Pie In The Sky v Great Food On The Ground

August's Festival In The Sky saw diners getting winched 100 feet into the sky (while strapped into a rollercoaster seat) to be fed by some of Scotland’s top chefs and returned to earth with a bump and wallets up to £93 lighter. When The Skinny braved the press preview (hacks being obviously more disposable than punters) the food was well thought out (a platter of locally sourced salmon, cheeses etc that was light on potentially queasy stomachs) and were whooped up into the air by our baseball-hatted Sky Hosts (smacking a little of Hen Night). It’s a genuine once-in-a-lifetime thing but, for a whole lot less, great food can be yours without the gimmicks.

The Gourmet Glasgow Festival (until 17 September) gives you access to top-notch fare in some of Glasgow's most popular restaurants for a whole lot less than you’d pay outside the festival. It has events, taster menus, special offers and sometimes a free bottle of wine thrown in for good measure. Gourmet Glasgow is now in its second year and boasts 45 participating restaurants, all members of the Glasgow Restauranteurs Association. Ryan, the chap who runs the GRA, took a friend and I on a whistle-stop tour of six of them – for one meal, with one course in each.

Now, no doubt this was a carefully planned itinerary, with restaurants chosen for courses which reflects what they do best and we were plied with wine and given some really great food. I’m not averse to a perk but this was getting pretty close to bribery. Naturally, it didn’t give us a true picture of any of the restaurants involved but the evening did provide a very interesting window on some very interesting eateries.

Firstly we arrive at Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery to find a glass of cold pink bubbly on the bar and some appetisers. These were plump prawns on squares of toast, asparagus wrapped in smoked salmon and some crumbly cheese and relish on tiny oatcakes. All was pretty much perfect, as would be expected from the generally impeccable Fat Ladies chain. Then on to Thali in the Merchant City for starters. With its glittery interior, explanatory paper placemats and spice laden air, this is traditional Indian food – tapas style. As we were just popping in for starters, we were served up a selection of Indian street food in silver dishes. Worth a try is Bhel Puri – a spicy puffed rice salad served with sharp cold yogurt. My friend described it as ‘like Rice Krispies – but amazing.’

Then on to Gandolfi Fish, next door to the renowned Café Gandolfi for a ‘fish course’. The chef is from Barra and we were told that both the lobster and the scallops were caught on his island, that he was very proud of them and we just had to try them. So we did. We dug sweet creamy meat from the lobster’s claws and picked its shell clean, dipping crispy twice-fried chips in buttery hollandaise sauce. The scallops were plump and tasty pillows, cooked up with strips of bacon and served with broad bean puree. A glass of Galician white from the specials list was recommended and was a dry and minerally gem which went pretty much perfectly with the seafood.

Now, I’m no stranger to gluttony but from this point on it became sheer endurance.

The charming Raymond Man of Dragon-i is a man with a vision. No MSG, everything cooked fresh, great Chinese classics with a Scottish seasonal twist. We were there for a main but were convinced (it didn’t take much) that a selection of the best things on the menu would be better. We begged for small portions but, with great pride, we were brought (more) fat prawns in a light champagne batter with a slice of strawberry on top – the sharp tang of the fruit complementing the seafood, black pudding spring rolls with their dark, unlikely interior showing through paper thin, crisp filo pastry and many other tiny tasty treats. Then a selection of mains, unlike the Chinese food I’m used to but all delicious. Thai Gai, chicken with apples and pinapples in a lemongrass and chilli sauce, and Lembu Serai – strips of beef served up in a salty, sharp sauce were both remarkable. This isn’t hangover-cure cheap Chinese, it’s get-someone-else-to-take-you-Chinese, and I’d recommend you find someone willing to. Sure, it’s a little pricier than some of the other Oriental restaurants in the city and the interior is a tad stark but it serves up some truly great food.

We tried to quit at this point, sure that we’d probably die if we ate any more, but were convinced to continue on to Amarone for dessert. I may have been hallucinating from too much food and wine but I could swear that the waiter whispered ‘tiramisu’ to me when he handed me a menu. Now, I’m not a tiramisu fan but I always trust a staff recommendation (imagined or not), so I ordered it, and it was delicious with boozy sponge and light creamy chocolate. My overfed accomplice’s semifreddo was a bit oversweet and I wasn’t convinced but she somehow polished off most of it. They also brought us a cheesecake and a chocolate mousse as we were just about finishing our desserts. Now, fair play to them as they knew I was writing this and being bribed with pudding is something I’m not averse to. However, the bribes weren’t really necessary – they were pretty good desserts. We managed a few spoonfuls before waddling around the corner to 29 for an unremarkable cocktail. 29 is a bit of an odd private members club (filling in a form with your job and your hobbies, attaching a photo and £150 might get you in ‘subject to approval’). Maybe I’m still too young – it is aimed at ‘individuals of 30 yrs and over’. Anyway, it wasn’t a great gin martini.

On my gourmet race around Glasgow I ate more than I ever thought possible and I haven’t eaten since (at time of writing this was the day before yesterday). However, doing this with restaurants in full knowledge that I was writing about them gave me the chance to chat to restauranteurs about what they do and why they love what they do. I learnt how happy Thali are that they are highly rated on Trip Advisor, how much consideration goes into what’s on the specials board in Gandolfi Fish and how proud the team in Dragon-i are about what they serve. We chose nothing – we just let some of Glasgow’s great restaurants feed us – and it was, apart from one fairly average martini, a joy.

I guess this is what the festival is all about. Go eat.