Hot Tattie

Tattie Macs, Otago Street, Glasgow

Catching up with an old friend was excuse enough this week for dinner out and my companion’s venue of choice was Tattie Macs in Otago Street.   A warm, friendly little bistro sandwiched between Gibson Street and Great Western Road it was welcome suggestion.  

The restaurant is small but perfectly formed, twinkling candles and chilled out music makes it the kind of place I love.  The waiting staff were excellent, very informative and not over imposing, they were kind enough to let us try some of the wine before committing to a full bottle. 

A real selling point of this restaurant is their Bistro menu, available Sunday to Friday until 10pm and Saturday until 6.30pm, which is a bargain at £11.95 for two courses.  I appreciate a restaurant in this climate making the effort to stay busy and with such a reasonable offer and minimum time restrictions it paid off so by 8pm the place was bustling.

The main menu was offered but there is a decent choice on the Bistro menu so we ordered from that.  Starters were a pickled herring and potato salad for both of us, which was delicious.  The herring were sharp and sweet which along with the creamy potato salad was a match made in heaven.  The absent taste of advertised horseradish was only a mild glitch in a fresh and vibrant first course.

For my main course I plumped for the venison casserole, a melt in the mouth, comforting stew that was served with well prepared, zingy red cabbage and green beans.   My friend’s choice of roast chicken, with honey, ginger and Cajun spice was a surprise winner.  It was beautifully cooked, moist and much more earthy and interesting than I would have gathered from the description, it is a dish I will be ordering on my next visit.

The wine list is great with a good few choices by the glass but more importantly the whole ambience of the place is spot on.   Good service, food and wine make up ninety percent of any meal but Tattie Macs has the extra je ne sais quoi that makes it shine out.