We were greeted by a huge surprise coming through the door, people, lots of them and on a cold Wednesday night to boot. Then another pleasant change, a nice long bar heading down to the restaurant proper, with coat hooks and plenty of space to sit or stand. Too often restaurant bars are interior design add-ons and requests to sit at them greeted with incredulity. Not here. The house sauvignon blanc was good, the glass it came in spectacular.
We moved through to the main dining area. It was completely full and a glance at the menus gave some indication why that might be. The pre-theatre remains available long after the play has begun, for most of the week £15.95 buys you three courses till 9pm. Tempting though dishes like calves liver and rabbit were from the carte, there's no ignoring a price like that.
Prawn cocktail for starter, probably a 'retro retro' dish by now, but I still love Marie Rose sauce. What arrived looked like a smörgåsbord that had lost it's bord, with surprisingly tasty prawns and lots of that lovely sauce. It's never a sophisticated dish but often disappoints, this didn't, I'd order it again. The retro theme continued with chicken liver parfait. Declared light, creamy and delicious by all who ate it.
We chose a Spanish white from the malvasia grape, one of the cheaper bottles on the list, at about £18.95, the first white wine I've drunk from the Toro region. A lovely wine with a beguiling flavour I couldn't quite pinpoint, possibly angelica. Would order it again in a shot.
My main was lamb shank. It's pretty hard to mess up lamb shank, though some Glasgow eateries still manage. This one was seriously tasty, a huge portion of confit textured lamb sliding off the bone.
The others had fish and chips and the most amusing dish on the menu, the tapas style Scottish selection. Mini steak pie, mince 'n tatties, haggis and chips. Apparently the fish and chips were fine, the steak pie divine.
Had a raspberry fool for puds. Not as light and fluffy as it should be and lacking acidity. Took a scoop of someone else's fruit crumble to compensate. Very nice.
Guys is a cracking place to dine. A visually pleasing space that buzzed from the moment we walked through the door. The staff were great and didn't forget anything throughout the meal.
The cooking we sampled was competent and at these prices that's all you can ask for. I'm really looking forward to coming back and that's not a feeling I've had leaving many Glasgow restaurants lately. We popped off down the road to Brazilian bar Boteco for a nightcap and to watch the samba dancing. Don't remember very much after that...
CLICK HERE FOR GUYS WEBSITE
And here for Boteco Do Brasil
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