As you know, on Tuesday Hubby and I went out for dinner to celebrate our Anniversary. I had always wanted to go to one of the Two Fat Ladies restaurants (the original was at no.88) and Nik booked the one on Argyle Street via 5pm (which meant we got a free 'glass of skoosh'!)
I wasn't disappointed, the décor was traditionally Scottish with tartan wing-back chairs in the dark wooded bar area and we were seated in a cosy corner through the back with a good view of what was going on (I always like to see what's happening around me - Nik often complains I always get the best seat in restaurants where I can see what's happening!) The staff were very friendly, attentive and smartly dressed and the tables were very nicely laid out with red roses.
The restaurant was busier than we expected for a Tuesday night (the above photos were taken at the end of our night when most people had left) and there was a great atmosphere. We received our free glasses of fizz and perused the menu having difficulty choosing what we wanted as the choices all sounded delicious!
We were offered some home-made bread in either tomato, cumin or onion flavours (I went for two as I couldn't resist trying cumin and tomato so Nik got tomato and onion!) It was delicious, especially the cumin one and was all but gone by the time the starters came. We were offered more bread without having to ask - a touch I like being such a bread addict - and I had another slice of cumin bread to mop up my sauce.
I selected the shellfish (I think it was just mussels and prawns) and saffron risotto with scampi butter and lime cream cheese for £8.95 and Nik went for the home-made ravioli (we'd had a lot of success with that in Italy!) stuffed with smoked mozzarella, sun-blush tomatoes with a white onion and black olive cream sauce for £9.50.
Both were absolutely scrumptious (although Nik did comment that his ravioli wasn't as good as in Italy - I hadn't expected it to be, pizza and pasta aren't the same here now we've had the real thing! - and that the sun-blush tomatoes were a bit too strong tasting over the other flavours). I also liked the fact that the sprig of dill on mine (I always forget dill is so often served with fish) was easily removable rather than all chopped up over the top - I hate dill!
Another touch I liked was that we were offered some ice for our water (and given a whole bucket!) again without having to ask - nothing worse than warm water to drink and it was a little hot in the back of the restaurant. Also, my second glass of fizz (Prosecco this time) was extremely full! :)
For our main courses Nik chose the whole Lemon Sole meuniere (£21.50) and I went for the Sea Bream with Indian spiced mussel and savoy cabbage cream (£19.50), both served with roasted veg and potatoes. Again the food was amazing with really subtle Indian flavours in my sauce and very lemony sole which was actually my favourite!
With our main courses we both had a different glass of white wine which were very tasty and went well with the fish. I had Pino Grigio and Nik had Sauvignon Blanc.
After all that seafood we were both pretty stuffed so instead of dessert we opted for a cocktail in the cooler bar area at the front of the restaurant. I ordered the Black Forest Martini and Nik had a Mint Julep. Both were wonderful!
I was thrilled when my creamy cocktail came with chocolate shavings on top instead of flaked almonds! It was very good and just perfect for dessert!
All in all, we would definitely go back, despite it being a bit more expensive than our usual 5pm deals when we go out (i.e. £25 for 2 courses and a bottle of wine type of thing) but this was a special occasion and the restaurant and food definitely felt more special. Our bill totalled £104 which considering the 4 glasses of wine and two cocktails on top of some very nice food I thought wasn't bad although we wouldn't spend this much on a meal out usually.
If you like seafood, I'd definitely recommend it for a special night out or just for dinner if you're feeling a bit flush (perhaps with your iPad and headphones like the guy behind Nik who was sat watching a film with his dinner!)
I wasn't disappointed, the décor was traditionally Scottish with tartan wing-back chairs in the dark wooded bar area and we were seated in a cosy corner through the back with a good view of what was going on (I always like to see what's happening around me - Nik often complains I always get the best seat in restaurants where I can see what's happening!) The staff were very friendly, attentive and smartly dressed and the tables were very nicely laid out with red roses.
The restaurant was busier than we expected for a Tuesday night (the above photos were taken at the end of our night when most people had left) and there was a great atmosphere. We received our free glasses of fizz and perused the menu having difficulty choosing what we wanted as the choices all sounded delicious!
We were offered some home-made bread in either tomato, cumin or onion flavours (I went for two as I couldn't resist trying cumin and tomato so Nik got tomato and onion!) It was delicious, especially the cumin one and was all but gone by the time the starters came. We were offered more bread without having to ask - a touch I like being such a bread addict - and I had another slice of cumin bread to mop up my sauce.
I selected the shellfish (I think it was just mussels and prawns) and saffron risotto with scampi butter and lime cream cheese for £8.95 and Nik went for the home-made ravioli (we'd had a lot of success with that in Italy!) stuffed with smoked mozzarella, sun-blush tomatoes with a white onion and black olive cream sauce for £9.50.
Both were absolutely scrumptious (although Nik did comment that his ravioli wasn't as good as in Italy - I hadn't expected it to be, pizza and pasta aren't the same here now we've had the real thing! - and that the sun-blush tomatoes were a bit too strong tasting over the other flavours). I also liked the fact that the sprig of dill on mine (I always forget dill is so often served with fish) was easily removable rather than all chopped up over the top - I hate dill!
 |
| I swear I didn't lick it - just used my bread to get every last bit of flavour off that bowl! ;) |
Another touch I liked was that we were offered some ice for our water (and given a whole bucket!) again without having to ask - nothing worse than warm water to drink and it was a little hot in the back of the restaurant. Also, my second glass of fizz (Prosecco this time) was extremely full! :)
For our main courses Nik chose the whole Lemon Sole meuniere (£21.50) and I went for the Sea Bream with Indian spiced mussel and savoy cabbage cream (£19.50), both served with roasted veg and potatoes. Again the food was amazing with really subtle Indian flavours in my sauce and very lemony sole which was actually my favourite!
With our main courses we both had a different glass of white wine which were very tasty and went well with the fish. I had Pino Grigio and Nik had Sauvignon Blanc.
After all that seafood we were both pretty stuffed so instead of dessert we opted for a cocktail in the cooler bar area at the front of the restaurant. I ordered the Black Forest Martini and Nik had a Mint Julep. Both were wonderful!
I was thrilled when my creamy cocktail came with chocolate shavings on top instead of flaked almonds! It was very good and just perfect for dessert!
All in all, we would definitely go back, despite it being a bit more expensive than our usual 5pm deals when we go out (i.e. £25 for 2 courses and a bottle of wine type of thing) but this was a special occasion and the restaurant and food definitely felt more special. Our bill totalled £104 which considering the 4 glasses of wine and two cocktails on top of some very nice food I thought wasn't bad although we wouldn't spend this much on a meal out usually.
If you like seafood, I'd definitely recommend it for a special night out or just for dinner if you're feeling a bit flush (perhaps with your iPad and headphones like the guy behind Nik who was sat watching a film with his dinner!)
2 comments:
Sounds excellent. A nice meal out is a lovely thing.
That looks lovely, I do love a good dinner out. I'm through in Edinburgh but worth remembering for the special treat in Glasgow. Just found your blog btw and really enjoying it xox
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