Glasgow Foodies Recommends: with @laurenscravings

Pam: New mum and cooking guru @laurenscravings talks us through her favourite Glasgow hot spots to grab a bite to eat in the city. I think Lauren has great taste when it comes to food, and I completely agree that all of these places are fantastic, and definitely worth checking out asap.

Pasha

With so many competing restaurants of similar fare, Pasha’s food really had to stand out for me to take notice. And it stood up, adorned in glitter (or is that lamb juices…?) and did the shimmy! The owner, Hassan, is knowledgeable and passionate about his food, which in my experience always translates into quality.

Working my way through their whole menu kept me happily occupied during lockdown. And as such, I feel quite confident in recommending it to you.

My must order dishes from the menu would be: Hummus (smooth AF), kibbeh, Fattoush salad, Lamb Kabsa (melt in the mouth shank) with rice, Mixed Grill (try a bit of everything … especially their famous shawarma), Batata Harra and Halloumi. If you get all of the above, be prepared for a welcome assault on the senses. I easily order and eat from Pasha a minimum of 2 – 3 times a month … and considering the sheer volume of awesome food spots in Glasgow I think that fact alone speaks for its

George Mews

If George Mews turned his shop into a restaurant, I’d be dining there every week!

As it stands, I regularly visit to spent all my pennies on his wide assortment of cheeses from all over the UK and Europe. I love cheese so much that my wedding cake was a 6 tier ‘cheese’ cake – a literal tower of cheese!

The knowledge of the staff in the shop is exemplary, and in pre-COVID times it was a favourite pastime of mine to visit and chat to them about cheese whilst munching on the samples they’d give me while I made my choices.

Since giving birth I’m not out and about much, but I recently made the most epic cheese board using products from one of their cheese hampers which you can get delivered – a perfect gift idea appropriate for so many occasions.

In store they offer Freedom Bakery Sourdough, Stornoway Black Pudding, numerous chutneys, oils, honeys & dips, crackers & oatcakes, olives, meats and my favourite butter in all the land – Beurre Gillot au Sel de Guerande – buy it! Their offerings are forever changing to keep you intrigued and interested, and they’ve even started issuing out recipe cards using ingredients you can purchase from the shop.

Scran

It’s been a long time since I wrote my own post about Scran, which I had uploaded on my now-redundant blog. So, getting the opportunity to say again how incredible it is using the written word – as usually I just make yummy noises now when folk ask me about it – is always welcomed.

I said it then, and I’ll say it again now, to quote Gary Portnoy: “ Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came”. Scran has that feeling of home comfort for me, elevated to a level beyond what is achievable at home, especially when we’re talking about Chef and Owner Chris’s now legendary poached eggs.

Scran is a firm foodie favourite in the East End of Glasgow, and you’ll struggle to find anywhere that can satisfy your breakfast and brunch needs quite as well as they can… especially when you drizzle whatever you order in their secret recipe Burger Sauce!