Where to eat in Glasgow: Rogano’s and Cafe Gandolfi

When you’re used to travelling with a baby or toddler, the thought of a restaurant where you don’t need a high chair and don’t have to scoff your own meal/eat one-handed while doing stickers is hugely appealing.

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So with two nights babysitting arranged for my trip to Glasgow, I had plenty of choice to properly celebrate my culinary freedom. Tempted by the famous Ubiquitous Chip among others, I found myself at two contrasting spots, both with fabulous food and plenty of style, for a taste of the traditional and something more contemporary.

Rogano

I love art deco. I also love seafood. And I love a restaurant with a bit of character. There seemed no way that Rogano’s could possibly go wrong (short of turning me away).

All done in fantastic 1930s style, it’s Glasgow’s oldest surviving restaurant with 80 years of history behind it. These days there are tables out on the street for a summer evening, as well as the atmospheric places indoors, all packed on a Saturday night.

And there’s a good reason. Impeccable service, a huge wine list and decent choice by the glass, and the seafood. Oh the seafood.

I was struggling to decide what to get, with practically all my favourites on the menu, until the woman at the table next to me got the platter of fruits de mer. Even for one, it took up half the table, putting her companion’s prawns (lovely though they looked) quite literally in the shade.

There’s no real point to food envy if you don’t give in, especially when a bit of everything neatly solved my dilemma about what to choose.

With mussels, langoustines, oysters, prawns, pickled herring, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel and dressed crab, I resisted adding the lobster, took out my array of implements (mere cutlery not being enough) and dived in.

So fresh it tasted as if it had been swimming around earlier that day (entirely possible) and left me so full – along with a couple of amuse bouches of scallop bisque and chicken liver pate – that I was glad I only had a few minutes to waddle back to my hotel.

And while it’s not the cheapest, I wouldn’t have been surprised if a seafood spread like that had cost significantly more.

Cafe Gandolfi

Set in Glasgow’s Merchant City, the cafe apparently introduced the city’s first cappuccino machine – there’s far more than coffee now, as it’s expanded to include a bar and next-door fish restaurant as well. And it’s a fantastic place for a taste of traditional Scottish ingredients with a twist.

Warm and welcoming on a wet June evening, it’s also very laid-back, with wooden tables, blackboards and friendly (but professional) service to go with the top quality ingredients.

Gorgeous melting black pudding from Stornoway, with mushrooms and pancake, followed by scallops with smoked venison from Rannoch smokery and dauphinoise potatoes.

I was also tempted by cullen skink and haggis (when in Scotland) but after the fish fest at Rogano’s (and with the rain bucketing down), wanted something a bit meatier and warming. Whatever my reasoning, both were delicious, even the unusual mix of the cold smoked meat with the scallops.

Then, to finish, millionaire’s shortbread, all gooey with caramel, and a fantastic Italian red dessert wine, the kind you’d only expect to see in somewhere specialist – and one of the reasons why Cafe Gandolfi is so special.

Disclosure: My trip to Glasgow was courtesy of Visit Scotland, and my meal at Rogano’s courtesy of Visit Scotland and Rogano. I paid for my meal at Cafe Gandolfi. My images don’t do either restaurant justice, especially in the mood lit Rogano’s.

Images copyright MummyTravels

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