Cail Bruich - Market Menu

Merry Xmas one and all. Its great to be back blogging again. I do miss it but work does take over the better half of my time.

Met up with some year mates at Cail Bruich one weekeday evening to try out the market menu.
17.95 quid for 3 courses
14.95 for 2 courses.

Whiskey Cured Oak Salmon with Lemon CApers, creme Fraiche and Herbs. Nice plated and not looking like it was ready to fill you up even before the main course.

Venison liver Parfait, apricot, pear & saffron chutney, toasted sourdough bread. Didn't realise that parfait is also known as pate... Good thing the chutney did well to mask the gamey taste of the pate. still a nice dish though

Hake, ratte potatos, sprouting broccoli, Seville Orange Hollandaise. Greatly pan fried fish, fresh veggies, and creamy potatos. The seville orange hollandaise sauce provided a nice tangy kick to the fresh fish.

Braised Pork Cheeks, Pureed Potatos, baby onions, Lardon, mushrooms, parsley.

A very competent brownie. Simple pleasures. mAximUm Satisfaction.

Cail Bruich West
----------------------------
725, Great Western Rd,
Glasgow,
Lanarkshire
http://www.cailbruich.co.uk/


G12 8QX

Ian Brown - Food and Drink

Its not usual for the West Ender to venture into the South side of Glasgow in search of gourmet food. 1. There's alot more restaurants that I have yet to discover in central Glasgow and 2. there are not many restaurants in the South side. If you guys know any that I might like, please recommend.

so Aa's idea of a romantic getaway with C over the weekend (yes.. lightbulb again...) was to pay a visit to the newly opened Wholefoods Super market. If you like me enjoy watching Topchef, would know that its one of the higher end supermarkets you can splurge on.
Sorry Waitrose, someone's up the ante.

And because we were in the South side, there's a great excuse to try out one of the List's hitlist restaurant.





Looks can be deceiving and if you ask me I wouldn't think that the restaurant was helmed by the once head chef of Ubiquitous chip if you look at the restaurant front. Step inside and instantaneously, the "posh"ness of its modern interior set my stomach rumbling for what I was hoping will be a nice luncheon.





We went with the set lunch as we thought it was the most economical.
Before we even placed our orders, a very nice gesture in the form of a sweet potato basil oil veloute was presented before us.




Customary JPO breadshot haha!! Homemade bread with extremely good quality olive oil.





Aa had a smoked mackerel salad dill dressing. Good quality smoked mackerel !!! and not too heavy at all for a starter





Asparagus Custard with a garlic sippet and pea sauce. That's for me.
The custard was alittle light in flavours but the pea sauce was great.





Your humble Greg's bridie made posh in this restaurant.





For mains, Aa had a venison pie. Chunks of venison certainly made this worthwhile





C had a pan-fried mackeral with mustard sauce. She likes it !!.

And I had a stuffed chicken risotto with new potatos and vegetable spaghetti. Succulent chicken, crispy skin and a playful take on spaghetti kept me wanting for more.

+ Great classy food at great prices. Nice ambiance. Friendly staff
- South side of town makes traveling difficult for me haha.


The man himself wasn't in that afternoon but the food certainly did not fall short of his high standards.

Ian Brown Food and Drink
---------------------------------

55 Eastwoodmains Road

Glasgow, G46 6PW
Tel: 0141 638 8422
www.ianbrownrestaurant.co.uk

Cail Bruich West End

Cail Bruich West is located in the bohemian district of the city's west end, adjacent the hinterland of the Glasgow Botanical Gardens.

Under the guidance of chef patron Chris Charalambous we offer a sumptuous menu adhering to our principled aim of seasonality and freshness. Our respect for Scottish food and a passion for evoking that special dining experience for our customers mark our uniqueness in our industry.

We have a range of menu's that will cater for all occasions from classic brunch dishes through to our seasonal a la carte.

The warmth of our family owned and operated restaurant permeates into the dining room ensuring our diners an intimate culinary affair. Our wine list is carefully from small suppliers around the world crafted to create the perfect partnership for our menu.

~~ Quoted from the Website ~~

This post is way way way over due. It was my birthday dinner treat from C. hahah how nice eh

I can barely remember what these dishes were called but this one certainly looked like a terrine of some sort.

Here is my pea soup with a nice poach egg. Its one of the best soups I've ever tasted. Very velvety in texture. Very posh indeed

Scabster Hake, Ratte Potatoes, Samphire and hollandaise. C had this.
Ever heard of Samphire?? I love it!!

I went with pork belly. The pork was good, moist but lack the crispy skin. As for the corizio chick pea side, I din;t feel that it was a good pairing. just seem abit too dry and overwhleming in taste?

Lastly a vanilla rice pudding and.................. a chocolate moose?




Thanks C

Cail Bruich West
----------------------------
725, Great Western Rd,
Glasgow,
Lanarkshire
http://www.cailbruich.co.uk/


G12 8QX

The Butchershop Bar and Grill

My flat really likes the Butcher Shop.

Good Quality Beef.
Master Chef cooking
Competitive Prices
Great Atmosphere and Service
Convenient Parking



Do check out their Côte de bœuf! and Steak Frites Tuesdays


P.S: Quick break. Back to Work..

The Butchershop Bar and Grill
---------------------------------

1055 Sauchiehall Street
Glasgow G3 7UD
Tel: 0141 339 2999
http://www.butchershopglasgow.com/

MacCallum’s of Troon Oyster Bar

It seems that every time we make a day trip somewhere, it always ends up with a big meal of some sort.

Our curiosity in a car auction brought us close enough to Troon to visit one of the most talked about restaurants in the area.

MacCallum's of Troon !!!





This former engine house is now a restaurant beaming with pride as one of the most iconic part of the habour. Sitted right next to the Troon Fish Market, the restaurant is likely to benefit from the tonnes of fishes that pass through this historic habour





I especially love the high ceilings and aged walls adorned with pictures of sailboats. There is no mistake that one is in a seafood restaurant after looking at these pictures.

Some complimentary bread to get our appetite going !!!

I started off with a large plate of grilled langoustines. The portion looked large but there were only 5 langoustines. As long as the taste was good I wouldn't have minded BUT... my suspicion got the better of me when I realised that they might not even be fresh. The texture of the meat was powdery and they came out of the shell in bits rather than whole. Sorely disappointed that I had spent 17 quid on this. Its only consolation was the garlic herb sauce.

The cullen skink was a much nicer starter. Well balanced smokiness and fishnesses with large chunky fish meat.

C insisted on having some oysters since we were in an oyster bar. No one's going to stop her.
I don't eat oysters btw.

The mains were the star of this luncheon. I had a sea bream pan fried with some herbs and lemon. Absolutely smacking delicious. My mum's probably thinking in her head right now what's so special about the fish. Afterall, she's been pan frying fish in the household for umpteen years. haha.

I have to emphasise though that the Scottish style of eating pan fried fish lends its taste from the use of olive oil, fresh herbs and lemon juice. That I am pretty sure is different from the CHinese way of pan frying the fish in purely ground nut oil or sunflower oil.

C went with the lemon sole which was once again delivered with perfection.

Aa went for the big kill and settled for a 1kg lobster. It was huge !!!

This giant prawn fared much better than the tweenie langoustines.


I firmly believe that the hallmark of a good seafood restaurant prides itself on sourcing the freshest seafood. For me, Maccullum's almost hit the mark if not for its langoustines.
If you like fish, this place should not disappoint you.

MacCallum’s of Troon Oyster Bar
-------------------------------------------

Harbourside

Troon, Ayrshire
KA10 6DH

Tel: 01292 319339




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25% off at Zizzi's for the month of April

I have blogged about zizzi's before (Here & Here) and I like it because of the convenience and ambiance.

but today, I wanna share with you this great discount

CLick here for the link -->> http://www.zizzi-offers.co.uk/

Btw I din't get 100% discount for doing this post lol

I had this pasta dish called Chitarra Alla Pescatora and as the menu description says it is a "Calamari, mussles, King prawns and chilli in a tomato and white wine sauce with Chitarra spaghetti. This traditional pasta is ideal for holding the rich pescatora sauce with its rough square edges. It's made using a machine called a chitarra (guitar in italian)"

YOu can find out more about how this pasta is made from this European Foodie or from Prof Wiki

This is a very heavy pasta and you've got alot to work through each strand. Definitely a Winter type pasta and one that will send you to ZzZzZ land (no punt intended).

I made the stupid decision of having the mains and appetiser sent together but obviously that proved wrong for a very good reason haha. We ended up quite hungry after.

C loves her Calamari and I am pleased to say I enjoy it as well. Must give extra stars for the sizable portion.

We also had some lovely deep fried courgettes. My first time. Great tempura batter and veggie flavours.

C had a nice pumpkin and pancetta rissotto. This tasted much better than I expected it to be. Pumpkin is not a vegetable that I normally enjoy eating but this one sure impressed me. I wonder if a poached egg atop it will make it nicer .. hmm..... (ok maybe its just my imagination)

I wish this post came out earlier but I was busy with reading. Enjoy the last 7 days of the discount !!!

Zizzi
------------------

8 Cresswell Lane
Glasgow
G12 8AA
Tel: 0141 334 8258
Monday – Saturday; Midday to 11pm
Sunday: Midday to 10.30pm

p.s It was a massacre...

BiBi's Cantina

If u venture far enough, you will find treasures.

And I like to think I may have found the best mexican restaurant yet in Glasgow.

A nice sizzling plate of prawns with fajitas (free refills btw !!!). Yum Yum...

*and i love it when they say they only serve most fish dishes on Fridays and Saturdays. Thats what I call quality assurance.

Its hard to resist sharing this restaurant but now you know. And please book in advance. The place is small and always crowded.

Bibi's Cantina
----------------------
599 Dumbarton Road
Glasgow G11 6HY
http://www.bibiscantina.com/
Tel: 0141 579 0179

Number 16

Cosy, quality food, friendly service and great value in a much loved neighbour were the words chosened by the owner to describe this wee humble establishment just at the bottom end of Byres road. I knew I was set for a great lunch deal snatched off www.5pm.co.uk.

The set up of this place was nice and warm with a low lying ceiling providing what was describe as a cosy atmosphere. A little too tight perhaps in some areas that might just be abit intrusive if you were considering a romantic one on one date. Nevertheless, nothing that a good meal couldn't make up for.

We were served warm seeded bread for a start with a nice dallop of butter and balsalmic olive oil on the side.

C had a oven baked mini fish pie with saffron mash. Pies are not a commonly cooked item in the flat, much less a fish pie. I can see why she decided to go for it. Great taste and a great portion for a starter. If not for the scorching temperatures, she might have wolfed it down.

We try not to order the same dishes when we go out to maximise the variety. I had a warm salad of ham hock and cornichons with poached egg, goats cheese mousse and watercress. I absolutely love this. Its was an exciting myriad of flavours. The meaty salty flavours of the hog, acidified by the gerkhin and then you get neutralising effect from the oozing poached egg, only to be awaken by the freshly blended pesto sauce. Yum yum...

My mains of a pan roast venison haunch with moroccan spices and greens was much less of an exciting and probably an overkill on the meat/salad combo. In retrospect, I wish I had ordered something else because the salad totally set the standards too high.

C completed her meal with a rainbow trout and lemon rissotto combo. Very substantial, nicely baked fish and a well seasoned and refreshing rissotto.


We were too stuffed for any dessert.

Just to remind you, this meal cost only 9.95 pounds for 2 course with a free glass of wine or soft drink. How good is that you tell me?

Number 16 Restaurant
-----------------------------
16 Byres Road,
Glasgow, UK
G11 5JY
0141 339 2544
www.number16.co.uk

The Pelican Cafe

I love it when a restaurant prides itself on using the freshest local produce that change with the seasons. Its quite difficult to get a place at this restaurant. That's how good it is.

Thankfully, I had some time off my mental receiving shift and was able to meet up with JM for a quick lunch.





Prices are slightly on the pricier side. A three course will set you back by about 20-25 pounds but the lunch deal here isn't all that expensive if you consider the food that you get.

I had the Pelican Fish and chips comprising of a COley fillet, sea bass, king prawns in an ale batter served with Goose fat chips and minty peas. Every bit was delectable. Variety is the key. Wouldn't it be nice if most chippies do like a combo fish and chip. The chips were uber yummy too, must be the goose fat..

JM had the West Coast Scottish shellfish linguine with scallop coral cream and rockets. The linguini was so ever slightly overcooked but I can overlook that. The cream was rich, seafoodish and not too cloying. JM dosen't eat alot but she finished every little bit of it. Must be good.


I was really tempted to go for another main but I thought I better watch the wallet haha. There were so many other dishes on the menu that I wanted to try I even thought of going there in the night.

Definitely wasn't going to miss dessert. How artistic isn't it with the passion fruit and raspberry coulis swirls. We had the passion fruit cheesecake and mango relish and a chocolate tart.
Word's can't describe it. You've really got to try them.

OK I think I might be over biased about how good the food is. Again I encourage you to go try it for yourself especially since they've got a new menu that was created in Febuary.

The Pelican Cafe
------------------------
1377 Argyle Cafe
Glasgow G3 8AF
(opposite The kelvingrove Museum & Gallery)
Tel: 0844 5730670

http://thepelicancafe.co.uk/