Glutton at home

Thanks to the awesome Glasgow weather, Glutton opted to stay in this weekend so I thought I'd share some of my eats with you.

Saturday was a lazy lunch courtesy of Morrisons supermarket!  They had a lovely selection of deli treats, so I put together an antipasti platter with meats, stuffed peppers and pickles.  A board of cheese, pate, quiche and chutney was also delicious and I finished the feast off with tapenade, grissini and oatcakes.  Very tasty and very simple!



Kept it simple for dinner as well, a starter of scallops, asparagus and pancetta with an anchovy butter was divine and a dish I'll be making again and again.  It was all done in one pan and only took about ten minutes from start to finish.

Main course was mussels in a spicy tomato sauce served with crusty bread, again an easy dish apart from cleaning the mussels which is a slight labour of love. 

My shellfish was purchased from the sublime MacCallums which remains my favourite fishmonger in Glasgow.  They had a great selection when I went yesterday and you can also get a good range of game, fresh veg (their wild mushrooms are wonderful) as well as some nice deli items. 

Hopefully our summer will start soon and I can look forward to some al fresco dining!

Ciao Bambino!

Gambrino - Great Western Rd, Glasgow

A nostalgic dinner with a best friend took me to Gambrino recently.  I say nostalgic because it’s round the corner from the old flat we shared and brings back memories of cheeky late night suppers and boozy lunches that we couldn’t afford at the time. 

Gambrino is a cheerful place with romantic stained wood and flickering candles and on the night we visited it was almost full which is nice to see.   The menu is a decent size with a good range of starters and packed with plenty of pizza and pasta dishes dotted with a few other Italian menu staples.

To start we decided to share the bresaola and rocket salad with parmesan shavings and a garlic flat bread.   The bresaola was nicely presented and tasty but for £7.45 I thought the portion was pretty mean, bresaola is not as expensive as say Parma ham or a beef carpaccio so I would have expected a more generous helping.   The flat bread was wonderful, well cooked with a perfect amount of both garlic and seasoning.

Starters demolished and on to the main course, my friend went for an old favourite of fettuccine al cartoccio, a baked pasta dish where the pasta has been stirred through with Bolognese sauce, mushrooms and mozzarella, amongst other things.  I think it’s a great dish, really delicious although be warned it is also seriously filling!  I opted for a chicken Milanese and I confess that I was disappointed.  The chicken wasn’t flattened out properly which I find off putting and it had been burnt on one side, the accompanying spaghetti was nice but didn’t make up for the poor chicken. 

They have a brilliant selection of predominantly Italian wines with a reasonable number offered by the glass.   Service was good and I like the fact that some of the staff are Italian which lends some extra charm to the experience. 

It’s maybe not a restaurant worth crossing the city for but if you’re in the area then I would recommend a visit, a bit of la dolce vita never hurt anyone!

Tequila it makes me happy.....

Chiquito – Springfield Quay, Glasgow

With a bank holiday weekend to fill I found myself at the cinema followed by dinner at Chiquitos Mexican restaurant at Springfield Quay.  Now I find the lack of Tex-Mex restaurants in Glasgow a complete mystery as it is one of the most popular cuisines with the masses, I mean seriously, do you know anybody that isn’t partial to a plate of nachos or skillet of fajitas?  Anyway, I am happy to report that Chiquito’s is offering up decent Tex-Mex food that is bound to please a crowd.

What better way to get you in the mood than kicking off with a pitcher of Margarita, and this restaurant did a surprisingly good one.   A perfect blend of tequila, triple sec and lime juice sweetened with agave syrup it was scarily drinkable, not too sweet and not too strong it was served in proper Margarita glasses with salted rims - muy bueno!

The menu is what you would expect in a chain restaurant, an eclectic mix of family favourites and slightly strange fusion dishes such as hoisin duck fajitas....  Definitely a menu minefield so my advice would be to keep it simple and stick with the classics.

Being a glutton the starter with the most appeal was the fiesta platter, an appetizing selection of BBQ chicken wings, nachos, onion rings, chilli poppers, corn on the cob, potato wedges and Chiquitos own Tostadas (a baked flour tortilla with garlic butter).  I know this is not “cheffy” food by any stretch of the imagination but that doesn’t mean that it’s not delicious and satisfying!  I found myself grinning at the bliss that was a damn good Margarita and a tasty, spicy combo of all things deep fried and cheesy.  

For main course I was awkward and ordered a starter dish of Louisiana hot wings and a side of fries.  Again, not exactly Michelin stuff but boy they went down a treat.  The wings had a very addictive deep savoury heat, fried hard and served with more of the Louisiana sauce; my only jibe was the lack of a cool blue cheese dip and celery accompaniment more normally found with hot wings.  The fries were fine although served in a big flat plate which made them go cold quickly.

My husband’s  Cajun slow cooked beef Chimichanga, consisted of two mammoth fried tortillas stuffed with rice, refried beans, beef, cheese, guacamole and sour cream – almost everything but the kitchen sink!   It tasted brilliant, the beef was melt in the mouth tender and had a nice earthy chilli flavour.   Our friends enjoyed their equally huge dishes of the chicken Chimichanga and a very spicy Pollo del Fuego.  Thankfully it was no problem to provide carry out containers for the inevitable leftovers from all at the table.

No desserts, with bellies full of Chimichangas and icy Margaritas we were lucky to get back on to our feet again.   The bill was reasonable and service was cheery but a little slow.  All in all a very enjoyable dining experience, if you want something fun, funky and frozen then invite your friends, leave the car at home and have a good old fiesta at Chiquitos.