Red Onion, Glasgow

We celebrated K's Birthday at the award winning restaurant, Red Onion the other day.
Helmed by John Quigley, the food takes on a casual gourmet influence.


Here's some of the food that we had that night.





Seared scallops with chorizo, rocket, plum tomato and Balsamic dressing





Crayfish, apple and baby gem salad with Marie rose dressing and Melba toast





French Onion Soup





Mixed grill of harrisa loin of lamb, merguez sausage and smoked aubergine with tzatziki and cous cous





Grilled seabass fillet with risotto Nero, shaved fennel, rocket and confit lemon

Hot chocolate brownie with honey comb ice-cream

Lemon tart with fresh strawberries and crème fraiche

Crème brulee

The food was intended to be an upmarket reinterpretation of local favourites and should sit comfortably on many of our palettes.
Well priced for the food the that we received.
Look forward to returning back sometime someday.

Red Onion
-------------------
257 West Campbell Street
Glasgow G2 4TT
Tel: 0141 221 6000

http://www.red-onion.co.uk/

P. S: Happy Birthday DAD !!!!

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

Breakfast @The Drake

The flat stumbled upon this wee breakfast place tucked away in a basement along woodlands road.





French Toast bigger than the size of your palm with organic honey

A full scottish fry up bound to heighten all lipid levels.



Its nothing to wow about but at least, its convinient, cosy relatively cheap and does the job of satisfying one's breakfast craving.

I shall return.


p.s: only available for weekend brunch

The Drake
---------------------

1 Lynedoch Street
Glasgow, G3 6EF

http://www.thedrakebar.co.uk/

Crabshakk: A seafood showcase

Crabshakk and I met when I was still a student. It was love at first sight and taste. A combination of modern chic designs coupled with its rustic fisherman decorations left me hungry for what it was going to offer.

2 years down the "fishing"line, my heart still goes on ..... -__-""


~ rite... enough of my post nights gibberish ~


Truth be told, I really enjoy every experience that I have been here and I say this again, I'll choose it my first choice to showcase the seafood of Scotland in the Westend.

Unlike poultry/meat restaurants, seafood restaurants tend to rely on the catch of the day to decide what's on the menu. Unpredictable but that's the charm that it brings.

The "spoofs" aka razor clams turn out wonderfully flavoursome. I have been eating this the chinese style with soy, sesame oil and garlic. What I din't realise until now was that bacon made a great pair with the razor. *or issit everything just taste nice with bacon hmm.

I've had plenty of tuna and sardine sandwichs but the novelty of this upscale fish sandwich really turned me on. Chunky sweet white fish, smoked makeral and did i see crab meat as well .. It packed a load of species in there. The only let down was that it was too big to fit into one bite. PLUS. the use of toast was a double edge sword. On one hand, it helped prevent the sandwich from being too soggy but then it made it extra difficult to bite through without making all your fillings fall out of it.

These scallops were huge and very very very expensive but worth every single penny. Again I see the neat bacon trick used to enhance the flavour of the scallops.

Can't imagine a seafood restaurant not being able to make a decent fish supper. Afterall, a good one relies on the owner's ability to source a good supply of fresh good quality.
This got C's 2 thumbs and 2 toes up.
The chips were outstanding. Maybe they were awesomely fried in goose fat mmmhmms..



So are you ready to crabshakk???

20110813-094, originally uploaded by jiapui.

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

Roasti Bubbly Jocks

C and I had a great lunch at Roasti Bubbly Jocks last weekend. I can't recall the number of times I have driven, walk and ignored this wee restaurants on my way to Sainsbury and Morrisons. Its a pity this restaurant is not located nearer to byres road.

The food is unpretentious and in every way charming. COuld it be because we had lowered our expectations before going to the restaurant? Or was I biased towards the their contemporary Scottish style of cooking

The big question was how could there be no one here on a Saturday afternoon when 5pm does such a great lunch time deal

I have taken alot of pre-meal bread shots recently. TOday, we have sun dried tomato bread? .
*

Mediterranean Fish Chowder. Rouille Crute. A very healthy portion of seafood medley that was good enough as a main meal on its own.





The vegetarian option of Cream of Celery Soup, Parsley and Croutons.

Seafish with Tagine Chermoula on Roast Aubergine. A Morrocan inspired dish that reminded me of sambal fish minus the heat.

Slow Roast Scottish Lamb Shoulder with very refreshing mint pea.



I highly recommend this place for lunch. Huge portions , home cook goodness PLUS great value makes a perfect start to the weekend.



p.s: Cash or cheques only

Roasti Bubbly Jocks
----------------------

450 Dumbarton Road, Partick

Glasgow, G11 6SE

Tel: (0141) 339 3355

Fresh from the WHoleSale Market

Many many years ago (actually only 3) I remembered watching this cooking video on youtube about this chef who was trying to make Jamaican food in Glasgow. One of the dishes required the use of Mangoes and for some reason, he actually had to go to a wholesale market in Glasgow to get it.

Somehow or rather shopping in Costco where things are huge and excessive has stirred up my curiosity for seeking out this food heaven.

The motivation was so strong I actually woke up at 6am to drive to the market. Thankfully its not that far away from my place; quite near the Royal Infirmary in fact.

Turns out the market wasn't the food heaven I was hoping for. Bustling vendors, throngs of traders,s piles, basket, crates of vegetables and meat produce... none of which was to be seen. Sighz... At one point my heart almost sank because the seafood wholesale market that I wanted to explore was not to be find. One of the lads pointed out to me I was in fact in the wrong section of the compound.... I had to drive up the hill.... -__-"

And as I arrive at the top , seagulls and the familliar smell of the seafood reignited some hope. I had indeed found the seafood mecca in Glasgow. There were only 3 stores that were operating. I in particularly had loads and loads of styrofoam boxes filled with all sorts of fish laid out over his shop. My instinct told me that had to be the store to buy from.

John Vallance was the name of the store. The man himself wasn't Mr Vallance but the 3rd or 4th generation of fish mongers. No prices were available here, everything was by word of mouth. I take it the more you buy the cheaper it becomes.

My intentions really were to get some langoustines. The experience in Lochleven really left me craving for more. The going rate was 15 pds/kg. With little to reference from, I had to ask him how many pieces I would get with each kilo. 10 - 12 medium - large crustaceans apparently. The last time I ate at Macullums, it was like 6 pieces for 15 pounds. Unhesitatingly, I scooped up all the langoustines he had that day. 2 huge kilos of it. To top it off, I got another kilo of clams from him.

All the prep for the seafood feast was done in an hour that I got home but it wont be until 10pm that night before I'll get to eat them. Thanks to Aa who was on call...

Here's what we had.......





1 Giant plate of chilled langoustines with homemade garlic mayo and warmed smoked salmon lemon vinaigrette salad. It was really satisfying having so many of them to eat. Though the taste wasn't as intense as the ones from Lochleven, these ones will do for now. Personally, 8 out of 10.





The tails were not small at all. None of that shrimpy business. Its the big boys we are talking about here.

The clams were soaked for almost a day in salted water to get rid of the sand. I decided to make a spagh vongole out of them to supplement our crustacean starter.

Here's our massive spaghetti ala vongole for 3. A little salty and alittle less garlicky than I would like. The next time I'll nail !!!

All in all, it was a worthwhile trip. Perhaps some lobsters next time ? hahaha

20110730-197, originally uploaded by jiapui.

Good bye to another friend

Time of the year where peers move to another part of the country and My dear friend WY is finally moving down to London. In many ways I am happy for him as he embarks on his new life down South.

As we chowed down the salmon over some F1 action, it dawned upon me that I actually shared this dish with him way back in 2nd year.

and if you are wondering what those funny pear-shaped liked veggies are, let's just say they are the remnants of the potatoes that I used to make Rösti .



P.s.: Been too busy to blog recently. Hopefully I'll get more time to post in my next posting kekeke.

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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