Fabulous lunch at 111 by Nico, West End in Glasgow

My husband, myself and my daughter Emily have just been to 111 by Nico (http://111bynico.co.uk) in West End in Glasgow for lunch today.  It was a fabulous dining experience!

Ever since I read the restaurant review by Marina O'laughlin in The Guardian's Weekend magazine, I have always wanted to go to this place and finally the time has come!

We booked our table for 12.30 in case we could not get in. It turned out that we were the first customers and we could choose any table we wanted. There was a booth next to the kitchen. It looked nice and cosy but we opted for a table by the wall as it was a lovely day and we would be sitting in a natural day light from a warm sunshine.

Cosy corner .....

We sat down and perused our menus.

Nico and his Head Chef Modou

We were then faced with a big dilemma - everything on the menu sounded so good we did not know what to choose!

Eventually we decided. Emily and I ordered Smoked Mackerel for starter and Stone Bass for main course. My husband ordered Langoustine and Squid for starter and Artichoke for main course.
We also ordered Warm Bread Loaf, Paprika Butter.

Emily and I were really excited to try their food.... and then the Warm Bread Loaf and Paprika Butter arrived.

The bread was delicious AND paprika butter was really creamy texture and flavoursome.

Whilst we were enjoying this, the staff brought us demitasse cups of mushroom veloute with rapeseed oil as amuse-bouche.

According to Wikipedia (What do we do with internet!), the word, amuse-bouche, is 'mouth amuser' in French, offering a glimpse into the chef's approach to the art of cuisine. We did not expect this at all and this was met by our absolute delight; mouth amuser indeed. I almost wanted to clap my hands with huge grin on my face. This was really delicious and we could not wait what comes next.

Our starters then arrived.

This is Emily and my Smoked Mackerel with Asparagus, Quail Egg and Radicchio.  Beautifully presented on a beautiful plate. Look at the contrast of vivid colours of purple radicchio and fresh green of asparagus. It's like spring has come!

This was a very refreshing starter. Radicchio was not bitter at all and asparagus tastes lovely green with bite. You cut into the quail egg and it was yokey inside.

My husband had Langoustine and Squid with Farfalle Pasta, Olives and Shellfish Bisque.  This was gorgeous to look at and gorgeous to taste. Shellfish Bisque came separately and the staff poured it onto the plate at the table in front of us. I love the blue plate too. It just make me want to go to The Mediterranean Sea.

When all the stuff on the plate finished, you still just can't help not finishing up the bisque too. Yes, that's why the staff brought him a spoon with the dish. It was really flavoursome.

My husband didn't want to lick the plate clean [Yes, we were in the restaurant] but it was so tasty he managed to polish the last trace of the bisque with his spoon.

Wow, everything was really delicious so far and we still have main course and dessert to go. We can't wait.....

Whilst we were waiting for our main course, other customers started to come in. Some of them ordered Smoked Ham Hough that came in a glass dome piped full of applewood smoke over the ham hough. When the staff lifted the dome, the white smoke escaped and wafted throughout the restaurant, enveloping around the diners. I bet Emily would order this next time.

Our main course arrived.

Emily and my Stone Bass with Miso, Cucumber and Horseradish Cream.  Beautifully presented again.

The staff then poured light miso flavoured broth over the dish ....

... and is ready to eat! Love the plate again.  Fish was cooked to perfection.

Of course, you finish off the broth to the last drop .... yum.

This is my husband's Artichoke with slow cooked egg, sprouting broccoli and leak. Artichoke was really tasty so was sprouting broccoli and this is a fusion of different flavours and texture. Love the plate again too.

Underneath, there was a slow cooked egg hidden....

My husband loves artichoke. He really enjoyed this dish and finished all. He said he would order this again. Look how clean the plate is!!! Even the empty plate looks really good...

We love the plates. They compliment the dishes they serve really well. Emily looked at the back of the plate and learned that they are Steelite plates (http://www.steelite.com).

We thoroughly enjoyed our courses so far. What we liked about this place is that the portion size of each course is just right. Not too little, not too much, and timing and pace between the courses are also just right. This means that we still have some room left for desserts....

My husband tried Chocolate with salted caramel, hazelnuts and rhubarb.

I tried Pear with cheesecake, lime and amaretti. This is a deconstructed cheesecake with lovely pear and tart but lovely lemony jelly.

Emily had the flaming Coffee creme brûlée. This was really tasty.

We then finished off our meals with great coffees.

Macchiato and cappuccino

We finished our coffees and asked for the bill. What's the damage? 3 course meal is £20 - for the quality, this is not bad at all.

When you visit their website, the first thing you notice on the Home page is Nico's philosophy:

"A JOURNEY OF PASSION"

"My vision is simple:

Firstly to create a unique dining experience for my guests.

The second is to give young people who've faced 

enormous challenges the opportunity to share my

passion and drive for cooking, to teach them 

my gift and philosophy and hopefully

change their life for the better.

This is my vision

This is my passion

This is our journey"

Apparently Nico has a training academy for young people to give them the opportunities to gain skills to be a top chef one day.  On the wall it says ....

However, such altruism aside, the restaurant serves fantastic food. You eat their food with eyes - colours and contrasts, and then aromas of different ingredients and then taste - flavours and textures, etc.  And some fun too .... a glass dome filled with applewood smoke and a flaming creme brûlée.
All staff were very courteous and friendly too.

111 because the restaurant is at 111 Cleveden Road ....

We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch today. We realised that we were in the restaurant for 3 hours!!!
We did not even realise that we were there that long. Such a leisurely lunch, what a fantastic dining experience.  We would definitely go back.

We went outside and walked back to our car. Emily noticed a cherry blossoms. Beautiful. What a fantastic day we had today. 

Have a nice day and that's all forks!

Upstairs and Downstairs - Rogano Restaurant in Glasgow

I know it's a good few months ago but I thought I just talk about Rogano (http://www.roganoglasgow.com), one of Glasgow's culinary institutions. It has Rogano Restaurant, formal dinning on the ground floor, and Cafe Rogano, informal dining downstairs. The restaurant was refitted in the same Art Deco style of the great Cunard line 'Queen Mary' in 1935

We went the main restaurant Rogano on the ground floor this summer for our wedding anniversary. I like their lemon sole meuniere so I already made up my mind that this was what I was going to have.

Our dinner started with two amuse-bouche - first, scallop mouse canapé with caviar, followed by seafood bisque (unfortunately my memory totally escaped me if it was scallop or lobster bisque...).

We then had Rogano Fish Soup with rouille and parmesan croutons for starter.

Rouille is, according to internet, a sauce made of olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chilli peppers and is served as a garnish with fish soup. So I float a crouton with rouille and sprinkled shaved parmesan on my fish soup. The soup was lovely but also very very rich and I could only have half of the bowl. I remember having thought of what the calorie of this soup might be and wished that I had something different for starter to try, after having seafood bisque for amuse-bouche earlier.

Still, I had never had rouille before so it was an quite interesting experience, and we did really enjoy the soup.

For main course, my husband had Lobster Termidor with shoestring fries and I had my favourite Lemon Sole meuniere. We also ordered panaches of vegetables.

I must admit that I did not expect to see so much Lemon Sole Meuniere on my plate - it could easily feed two people. I could not eat everything and this is being a posh restaurant, I did not even have an audacity to ask for a doggy bag so I had to give up half way through the dish.  Oh, by the way, I was wondering what 'panache' of vegetable means. This simply means mixed vegetable. Anyway, vegetables were perfectly prepared, and especially baby carrots were really tasty.

It always amazes me how much one can eat at one setting. Everyone around us at other tables seemed to have no problem at all to consume everything presented to them on plates one course after another. And here we were already full half way through the main course....

Yet there is always some space for dessert, surprise, surprise!  I had Creme Brûlée with ginger shortbread and my husband had a trio of rhubarb desserts - a sampler of rhubarb creme brûlée, rhubarb crumble and a rhubarb crackle parfait.  They were really delicious.

Having finished our desserts, I looked around the restaurant. It was Friday evening, very busy with bustling atmosphere. There were families with children, there were couples, there were business people, there were groups of friends dining out etc.  I always remembered Rogano being opulent and elegant but this time I felt like it being a posh family restaurant. I am not saying it's bad, just felt odd as that's now how I have always felt, not that we dine here often. The same decor, the same menu for many years but somehow the restaurant feels different. Is this a sign of my old age, maybe....

We then ordered coffees. The restaurant was so busy the waiting staff must have forgotten to bring them to our table. We waited for well more than 30 minutes before our coffees arrived. Not that we were in a hurry. We were chilled so not a problem.  Coffees came with petit fours, which were really tasty.  We asked for a bill. The waiting staff told us that coffees were on the house for having kept us waiting for so long, which was a lovely gesture.

We really enjoyed our meal. Would we go back again?  Probably yes but not for a long time as it is an expensive restaurant (although you could go for a set menu rather than a la carte menu) and would need to wait till next time I feel like having another courses of Rogano's famous Fish Soup and Lemon Sole Meuniere again!

Well that's what we thought until our daughters got us a voucher for Cafe Rogano for present, so we went back again but to downstairs this time. To be continued....

Afternoon Tea in Glasgow

At one point we went through a phase of Afternoon Tea experiences last year and have visited a few places in Glasgow.

Let me go back to year 2007 on my birthday - when my husband took me to a "proper" Afternoon Tea along with daughters and my mother-in-law to a famous 5 star hotel with eagle logo and golf courses, located in the central belt of Scotland (I shall not name the name...) for my birthday treat.

It ceremoniously commenced with selecting flavour of tea leaves and then with amuse-bouche (literally translated to mouth amuser, showcasing a chef's approach to the art of cuisine) consisting of series of beautifully flavoured and presented small dishes. As I don't eat, I neither ate nor took photos of any of dishes contained meat but salmon with white cream (see below left) was lovely and so as creme brûlée (below right).

Next, it moved to a selection of sandwiches and rolls with delicious fillings.

And then finally, delectable selections of scones and cakes.

Of course, by this point we were getting really full and could only manage some but not all of them. I especially had an eye on this lovely chocolate cake with gold leaf on it but alas, there was no room in my body to fit this, no matter  how delicious it looked. We hardly touched those lovely cakes sitting on the bottom tier. So we asked a waiting staff if they could box the rest of cakes to go. We were refused - due to health and safety, they said. I remember I felt like I was nearly crying, like a child whose birthday cake was snatched as soon as blowing candles. My husband tried to explain it was for my birthday but to no avail. Due to health and safety and we could stay as long as we wished to take our time to enjoy the afternoon tea, but unable to accommodate our request, they said. 

After all, it is a posh hotel.... commoners like us should not have gone to a place like that and asked for a doggy bag....?!?!?!  We did not make any scene and went home quietly afterwards, without cakes and feeling hugely disappointed... on my birthday...  All I have now are photographs of food we had and we could not have. 

Every time the word 'afternoon tea' came up, I remembered this experience and have had a mixed feeling. 

Then last year, probably fuelled by popularity of British Bake-Off programmes on TV, etc, suddenly everyone is baking cakes and doing afternoon teas. Then many on-line deals for afternoon deals started emerging everywhere.  

One day Emily said, 'Fancy going for afternoon tea but with cocktails?'  So, Emily, Maria and I went to Saint Judes in Glasgow last summer (see my blog for more information and photos, Intoxicating Tearooms at Saint Judes last year). This was the beginning of our Afternoon Tea sampling....

Saint Judes Verdict

WOW Factor	Afternoon teas but with cocktails and procecco!!!  We were WOWed - lovely cocktail to choose, potful of lovely pink procecco and mini cakes!
Service	It was the Winbledon Final, Andy Murray vs Roger Federer; everyone was watching TV but staff kept coming back checking customers if we were alright. And we got extra tier!
Tea Replenishing Factor	It’s all about cocktails….. AND cocktails were really good.
What's to eat Factor	Lots of cute mini cakes. If you don't eat meat, you only have cucumber sandwich to nibble. We did however order some chips afterwards as we wanted something savoury....
Take-home Factor	Best enjoyed while you were there…
Toilet Check	Not a lot of space, not for claustrophobic.
Total Enjoyability	Room was dark with dim lighting but eventually get used to it. We thoroughly enjoyed it.  Emily went back with her friends again…

We then went to Delise of Paradise, off Argyll Street, near Tron Theatre in August. It was not opened that long ago when we went there. The owner was very very friendly and we really hope she would be successful because she was such a lovely lady.

Delice of Paradise Verdict

WOW Factor	We checked their website before we went and raised our expectation too high.... No WOW but the owner was really nice.
Service	All staff and the owner were all very friendly.
Tea Reprenishing Factor	It was a normal tea and coffee....
What's to eat Factor	Cakes were all made at the premises but far too much coconuts used for everything. Could have more sandwich and cakes but it was on-line deal and very cheap so we got what we paid for....?
Take-home Factor	We ate all except coconuts cakes and biscuits so nothing to take home with.
Toilet Check	There is only one toilet for all with disable facility.
Total Enjoyability	Bright decor, nice sandwich and lovely owner but  not much of 'Afternoon Tea' experience as such …

Next we went to Stewarts Victorian Tearooms in the Merchant City of Glasgow. It is elegant with classical music in the background and really put us in the mood for Afternoon Tea. Everything is home made at the premises, the scones came with proper cream and jam, and we got 3 big pots of tea, each time with different flavours of tea. We did not even have to ask for new pot as someone always comes around, take an empty pot away and soon came back with another!!!

Stewarts Victorian Tearooms Verdict

WOW Factor	It lived up to our expectation of Afternoon Tea atmosphere, so we were WOWed. As soon as you step into the restaurant, you will be in the mood for the Afternoon Tea, with classical music in the background, elegant decor and friendly and efficient staff.
Service	Friendly and efficient service.  No problem for catering vegetarians.
Tea Replenishing Factor	Pots are replenished immediately without having to ask and each time came with different flavoured tea!  Really good tea.
What's to eat Factor	Cakes were all made at the premises. Scones delicious and came with proper cream and jam.
Take-home Factor	Best to enjoy at the restaurant with atmosphere, not much to take home with.
Toilet Check	Nice and clean toilets. There was no door knob inside of the toilet I went in but I managed to get out... phew....
Total Enjoyability	Good 'Afternoon Tea' experience with affordable price. Would like to take my mother-in-law sometime as I am sure she will enjoy it. They also do High Tea so we may try that too.

And then during Christmas holiday, we went to Chocolate Factory at Charing Cross for chocolate afternoon tea. They also cater children's birthday party making chocolates and also have good selection of vegetarian light snacks such as sandwich, panini, salad, soup, etc. Scones had chocolate chips in them and you finish off with lovely hot chocolate.

Chocolate Factory Verdict

WOW Factor	The shop was too spacious, a bit cold and less cosy but good for chocolate lovers. Hot chocolate at the end of Afternoon Tea was a nice little WOW -  really good as in photos!
Service	Staff was friendly and accommodating for vegetarians.
Tea Reprenishing Factor	Normal tea but no problem to ask for another pot of tea ....
What's to eat Factor	Scones had chocolate chips in them but nice. Eclair with chocolate cream filling was lovely, but there is only so much chocolate you can eat....  Make sure to leave some room for a small cup of lovely hot chocolate drink.
Take-home Factor	Took home left over cakes but best to eat them at the premises as we were chocolated out and did not manage to eat them at home, shame!
Toilet Check	Forgot to check....
Total Enjoyability	Interesting chocolate experience …  Vegetarian would have good selections of sandwiches and salads to order from menu. Parking could be a problem.

To be honest, after that experience in 2007, I went to all these places, carrying tupperware in my bag in case I may take home cakes that I can't manage to eat, but in the end you never eat them when you go home and left them sitting inside of the fridge for some time, eventually thrown away. So, it's best to enjoy cakes with pots of tea at the premises with the right atmosphere as Afternoon Tea as it is intended, not as Afterwards Tea at home sitting in front of TV.  It's just not the same.

I have also heard from people that the said posh hotel mentioned earlier now allows guests taking home cakes. This does not make me going back there as it only brought me back sad memories. You have no idea how disappointing that was ...  However, let's move on. Maybe we might not have eaten any of those cakes after all had we had taken them home, as you would never be able to recreate that afternoon tea atmosphere and experience you would get from 5 start hotel.

Afternoon Tea is alway best to be enjoyed at the right place with the right atmosphere after all!

That's all forks!