Category Archives: Pubs

Munro’s, Glasgow West End

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We were invited the try Munro’s on Great Western Road recently. If you know the area, you’ll know the infamous Captain’s Rest closed down last year. After a huge refurbishment, it reopened as Munro’s, marketed as a craft beer bar – the current beer trend going around Glasgow (and the rest of the world!). They have a rotating beer list which means there is always something different to try.

When we walked in, I couldn’t believe we were in the same building as the Captain’s Rest. I’d visited the former site frequently – I loved their pizza deal, and they had some good gigs in the basement area below (this space is now the toilets). Munro’s is completely different – the layout and design have all been seriously updated, as well as some huge windows installed so the place is now bright and airy. There are heaps of different dining spaces for a bite to eat, as well as standing barrels for downing pints.

We started off with a couple of drinks – I had a glass of pinot grigio (£5.60 for a large glass) and Graeme had a pint of Pacer Pale Ale while we looked over the menu. I’d describe the menu as beer food – foods that are good to accompany a pint (or a few!). It is also pretty cheap! It ranges from beer bite buckets (all under £4.50), sharing boards (under £12) to pizzas (up to £9) and then hotdogs, burgers, fish n chips and chilli.

We decided on a few starters to share:

Whitebait with lime and tartare sauce £4

Mushroom Rarebit on toasted farmhouse bread £4

Firecracker chicken wings £4.50

We decided on the above for our starters. The whitebait was super hot and crispy, just the way whitebait should be served. I also really loved the rarebit – a good balance of cheese and mushrooms. I wasn’t a fan of the chicken wings because of the sauce – I really don’t like anything that is barbecue flavoured. I hadn’t realised from reading the menu that it was a BBQ sauce with the name firecracker but I know for next time! Graeme did really like these though so it’s just down to personal preference.

Meat feast pizza

Chilli Dog £7.50

Jalapeño poppers

Selection of sauces

Graeme went for pizza for his main, whereas I thought I’d try something different and have a hot dog. The jalapeño poppers were good although a touch on the too-hot side for me – they were also filled with cheese which was a nice touch.  The hot dog was good – a standard hot dog in a soft bun with fried onions. The fries had a nice crunch to them without being oily and were really fresh. Next time I wouldn’t get the chilli with the hot dog – again, down to personal preference. Graeme’s meat feast was incredibly meaty – just check out the photo! The crust was super thin (just the way I like it) and loaded with topping – as well as being generously sized.

This is a really nice, welcoming, warm bar. If you’re a beer lover, you should add it to your must visit places in Glasgow. I would definitely go back to enjoy a pint, and it’s nice to know a beer bar serves good, cheap food in case you need something to nibble on. The service was super friendly without being imposing, and it was pretty busy on a Wednesday night – nice to see the locals checking out the refurbishment!

Munros on Urbanspoon

We dined at Munro’s as guests of DADA PR and were not obliged to write a positive review.

Total Food Geeks Glasgow Bloggers Event at The Arches, Glasgow

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Scottish smoked halibut with Scottish asparagus, caper pop corn and smoked oil emulsion

Rabbit and ham hough Battenberg with sage crisps and a cider and honey jelly

A while back, Graeme from A Scots Larder suggested the Glasgow food bloggers meet up for a drink to see about starting up a Total Food Geeks over in Glasgow. There is a well established Edinburgh group so we set about arranging a meet up by twitter. Eventually we decided that it wasn’t right to have a foodies get together without food, and we settled on The Arches for its very reasonable set menu (3 course for £10!) and casual vibe.

Pan seared mackerel fillet with glazed beetroots, cauliflower & horseradish mousse, seaweed, spring onion & rapeseed dressing

Cairnhill farm roasted chump of lamb served with pistachio dauphinoise, confit shallots, baby turnips with a Bitter + Twister ale jus

We’ve written about The Arches before, so I won’t go into a detailed review but to say the food cooked for us at our first Total Food Geeks Glasgow event was, without understating anything, drop-dead amazing. I’d like to extend a huge thanks to The Arches and to chef Robbie McGuinness who not only made us an amazing meal, but came out of the kitchen to chat with us afterwards. Sorry for the interrogation Robbie but we all had loads of questions!

Chocolate Nemesis with salted caramel mousse and a bee pollen chocolate shard

We decided to meet every 6 weeks for a TFG Glasgow meet up – so if you’re interested in blogging, food, Glasgow, or coming along, let me or Graeme from A Scots Larder know (a tweet to @glasgow_food or @scotslarder will get you sorted, or comment on our blogs). We even have a hashtag where you can follow the adventures - #totalfoodgeeksglasgow.

Firebird, Glasgow West End

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We have a huge backlog of posts to write and publish so huge apologies for the quietness over here recently. But you’ll be glad to hear we’ve been super busy eating lots of delicious meals all for your reading (and then hopefully eating) pleasure!

We went to Firebird a couple of times recently but as they have just launched a new spring menu, we’ll just write about our most recent visit (and the pictures are better).

A rare outside picture - Firebird

We were having dinner with some friends visiting from England and decided to go to Firebird for a relaxing 3 course meal – the last time we ate there, we arrived at 6pm, I had to be somewhere else by 6.40pm so it was hectic to say the least!

We ate:

Goats cheese croquettes with honey, piquillo pepper sauce and toasted walnuts

When I read the menu, this was the first thing I saw and drooled over. Goats cheese in a croquette? Heaven! Thankfully they lived up to expectations and were lovely and crunch with oozy goats cheese in the centre. The sauce and walnuts went really well with the croquettes – I just wanted more!

Chicken terrine with almond pesto and cider poached pears

A lovely starter – full of flavour without being too rich, and made up of good sized chunks of chicken.

Lamb kofta pizza with halloumi, harrissa oil and rocket (optional extra)

I don’t normally order pizza when I’m out, but Firebird has such an extensive list it seemed silly to pass them by. I really liked this pizza – just the way a pub pizza should be, thin, crisp with fresh and flavoursome toppings. I really liked the lamb kofta on it, I thought this was quite unusual. It also had some pomegranate jam on it to add some sweetness.  I added rocket as an extra to get some extra greens into my meal!

Osso buco - veal shin braised in white wine and tomatoes, with saffron risotto and green beans

This was Graeme’s choice, and he really enjoyed it.  The veal was lovely and tender, and tasted fantastic.  The risotto went really well with it, and had a great depth of flavour.  We eat a lot of risotto at home, and we’d be doing really well to make one this good.

Dark chocolate and hazelnut cheesecake with vanilla ice cream

Graeme had his eye on this from the start and it was just as delicious as it sounded. A really smooth, creamy and decadent chocolate cheesecake which I would definitely order myself next time we visit.  Be warned though, you may have to make sure you keep some space for it, as it’s very rich (in a very good way)!

I really liked Firebird – it’s a casual pub restaurant with excellent, friendly service and an interesting new spring menu.  It seems like we aren’t the only ones who approve, as the restaurant area was full when we were there on Friday night with a mix of people – families, Friday night drinks crowds and friends catching up for dinner (us!).  Well worth a visit.
Firebird on Urbanspoon

The Lansdowne Bar, Glasgow West End

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After the baking competition at the Lansdowne (see this previous post!), we were invited along for dinner and jumped at the opportunity! We went along last night for dinner before going to see The Blood Arm at Captain’s Rest. I also took the photos on my new iPhone 4S (which yes, I waited most of the day for) – let me know what you think of the quality of the pictures!
The Lansdowne has a great atmosphere at night, it’s tucked away on Lansdowne Crescent, just off Great Western Road. It has a real local feel, filled with people who live nearby and know what a gem of a pub this place is. The dining area is curtained off and has a nice intimate feel but still bustling with people coming and going to the bar and the conservatory. We were warmly welcomed by assistant manager Barry (who came third in the baking competition!) and had great seats in a booth. 
We had decided to go with the salt and pepper squid for starters, but the lovely chef came out quickly to tell us he wasn’t happy with his new fish supplier and recommended changing our order. This kind of service is really greatly appreciated, so we decided to go for the antipasti platter. 
Antipasti platter – £12
In my mind this was a bit different from your usual antipasti – the bread was lovely and light and it was accompanied by pesto, which I think made the starter a nicely balanced dish rather than being weighed down by too much meat.  

Venison haunch with dauphinoise potatoes, parnsip puree and chef’s gravy – £16 
The gravy the vension came with was absolutely delicious, really meaty and rich but not sickly. Thankfully we’d ordered the chunky chips as they were perfect for mopping up the gravy. The dauphinoise was great, although I prefer mine slightly more creamy and then venison filled my craving for a delicious, gamey piece of meat. 

Parma ham, rocket, parmesan and pesto – £9
An excellent, old style, rustic pizza absolutely chockers with herbs – which Graeme loved. The ham was a lightly flavoured parma ham which meant the pizza was really well balanced. Also, the pizzas are huge and could be a challenge for one person to down in a sitting (especially after a starter!).
The Lansdowne is the kind of place you wish you lived close enough too to visit every day. With main meals starting at £7, and the venison being the most expenisve at £16, you can eat really well for really cheaply. If you like a warm, welcoming place to have a delicious meal, then you should pop down to the Lansdowne to check it out. 
Thanks to Barry for making us feel at home and a really enjoyable meal. We look forward to coming back again soon! 

Lansdowne on Urbanspoon

The Lansdowne Bar: Bake Off!

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On Friday I was lucky enough to be invited along to judge the baking competition at the Lansdowne in the West End. The event was being run to raise money for Macmillan Cancer Support and together with Evelyn from Top Tier Cakes we had the lovely task of tasting 12 delicious cakes, brownies and cupcakes. 
Lots of beautiful cakes
There was quite a few really lovely cakes, but the toughest part of the day was picking between the top three.

Look at this beauty! I think this was my favourite for the fact it was so unique: a black velvet cupcake. This was absolutely delicious and was baked by the Lansdowne Assistant Manager Barry! The downside was that the black food colouring turned your mouth and tongue black: in my opinion, the taste was totally worth it. These cupcakes came 3rd overall!
These babies came in 2nd place – so pretty! Raspberry and honey cupcakes – and they had some orange zest through them too. The whole raspberries in the mix were a real highlight. These were baked by Alison McKenzie – congratulations!

Shockingly, I don’t have a picture of the cake that came in first! It was a chocolate cake with just the right amount of ganache and was impossible to fault, hence it winning first! If I can find a picture online, I’ll upload it. First place was won by Emma Briggs.

The Lansdowne raised over £300 on the day by selling these delicious cakes which I think is an amazing effort. Thank you so much to the Lansdowne for inviting me along to judge, it was an absolute honour. 

Lansdowne on Urbanspoon

The Captain’s Rest, Glasgow West End, Glasgow

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Sometimes you walk into a pub and feel right at home, like the pub is filled with your friends and like you never want to leave. This is exactly how I felt when I first visited The Captain’s Rest in Glasgow’s West End.

We had tickets to see The Blood Arm and decided to go in early for dinner beforehand. There is a discount if you’ve got tickets for a gig that night on the food, but we just went for the two pizzas with two toppings for £8 deal. Pretty much unbeatable!

Pizza with chicken & balsamic roast vegetable

Pizza with chorizo & balsamic roast vegetable

Garlic & cheese bread (two slices – one consumed prior to the photo!)
Great, simple pub food. I loved these pizzas, they are crispy, fresh and delicious. Not greasy and not overdone with toppings. They have a great selection of food and drinks, and it’s a really great place to hang out any time of day. We’ve been back since and I’m sure we’ll be back a lot more. Apparently they are undergoing a refurbishment early next year – I’m not sure why – but I’ll be interested to see how it turns out!

West Brewery, Glasgow Green

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We ate at West Brewery on Saturday, 19 March 2010. As we’d had lunch, it was more of a mid-afternoon snack to fend off drunkeness from too many beers!

West is in a beautiful location, right near the People’s Palace and on Glasgow Green. It is such a beautiful location in fact, that there was a wedding there on Saturday when we popped in for drinks. This meant the front room (the Hop Room) was closed off for the wedding and reception.

We love our beers and dived straight into West’s own beers. While I am a member of a beer club, I am no expert and so will instead direct you to West’s website for more detailed information about their beers. I thoroughly enjoyed the Hefeweizen for my first beer of the day, while my boyfriend went for the St Mungo. We later headed inside to enjoy some food – as it was mid-afternoon and I wasn’t hungry enough for a proper meal, I had the cheese board. Delicious – served with the usual blue cheese, cheddar and brie, as well as butter (something I am yet to fully comprehend) as well as a delicious red onion chutney. The chutney was lovely and rich, really made the cheeseboard a bit more interesting than the usual.

(I apologise that the cheeseboard has been half-eaten in the photo!)

My boyfriend had a pepper chicken sandwich which was served with chips or salad (he chose chips!). The chicken was lovely, soft and velvety and the chips were lovely and fresh. One thing I love about West is the accompaniments – I love that they give you four different sauces for your chips. Very generous and well appreciated!

Pepper chicken sandwich with chips.

We also shared some onion rings – I should have learnt by now that I don’t enjoy onion rings, but my boyfriend loved them!

We had a great afternoon at West and wouldn’t hesitate to go back. The one oddity of the day was dogs being allowed in the restaurant area which I found strange, however not off-putting enough not to return. And I love dogs. But strange, all the same.

West Brewery, Bar & Restaurant on Urbanspoon

The Butterfly & The Pig, Glasgow City Centre

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We ate at the Butterfly & the Pig on Wednesday, 17 March 2010.

This was one of the first pubs I visited when first in Glasgow. And I was amazed, it was beautifully decorated and had a lovely relaxed yet vibrant feel. They have great décor, everything is interesting to look at with mis-matching furniture and plates without anything being worn or crappy. It’s the kind of place you feel comfortable in instantly and I’m always wanting to head back there as soon as possible.

We have eaten here so many times and I have never had a disappointing meal. The menu has to be mentioned – anyone who has eaten here knows what I mean. It’s written in part rhyming slang, part jibberish and makes for an interesting and informative read, and I love that there is always an element of surprise to what your meal actually will be.

You can eat in the restaurant section, or in the more casual bar section. Both locations are ideal. We have not yet had the pleasure of eating upstairs at the Tea Rooms however, we will have to rectify this as soon as possible!

When we ate here on Wednesday night, my boyfriend opted for the beef burger and I ate the chicken – both were generous, delicious and exactly hit that spot. To me, there isn’t a better feeling than being “just right” full after dinner. We didn’t have dessert as we were heading off to Frankie Boyle, but past experiences have been a delight. I can’t go past a cheese board, and my boyfriend loves anything oozing in chocolate.

Our meals came in at a very decent £15 for two mains. I love this place and can’t wait to return.

The Butterfly and the Pig on Urbanspoon

The Clockwork Beer Company, Cathcart

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We ate at the Clockwork Beer Company in Cathcart on Saturday 27 February 2010. Apologies that there aren’t any photos of the food!
It is a short walk from Mount Florida train station, making it a perfect place to go for Saturday afternoon/evening drinks without having to worry about getting home. They also have their own microbrewery on site which means you’ve got loads of different beers to sample. I tried the Red Alt at 4.4% – made from American red ale hops and German Alt ale. I loved it, really drinkable and a smooth, sweet flavour. My favourite of their beers. My boyfriend didn’t enjoy the Hazy Daze Ginger quite so much as it was slightly watery and the ginger flavour was overpowering.
The menu is simple and straightforward. I liked that they served food right through the afternoon into the evening, but I didn’t like that there was a separate dining area as it seemed to be lacking in atmosphere, and there were too many children running around for my liking. I fully acknowledge there isn’t much Clockwork can do about this though, and they do market themselves as “family friendly”.
Between four of us we shared the combo platter, consisting of breaded mushrooms, onion rings, chicken goujons, garlic bread with dips of garlic mayo and salsa. Delicious and the perfect amount of food for four as an entree.
For main I had the chicken fajitas which were served as “make your own” (thinking about it, I’m not sure how else you could serve fajitas!). Fresh, sizzling and delicious, the chicken, onion and capsicum (spiced peppers) were tender, moist and made for 4 delicious wraps. I thoroughly enjoyed this and would go back just for the fajitas.
A great bar with interesting beers on tap, simple food but with excellent flavours.

The Clockwork Beer Company on Urbanspoon