Small Plates (Ugly Mates) — Restaurant in Scotland

First with the positives. The staff were very accommodating and friendly, making us feel welcome and marking out an area for us to put our pram, and bringing our dog a water bowl. They were very complimentary of our dog and baby, which made us feel all the more welcome. The restaurant wasn't too busy despite it being noon, and they had a heater nearby so despite the terrible cold outside, we never felt it inside. The menu had a good deal of variety, though I wasn't sure what half the items were as there were no expanded descriptions in English or any Latin language. Our combined understanding of Latin languages didn't help much as some of the meal names are eponymous; I can speak fluent Portuguese and my partner Spanish, as well as usable Italian, so we weren't clueless by any regards. If I'm to be extremely pedantic, I'd even say some things were conceptually incorrect, like the 'Moorish' pork skewers; Moors wouldn't likely be eating pork, so they wouldn't likely have a recipe for this. Anyway, I digress. We ordered a portion of Moorish pork skewers, salt and pepper squid rings, an olive mix, deep-friend halloumi, and two portions of peppers de padron (roasted peppers). The pork meat on the skewers smelled a bit like it was going off. My partner has an exceptional nose and agreed. I tasted it and found it kind of bland. Unfortunately there was no salt provided, so I couldn't enhance its flavour and mask the smell/taste. I ended up giving most of the pork to my dog. The skewers were very small portions too. The peppers were very nice and came really quickly, but again the portion size seemed small for the price. The squid surprised us as they came battered, which we hadn't expected. They were quite bland - I had to coat them in the provided lemon and mayonaise to get much joy from them - but they seemed to us quite difficult to chew, rubbery - like they'd come from a frozen source. They weren't any better than something I'd get in Iceland. The olive mix was disappointing; a swathe of ordinary 'mission black' olives (which are ironically more 'American' than European) vastly outnumbering a few of the larger, firmer raw green olives (probably Castelvetranos / Sicillians); we had hoped to have a richer mix (can two types be considered a 'mix'?) e.g. some large greek ones, Kalamata, Cerignolas, Ligurias / Taggiascas. The fried halloumi was tasty, but lacked any additional flavouring to mark it as this restaurant's own / make it more special in some way. We had two cappuccinos; they were exceptionally smooth and tasty. They were, however, very small. The bill came to £40; it seemed a lot given the quality and relatively small portion sizes; we weren't full, but were too disappointed with the menu overall to think of ordering more. The staff were really nice, but we often found ourselves trying to unobtrusively get service, e.g. looking at them to try to make eye contact with them to initiate a request for something (e.g. the order at the start, and the bill at the end; I ended up just going to the bar to ask for it). It seemed they avoided making eye contact. I can tolerate waiting if I know someone is coming (e.g. when they passed our table to invite some new guests in, had they even thrown a glance our way and acknowledged we wanted service, but attended to the other guests first, that would have been okay), but found myself spending a lot of time in the restaurant waiting to be noticed, actively looking out to catch staff (which takes away from time spent concentrating on my partner and in conversation). They lost out on us ordering more drinks because of this. This is a vastly different experience to our travels in Europe and South America, where being 'waited' upon - having waiters - involves an inverse of the dynamic we experienced here; they're watching us, waiting to serve, not the other way around. We were very surprised with the average 4-rating on...

On arrival we were told that there wasn’t a table available so we were sat at the bar and told they would find a table. (Even though we had booked). Around 15 minutes passed and we heard nothing and hadn’t been given any menus so I had to find a waitress to ask for some. We then had to ask someone to take our order and were told that there was a couple of items on the menu that were sold out. There was around 6 items sold out - including all the meat and poultry options, leaving very little available to actually order. We reluctantly made a decision and from there, the waitress came back at least 3 times to tell us that more of our order was also now sold out. We were really disappointed however we continued with the order. Our food took ages and when it eventually came, most of it was pretty much cold. By this point we had had enough and managed to find a waitress and asked for the bill immediately (all our food hadn’t even come at this point). We were not charged for the food that didn’t come however we were not offered any compensation or apology for our experience. It ruined what should have been a lovely birthday experience for my girlfriend at one of what was, our favourite restaurants. I don’t usually comment negatively on restaurants but our experience was so bad that I really felt I had to share this.

I have emailed the manager last week and...

Brutti Compadres – Where Flavour Meets Heart in Merchant City

Tucked away in the hidden courtyard of Virginia Court, Brutti Compadres is a tapas-style treasure that blends bold Mediterranean flavours with pure Glaswegian hospitality. It has the charm of a European café mixed with the soul of a local favourite.

Let’s talk showstoppers: the Scallops with Chorizo and Black Pudding were a standout combination—rich, smoky, melt in your mouth and perfectly balanced. It’s the kind of dish that makes you pause mid-conversation and savour every bite. Equally unforgettable was the Chicken Souvlaki: tender, juicy, and kissed with just the right hint of char, and perfectly warmed flatbread, it stole the spotlight with its satisfying simplicity and depth of flavour, washed it all down with a pint of Menabrea.

The service was spot-on: genuinely friendly and efficient, giving you the feeling like you’d walked into an old friend’s place for dinner. Whether it’s sunny al fresco dining or a cosy indoor vibe, this spot hits the mark.

If you're wandering through Glasgow city centre, Brutti Compadres is a must. It's the kind of place that turns a casual meal into a...