Restaurant review: Stravaigin, Glasgow

Published on Saturday 14 November 2009 13:48

EVERY restaurant that gets reviewed in this column is either brand spanking new or has been recommended by someone with no agenda, usually a friend or workmate – although a couple of cabbies have muscled their way in, as has, incredibly, a nun. And a cracking recommendation hers was too – Edinburgh's Kalpna.

Amid all the advice proffered over the years, a simple but effective rule of thumb has emerged for me: if you get three enthusiastic endorsements that have no obvious strings attached, the object of the informant's desire is definitely worth visiting. At last count, Stravaigin was into double figures on the recommendation front, including two breathless "it's my favourite restaurant anywhere" exhortations.

With guidance like this, a visit to this little corner of the West End of Glasgow has been long overdue. Not that this favourite is an undiscovered gem: the existence of Stravaigin 2, an even more laid-back version of the original, would give a lie to that suggestion.

The first thing to note about this hugely successful Kelvinside restaurant is that to get to the original Stravaigin requires a triumph of self-control. This is because it necessitates passing the bustling pub of the same name, which occupies the ground floor above the basement restaurant and is invariably stuffed to the gunnels, exuding a merry hubbub of sociability and banter. The best way is to take the corridor at a scuttle as you head down the steps to the subterranean dining room, and that's exactly what I did after sending Norman as an advance party while I circled the streets looking for somewhere to park.

The restaurant itself, which won The List readers' choice award this year, is so relaxing we could happily have spent all evening there. The terracotta walls, subtle lighting, wooden floors and chunky, rustic furniture all combine to lend the place an air of bucolic calm – although, as diners were thin on the ground when we visited, our repose was interrupted at almost irritatingly regular intervals by the only waiter making sure that our meal was up to scratch.

Not that it always was. Norman, in particular, was rather dubious about some of the seasoning in his dishes, for which read the liberal application of chilli and herbs at every conceivable turn. Stravaigin's motto – think global, eat local – is, he reckoned, shorthand for the chef's determination to make decent local ingredients have to shout to be heard above the clamour of harsher tastes from foreign shores.

He had a point. We knew beforehand, for instance, that my starter of mussels would come with a sweet chilli and coriander sauce, but that bland description didn't do justice to the feistiness of the brew that accompanied a huge bucket of exceptionally succulent mussels. Not that I was complaining as I slurped up the warming soup at the bottom of the bowl; but the initial shock to the palate was profound.

Norman was on safer ground to take issue with the fiery chicken fillets with mung bean saag and raita, chosen from the specials menu. The description didn't mention the word chilli, but the dish was just as hot as my mussels. Despite that, though, once the surprise had been absorbed, the rich spinach dish soon disappeared and received a qualified thumbs-up.

We decided to give the burger – which Stravaigin boasts is the best in Glasgow, a claim most customers seem to agree with – a miss, and were both disappointed to find that the rabbit and chanterelle cassoulet had proved so popular that it was off the menu. Undaunted, Norman chose the lamb chops with fava thyme pure and turla turla, a Turkish variation on ratatouille, while I went for the braised beef flank with aromatic Korean pho and egg noodles.

If my dish was excellent, the strips of beef tender and succulent, Norman stared at his chops with deep suspicion. As a farmer whose sheep live on the moor and graze on heather, he's used to the best ingredients and likes his meat unadorned. He wasn't impressed at what he saw as the ruination of good lamb by coating it in a thick crust of herbs. The chops were billed as being accompanied by simply a helping of turla turla; nowhere on the menu was there any sense that they would be transformed out of all recognition.

Despite what looked like a dizzyingly good range of puddings, we were in the mood for something as bland as possible and rounded off with ice-cream and a fantastic Anzac cookie (or optional chocolate brownie) and mused on what could have been. There's no doubt that the raw ingredients used at Stravaigin are of the highest quality, the service is attentive, the ambience relaxing and convivial, and the prices pitched sensibly. Perhaps a bit more care needs to be taken with the wording on the menu, or maybe we should have been more questioning before we ordered.

We were left in little doubt that there's a fantastic restaurant in there somewhere. It's just a shame we had to hack our way through layers of spices to find it.

Vital statistics

STRAVAIGIN

28-30 Gibson Street, Glasgow (0141-334 2665, www.stravaigin.com)

OUT OF POCKET: Starters 3.65-11.95 Main courses 9.50-21.95 Puddings 4.45-6.45

RATING: 7