Kelvingrove Cafe

I think we should go back to the old style shop fronts, they look cool. Many years ago, in fact back in 2008 I took a photo of the old shop front, admitting its beauty. Last year it was renovated into a bar/restaurant and we met some friends there last night. On the positive side it's a very good looking bar with a buzzy atmosphere but on the down side the food was quite frankly disappointing. The reason we went there in the first place was that the menu on the website had some interesting dishes roasted bone marrow, chimichanga crayfish and Rockefeller skink. Unfortunately the menu we were handed had none of these dishes on it. This was a big disappointment iambs I felt we were duped, the menu was much less interesting as a result.

I have no photos as the other problem with this place is it's far too dark. It's really more if a drinking bar than an eating place due to the lighting and volume of music.

We tried the lobster roll which compared to the Hawksmoor or Burger & Lobster was a poor show. The ratio of bread to filling was wrong and the £18 price tag was not reflected in the quality.

The fish taco was not served with a taco but a soft tortilla. This was not ideal to house the filling which was pieces of fish in a nondescript tomato sauce accompanied with some congealed cheese in a ramekin. No salsa,no herbs, no taste.

The sliders were a bit better with the lamb beating the chicken but no where near as good as Roast. In fact one of them had the bun toasted so much it was black and the burnt taste overwhelmed each bite.

The chicken wings were too sweet and not crispy enough. I love chicken skin but  not soggy flaccid chicken skin.

We were sat directly opposite the bar 5 people at 3 small round tables. This wasn't so much a problem for us but our elbows did seem to bump the poor wait staff who were pretty busy and tried hard to be attentive. 

We all agreed we would go back for a drink but not to eat.

Roast

This is by far my most favourite place to have lunch in the West End. It's tasty and home cooked and I enjoy each mouthful whenever I eat there. Is a small indepently run business so I don't think you can ask for more. I like the sliders as the bread to meat ratio is perfect. This time I got 3 brisket and 3 Philly cheesesteaks. I cannot emphasise the intense umami mouthfuls both these sliders give. It is serious mmmmh eyes shut stuff. I would be proud to make this food. 

Kooky bakes

I loved the sound of this bakery stall and knew that I would have to seek it out after we had our bacon sandwich at St John Bread & Wine. It was right round the corner at the Sunday market in Spitalfields- Upmarket. Not being a fan of the cupcake (shocking, I know) I made a beeline for the tray bakes. The signature slice : a base of salted pretzels, baked with chunks of chocolate (dark and white), pecan nuts, dulce de leche and shredded coconut. This was great but unfortunately the piece I got was slightly overdone which slightly spoiled its great taste. That didn't stop me from eating all of it of course, a feat which did take a couple of days though. The other slice which should have been equally as good as it was essentially a marathon/snickers bar was less successful for some reason that eludes me.

A stall to seek out.

Buddy's Bar Diner Grill

We had tried out Buddy's burger joint a couple of months ago as it had rave reviews on James vs Burger. As we enjoyed what we had and were in the vicinity of their new sit in place we thought we would give it a shot.

Their menu is available on their facebook 

page. Their new place is located on that strip with Shimla pinks, cookie and the Bungo all nearby. There is plenty of parking on the side streets and the venue itself is large and family friendly.

I ordered the double buddy with jalepenos, HI ordered the brisket sandwich and the Carolina poutine and out of curiosity 6 mega death wings. The good points were the burger. It was large and juicy. Doubling the patties is a good idea as they are thin and cooked through. I would ask for the lettuce and tomato to be on the side next time as I think they dilute the flavour. The overall taste was good although the bun a bit dry and bready for my liking. The brisket sandwich was ok, but compared to others especially roast it was dry and not flavoursome enough. The poutine was tasty but very rich and a perfect stoner/ hangover dish. I think there could have been more cheese curds and I think thinner or better cooked fries would work better. The wings were unfortunately coated then fried, something which was not made clear on the menu and is to my mind unnecessary. The nega death sauce as always very good.

The service was friendly and effiecient and our food came out promptly.

If I wanted somewhere to go with the kids or a large group of friends I would return and stick to the burgers, as they do these well. Places like burger meats bun or bread meats bread or smoak as rivals and have their own strong points. Roast in the West End to my mind is the best brisket and Philly cheesesteak in Glasgow.

L'enclume

I realised that, according to google naps, L'enclume was only 2 hrs 45 mins away. Why not, I thought? We dug out our DVD  of the Trip and put ourselves in the mood for a road trip. 

It was all very straightforward. No complicated booking system, no counting 60 days backwards, no deposit and no problem if you had to cancel (obviously giving as much notice to the restaurant as possible, as it's only polite). I came off the phone thinking I was obviously too used to London restaurants. I did phone a week before our trip just to check we did indeed have a booking as there was no confirmation text or email either.

It was quite a stress free day. The drive went well and Cartmel is indeed lovely. I liked the laid back atmosphere of the restaurant finding formal dining a bit of a bore these days. The staff were chatty and personable too.

The food was very pretty and there were quite a few herbs we had not tasted before. The combinations seemed designed to enhance the flavours of the main ingredient. The potato dish stood out, as did the hotpot and the venison tartare. I had made the mistake of asking for a substitution feeling a bit squeamish at the raw venison. How wrong I was. It was lovely.

The only disappointing dish was the fish ostensibly because it was cold. As you can see the herbed butter stayed solid and had it melted it would have obviously added flavour and richness to the whole dish.

 I had a lovely time and there is no doubt about the exceptional level of technique, quality of ingredients and level of service we experienced.

Pig and butcher

Family friendly, good atmosphere, fresh seasonal produce, butcher on site. What more can you ask for

Meatmission

We picked meatmission as I knew you could book. They showed us through to the back which suited us well as we had Noah with us. We loved the art and took lots of photos. This did not however distract us from the fact it took them ages to take our order and even longer to bring our food. We had a clear view of the kitchen and saw them crank out plenty of food. It turns out they forgot to process our order but once it was put in it came out pretty quickly. To make up for it they gave us free tokens for the photo booth which we loved! 

The food came out on a big tray which is great for sharing. I was underwhelmed by the monkey fingers. The batter was too thick and greasy. Same for the fried pickles, the batter separated from the pickles in a greasy clump. The burgers were good and I probably liked it more than my patty and bun burger.