Royal Garden welcomes you - Chinese Restaurant in Bishopbriggs, Glasgow

It was Glasgow's September weekend (local holiday) when people were taking long weekend off including Mondays.  I was working on the Monday and so as my husband. Roads were very quiet driving home from work and when I got home, I got a little bit of holiday feel and said to my husband that we shall go out for dinner.

We remembered of the taxi driver who was raving about a new Chinese restaurant somewhere in Muirhead or Stepps  when he was taking us to the airport this summer. We could not remember of the name so we decided to just drive up there and look for it.  Of course when we got there we could not find the restaurant the taxi driver was talking about. We then decided to go into this Chinese restaurant in Muirhead that has been open for business for years. When my husband drove into the car park, it was full and no space for parking. We immediately gave up and decided to go to Torrance, basically double back what he drove to get to Muirhead, and then drove further to a completely opposite direction to where we came from to try another place for dinner. Once we got to this eatery and walked into the premises, we were told that they did not serve food that evening. I guess because of holiday Monday...?  By this time we had already wasted good 40 to 50 minutes.  It was then a case of 'do we just go to a supermarket and buy something to cook at home' or 'shall we try one more place'.

At that point, we just remembered about my daughter Emily having talked about this Chinese restaurant she likes in Bishopbriggs.  So, as a last resort (?) we decided to drive up there. When we got there, we could see a light coming from inside and there was a definite sign of its business being open. I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally we could eat!  And this is the beginning of our visits to this Chinese restaurant, Royal Garden (http://www.royalgardenglasgow.co.uk ) in Bishopbriggs.

It turned out that we were really lucky as we just got there a few minutes before 7.00pm when they finishes their Pre-theatre menu of £10.90 for 3 courses (note: extra £2 for king prawns). Not only that the menu is normally only available between Sunday to Friday except Monday evening however being the holiday Monday, they decided to open their business that particular evening.
Place was quite busy however we had no problem getting table. I felt lucky. 'Welcome to Royal Garden.'

I was trying to get rid of the cold for a good few weeks so I wanted to have something hot and spicy with chilli.
I chose Peking Hot & Sour soup for starter but explained to them no meat, just prawns and vegetables please.  My husband ordered the same.

It was tasty, I could feel the chilli was working and warmed me up to help me cure my cold.

For main course, my husband ordered Kung Po King Prawns. I saw they have Chicken in Garlic and White Wine Sauce on the pre-theatre menu so I asked if they could do this with King Prawns instead.

Well, King Prawns in Garlic and White Wine Sauce was really delicious - lots of garlic and some ginger.  I would be a breath monster the next day but I didn't care!  It was worth it as King Prawns were really nice and succulent and fried rice was tasty too.  (Wow, thinking about it just now makes my mouth watering!)

 

For dessert, we both decided to have banana fritters.  Let's not worry about calories here. It's banana, it's fruit, and yeah, sugar came from sugar cane or sugar beet, it's plant so all good for you.... [...not!?]

We had a lovely dinner. The service was really good; all staff were very friendly and very welcoming. We noticed that they seem to know most of customers dining there, calling them in first name terms and chatting about every day things. Like Cheers, "Everybody calling your names..." in that fictitious pub in Boston on US TV series.  Oh, my cold got a bit better too.

As we were leaving, I noticed their sign inside of the entrance that we came in a few hours earlier - 'Welcome to Royal Garden'.  Indeed, Royal Garden does welcome you.

Well, well, well... so much so, I went back on Friday that week with my daughters Emily and Maria. That evening, we were making some decorations that go into centre pieces for Emily's wedding next year so we thought we should be fuelled with good food before we set to work.

Another round of Pre-theatre menu.

Maria ordered Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings and Kon Sui Chicken. Emily ordered Vegetable Spring Rolls and Chicken Satay. She also ordered Chili Fries. I asked the staff if I could have Peking Hot & Sour Soup without meat and King Prawns in Garlic and White Wine Sauce instead of chicken.  He said, "Yeah yeah, I know, I remember you." We all laughed.

Salt and Pepper Chicken Wings

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Peking Hot & Sour Soup without meat

Well, another delicious meal. For dessert, Emily and Maria had jasmine tea. I wanted to try New York Cheese case. The staff asked if I wanted cream with it. Maria answered for me and said No thanks. [It's a bit too late to worry about calories here, don't you think?]  Well, a slice of cheese case was quite small however just as well. I don't think I could handle that much portion anyway.  It was a nice cheesecake.

Another lovely evening. We were really full by the time we left the restaurant. We could lie down to rest.... We went back to Emily and Craig's house, not to rest but as we still had to make some decorations for the centre piece for their wedding. That was the whole point of why all three 'girls' got together that night, Emily reminded us all.

.... I must confess ... I went back again this week with my husband.... their King Prawns in Garlic and White Wine Sauce is really addictive! I ordered the exactly the same things, even down to Banana fritter.  The staff came and said, "Ah, it's you again." We all laughed.  This time, my husband ordered King Prawns with Green Peppers in Black Bean Sauce.

It's all fruit and plant - good for you???

Yet again, we had another lovely meal, and good value for money too. 

The restaurant is near Bishopbrigg's Cross, behind the train station and in the residential area. The decor is nice and relaxing. Service is excellent and all staff are very friendly and guests seem to be mostly all locals and are treated like their friends.  Just like Cheers.  Royal Garden welcomes you.

Next time I may not even need to say what I want, they may already remember my orders. That's the kind of place, Royal Garden is.

That's all forks!

My first tomato!

My mother-in-law Mary gave us tiny tomato plants in a pot while ago for our kitchen windowsill. She told us to keep watering every morning and night, so we were doing that for a while. The plants started to get taller and taller and we were also starting to forget watering them.

I don't have green fingers and I managed to kill all the plants that came to our house, except pots of Phalaenopsis (or Moth Orchid) which are placed on our windowsills in the kitchen. So the tomato plants would be a matter of time.... it would be added to the list of al the plants who faced a sad fate under my watch.

We are now watering them when we could remember and before we know, they started to go yellow and then some bits started going brown and dried up.  I was thinking that we may have to throw this away soon.

This evening, I waterd my orchids, trimming dead flowers and then moved on to the tomato plants to remove all dead stalks and leaves when I notice this tiny green tomato which is a size of a marble.

Wow, my first tomato which I have ever grown (or I should say, which has grown of its own).  Compost was bone dry (poor thing!), yet it has born this tiny fruit. Life is amazing, nature is fantastic!  I need to pay more attention to this plant now.

I hope it will grow a bit bigger and get red so that we can try it.  I am so excited that I had to blog about it right away.

Mary, look at this!  This was the plants you gave us a while ago .....

That's all forks!

Curry in Lisbon - Jesus e Goes

My husband and I ate a lot of seafood in Lisbon and we wanted some change. I always wanted to try curry in Lisbon because of its Portugal's history.

The Portuguese colonised Goa, the southwest coast of India, from early 16c up to 1961. As usual, I did some internet research that informs me that Goa is the home of Vindaloo, an intensely hot curry made from pork 'pickled' in vinegar and spices. Pork is not eaten by India's Hindus or Muslims whilst vinegar (originally wine) is not used by Indians. The Portuguese introduced 'Carne de Vinha d'Alhos' which is meat cooked with wine and garlic, that came to be pronounced 'vindaloo' and wine was replaced by wine vinegar, then other vinegar whilst increasing the spices including hot chilies, again that was introduced to India by the Portuguese. This was how Vindaloo curry came about!

Wow, that sounds very interesting!  Curry must taste really good in Portugal. So we found a wee lovely curry restaurant in Lisbon that serves Goan curry. The restaurant is named Jesus e Goes (means 'Jesus is from Goa', and Jesus is the owner's name) at Rua Sao Jose 23 in Lisbon.

For starter, we tried samosa and also chickpea fritters that came with an amazing coriander and coconut chutney.  The chutney was really interesting, in an amazing good way.  It looks really like Japanese wasabi paste that comes with sushi, so you'd almost expect it to taste really hot and spicy that makes your nose really painful. No, not this one. It is actually quite mild but very flavoursome.

Chickpea fritters with coriander chutney

We loved this chutney so much we asked the very helpful and cheerful staff what was in it. She said, "lots and lots of coriander leaves, orange peels, two spoonful of yellow sugar, salt, one spoonful of saffron and half of coconut." and started explaining how to make it. My husband was already looking at me as if to say I should try making one back home.

For main course, my husband tried Goan fish curry and I tried prawn and okra curry.

Goan fish curry

King prawns and okra curry

These come with big plentiful rice!

I enjoyed my king prawns and okra curry however my husband's Goan fish curry was really great. We asked the very helpful and cheerful staff what kind of fish it was in his curry. She said 'pampo' which is probably Portuguese. She also said that no yoghurt is used in Goan food; yoghurt is for Indian, she proudly announced.
Anyway, while I was thinking pampo sounds like shampoo, she was trying to find an alternative word in English and came up with 'croaker fish'.

Later on, I tried to look up on internet. Pampo seems to be pomfret fish, a seawater fish with one single bone and found in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans. (very different fish from coaler fish ...?) Apparently it has a lot of nutritional values. They are very low in calories and fat; rich in protein that helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases and helps to muscles; and also contains high amounts of Omega 3 fatty acids that supply DHA, component for development of the brain. Wow, what a fish!

By the time we finished our curry, we were very full and no room to try their dessert. The restaurant is lovely, a bit small and there was no AC so I was feeling hot. In the meantime, more customers arrived and wanted to consult the menu with the very helpful and cheerful staff.  I was amazed with her full of energy with big friendly smiles, helping them choose dishes whilst I was feeling heat, wanting to get fresh air.

She then came over and suggested that we try her ginger tea. She then went behind the counter and started mixing ingredients which she left to brew for a while and went to attend to other customers who had just arrived.

Her ginger tea eventually arrived, after having let it brewed properly for a good time. Wow, this was like a breath of fresh air! It was a hot tea but really refreshing. I no longer needed to go outside to get a fresh air. I asked her what was in it. She said 'ginger, cinnamon, cardamon, orange, lemon and flower of anise.'

Ginger tea at Jesus e Goes

The menu is short but has interesting dishes on it.  I wish I could try their Goan fish curry again.

The restaurant is not big, just a long rectangular shape with small bar where the very helpful and cheerful staff prepares drinks and ginger tea for customers, and behind the wall there is toilet. They decorated the premises with colourful paintings and it looks fun. 

It was an excellent restaurant. The service was excellent, the food was fantastic, served by a really friendly, helpful and cheerful staff who is absolutely passionate about their food and wants to share that with you. 

So where is it? It's off Avenida da Liberdade, walking toward north on Rua Porta sto. Antao where lots of restaurants congregagtes (near Placa dos Restaudores) that eventually connects Rua de Sao Jose.

There is no sign or name of the restaurant outside so you need to look out for this design on the doors/windows (see below). 

We don't know when we go back to Lisbon again. I hope they will be still there when we go back, serving lovely Goan curry, served by that very helpful and cheerful staff who is really passionate about the food they serve.

That's all forks!