had a comfy table in the corner which was great for people watching and the staff from bar to wait we're very accommodatin The food was very very tasty. The menu had the perfect combinations of rich and meaty with spicy and light. I really had a very happy tummy. We had the burger which was its usual perfect self, but the revelation with the short rib French dip. I do believe that HI almost did a happy dance with his feet when he realised that the sauce boat of gravy was all his. Very rich and very savoury. The larb (which is sadly no longer on the menu) and the smacked cucumbers were hot,hot,hot and refreshing which was perfect to allow us to keep eating more of the very rich meat.