The Old Fish Bar isn’t short on snappy descriptors. ‘A neighbourhood fish restaurant in the Southside’ piques interest: it’s located to the side of Shawlands’ main thrust, just as it’s starting to feel residential. Painted white brickwork and marble tables are nicely fancy but not proper posh. It feels just about right. ‘The menu changes every six or seven weeks’: such offerings tend to fall into the seasonal bracket, or the conceptual one, and here it’s the latter, with an opening menu based around a loose riff on tapas. ‘It’s called The Old Fish Bar because it used to be a chippy’ serves as the perfect starting point for the evening, as the staff share the venue’s story with genuine pride; this carries on as each dish is served with both affection and a thorough explanation. 

Flavours are full-on, which works a treat with gordal olives marinated in whisky with a sorry-not-sorry sensory assault of Laphroaig, or scallops served with nduja and roe mayo: intense, but the scallops are fat, creamy and cooked well so it’s all good. Toasted brioche with butter and anchovies flirts with unnecessary decadence as the richness of dairy and salt try to outdo each other, and mussels struggle to be heard against curry sauce and pickled ginger. But this is solid cooking, with quirky touches like nori seaweed chips, the most umami prawn cracker you’ve ever had (a nod towards ‘Japanese Vibes’, the next menu concept). If mixing things up brings return customers, the flipside is that locals love to return for a favourite dish. Cod in beer batter is the closest thing to a concession at this stage, with no grudging presence of a burger or steak. It’s admirable, exciting and intriguing, and a great example of how a properly warm welcome and lovely chats with staff can elevate the dining experience.

The Old Fish Bar, 74 Coustonholm Road, Glasgow; average cost for three small plates £22.