Sea food and eat it; Eating out: The City Merchant 97-99 Candleriggs, Merchant City, Glasgow.
Byline: Tam CowanAH, how much have I missed this little place ... in a previous job the City Merchant in the Candleriggs area of Glasgow became a fairly regular haunt for me for a special lunchtime treat.
This is where I first tasted one of my all-time favourite dishes - cullen skink - and, since my last visit to this family-run restaurant three years ago, I think I've been fantasising about it on a daily basis.
The City Merchant has rightly earned a first class reputation. Extremely busy tables at 10.15pm on a Thursday night surely tells its own story.
Seven days a week, they accept last orders until 10.30pm and this should be warmly applauded in a supposedly cosmopolitan city like Glasgow.
To paraphrase a relatively unknown Tony Christie classic ... London, Paris, Rome or Milan, everybody loves some late-night scran.
For a copy of the actual lyrics - plus a squint at the psychiatrist's report which explains why I'm a huge Tony Christie fan in the first place - please send a SAE to the usual address.
Why had I left it so late before barging through the doors? Well, I'd spent the evening down the road at Shawfield dogs.
I won't go into too many details, but let's just say I was really quite relieved these meals can be claimed back on expenses.
Otherwise, I'd have been up to my elbows in Fairy Liquid.
The City Merchant is fully air- conditioned (always worth a mention during the hot, sticky summer months) and this might help you cool down after being charged 65p for a dash - yes, just a dash - of cola.
That horrible, flat, draught cola that often ruins a perfectly good vodka.
Restaurant proprietor Tony Matteo prides himself on always listening to his customers. I'm sure this quite justified grievance will be taken on board. The crusty bread rolls were first class. And remember, this was 10.30pm at night. How do they do that?
No prizes for guessing that I started with a piping hot bowl of cullen skink and you'll surely forgive me if there just might have been a hint of a little tear in my eye...
Smoked haddock, potato, onion, parsley, milk, cream, perhaps a little butter
If you've never tried it, you'll find the address at the bottom of this article. Without a word of a lie, I could easily have eaten another helping for my main course.
Instead, I opted for a fillet steak. The City Merchant specialises in seafood, you see, so I thought it would be interesting to find out if the other stuff on the menu had been in any way neglected. No chance.
The beef was quite superb (thanks, chef, for the really hot pepper sauce as requested) and, while the handcut chips could have sizzled in the pan for a few moments longer - these days I like them almost carbon black - they were still pretty damn good.
Meanwhile, my mate Jim enjoyed two of the daily specials from the massive blackboard that dominates one of the restaurant walls.
The tiger prawns wrapped in bacon were probably the pick of the bunch and they certainly deserved top billing on the chalky menu.
Once the waiter had explained the easy way to eat them, (just snap off the heads and enjoy) the big, fleshy critters were very tasty.
One of the prawns, however, still had a little piece of shell attached to its body beneath the bacon and this was a little bit off-putting.
Mainly for yours truly as Jim refused to shut up about it for, oh, at least the next two hours.
After devouring the half-dozen prawns (based on previous experience, I'd say that's really a pretty healthy portion) Jim was very swiftly offered a damp cloth to dab his fishy fingers.
Quite a nice little touch from the head waiter. So was leaving the massive peppermill on the table, enabling us to help ourselves.
And I have to say that his wine recommendation - a lip-smacking Chilean Cabernet Sauvignon - was also spot on.
Jim's main course, sea bass "off the bone", served with even more delicious prawns, summed up what this restaurant is all about.
Fresh, locally caught seafood. Cooked to perfection. And kept nice and simple. Not a single complaint from Jim this time around.
Every last morsel was cleared from his plate, including a very generous portion of potatoes and some vegetables.
I didn't think we'd have room for dessert, until I spotted another old favourite on the menu.
If cullen skink is the perfect way to start your meal at the City Merchant, there's really only one way to end it ... order up a bowl of Crannachan ice-cream.
This is top quality raspberry ice-cream, peppered with crunchy oatmeal, nestling on a melt-in-the-mouth shortbread base and topped with real whipped cream.
You know, earlier in the evening, I didn't exactly tip too many winners at the greyhounds.
But I'll end this review with one supremely confident prediction.
I bet I don't wait another three years before returning to Glasgow's City Merchant.
Tel: 0141 553 1577
Open: Seven days for lunch and dinner.
Bill for two: pounds 72
 Printer friendly
 Cite/link
 Email
 Feedback
| |
| Title Annotation: | Features |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Jul 7, 2001 |
| Words: | 861 |
| Previous Article: | Pubs: The Meadows Bar. |
| Next Article: | Foster kid wins fight to go to top school. |