Living in the city centre of Glasgow, it feels really refreshing when we explore other parts of Glasgow. Pelican Cafe is in the west end, right opposite the impressive Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, which we had a nice view of from our window table. The interior of this restaurant reminds me of a traditional pub (but slightly more upscale), with the bar sitting very prominently in the centre, and dark wood furniture surrounding this. It’s all very casual and relaxed – I really like it.
Wild Scottish Mushrooms on Toast – £5
I started off with basically mushrooms on toast. I did not expect such a huge mound of mushrooms to appear in front of me! It was an extremely generous portion. There was a nice variety of mushrooms, all very well-cooked and finished off with a drop of cream. The toast was very soggy in the middle but I am not sure that even the most well-toasted bread could withstand that mushroom mountain without breaking down! There was so much food on the plate anyway that it gave me a good excuse not to finish everything.
Warm Halloumi and Charred Aubergine Salad – £4.50
The Hubby’s halloumi and aubergine salad was very tasty. Not that the fact that halloumi and aubergine are two of my favourite things makes me biased or anything… the halloumi was still at that gorgeous, soft and not overly chewy consistency, the aubergine was perfectly cooked with a nice smoky flavour, and everything was brought together nicely by the slightly sticky, sweet, citrussy and spicy harrissa and lime dressing. I kinda wish that I had ordered this instead of the mushrooms, but at the time, I was feeling so hungry that the word “salad” just did not reach out to the greedy part of me!
8oz Popeseye Steak with Goosefat Chips, Baked Portabello Mushroom and Confit Tomato – £15 (Diane sauce – £2)
I quite fancied the venison but the ravenous creature inside of me would not let me order anything other than a steak! Not that the venison would have been a meagre meal but who am I to argue with myself? Of course, the funny thing is that after wolfing down that ginormous portion of mushrooms, I was already half-full so it was just as well that I managed to refrain from ordering a bigger steak!
An additional innards shot for those of you who share my love of rare-cooked red meat
The popeseye steak (which I believe is the same as rump steak but thinner) was very flavourful, but not the most tender. I definitely preferred it to a sirloin, but I think in future I might just stick to the more marbled ribeye. I can’t deny that it was still a really nice-tasting piece of meat, and cooked medium-rare just as I had asked – I can’t imagine that being a particularly easy task with a thin steak, especially not if a good charred and caramelised crust is to be achieved, which it was here so hat’s off to the chef. The chips were more like wedges but I can’t complain as they were delicious and really potatoey (yes, I am calling a potato chip “potatoey”. What a revelation!). Some could have done with being cut slightly thinner so that they were cooked more in the centre. Serving the sauce in a Chinese teacup was an interesting idea.
MacDuff’s Scottish Handmade Beef Burger with Handcut Chips and Smoked Papriki Aioli – £9.50
I still find it rather amusing that the Hubby often struggles to steer away from a burger (if it is an option) when we go out. It must be the American in him! He preferred ketchup to the paprika aioli but I quite enjoyed dunking my chips into it! The burger was a good, hefty one and still slightly pink inside.
Walnut Apple Crumble with Bourbon Vanilla Ice Cream – £5
I was stuffed but there was no way that I was leaving without dessert. It just doesn’t feel right to not finish the meal with something sweet. We ordered the apple crumble to share, and I wish we hadn’t bothered. The crumble topping was delicious – crunchy, not too sweet and the walnuts gave it that extra oomph. Too bad that the apple was way too tart, and while it was bearable eaten with lots of crumble and ice cream, there just wasn’t enough of the latter to help us get through that extremely sour fruit. Bit of a disappointment. If the chef had just added more sugar to the apple filling, it would have been a good end to the meal.
We redeemed a Groupon voucher on this visit, which cost £24 for two people to have a starter and main from the main menu plus a drink (including wine, Prosecco, beer or soft drink) each. There were supplements applicable to certain dishes (such as £8 on the ribeye steak, £10 on the langoustine, and others) but none of the dishes we ordered incurred supplements. So £24 plus £2 for my Diane sauce, £5 for the dessert, totalling a bargain price of £31 plus tip.
Overall, the food was great and I really don’t have any criticism about the service. Our waitress was friendly but not in-your-face. We ended up being at the restaurant for over two hours, but the service did not feel slow. I would be more than happy to return to the Pelican Cafe. If you want options which are slightly more on the foodie side but you are not in the mood for a fancy, hoity-toity restaurant, this place would be a great choice.
THE PELICAN CAFE
1377 Argyle Street
Glasgow
G3 8AF
http://www.thepelicancafe.co.uk
0844 573 0670
Opening hours:
Mon-Thu: 4pm-Midnight (food until 10pm)
Fri-Sat: 12noon-1am (food served until 10pm)
Sun:12noon-Midnight (food served until 10pm)
Glasgow Gourmet 