Salt & Vinegar, Glasgow
Hey Foodwalas, As you know yours truly Alfie Foodwala is a very deep thinker, He ponders and muses very deep and intellectual questions of life and the universe, he sits and stares out to the stars looking for answers that have troubled great minds over millennia.
Fundamental Questions like the existential conflict between two great opposing forces, like… is Glasgow better than Edinburgh (Glasgow doh),….or is the curry capital of the UK Glasgow or Bradford (its Glasgow by the way) or is it salt ’n’ sauce or salt ‘n’ vinegar (well salt ‘n’ sauce is sacrilege) or …the mother of all battles… is the national dish of Great Britain, fish and chips or Chicken TIkka masala (its, Mr. Ali, Shish Mahal invented Chicken Tikka Masala)
My Guilty pleasure is fish and chips, so I decided to try out Salt & Vinegar in Shawlands, Shawlands has always been a poor cousin in gastronomy terms to the West End, it has a definite lack of outstanding restaurants, apart from the excellent Orro further up the road.
The Salt & Vinegar interior like a set from a Wes Anderson movie, it is all vivid colours, exposed brickwork, camp portholes, and distressed wood. You could imagine Bill Murray and Owen Wilson jumping out any moment.
I kicked off the proceedings with battered Haddock, the Haddock itself was fresh meaty and flaky, the butter was crispy at the edges however it was a wee bit greasy for my liking, possibly the fryer temperature was low as it was closing time.
The Tartar Sauce was lovely and tangy yet creamy and the mushy peas were by the numbers.
As Salt & Vinegar has an Italian spirit I opted to try out the unusual Haddock Risotto, the Arborio rice was al dente and chalky and I enjoyed the spicy chili notes, however, the extra cream was bit heavy for my liking and it could have done with a more haddock and possibly some King Prawns.
In my humble opinion, Salmon lends itself more to a risotto as the robust flavour notes compliment the Arborio Rice better.
In Conclusion, Salt & Vinegar was very competent and I liked the Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou interior, I preferred the haddock at Catch in Giffnock more but the risotto was a little heavy, the risotto in Orro or La Lanterna is definitely the benchmark.
The Service was very welcoming and efficient and I had a nice chat with the team after the meal.
Halal – Yes (as it is all seafood)
Food –7 out of 10
Atmosphere – 8 out of 10
service – 8 out of 10
Cleanliness – 8 out of 10
Total score – 31 out of 40