Ask EADith: Where’s a good old-fashioned restaurant in Glasgow?
Got a food dilemma? Need a killer rec to seal the deal? Or just want the inside track on Glasgow and Edinburgh’s eating and drinking scene? Then why not ask EADith, our Eat & Drink team’s helpful agony aunt. This month, EADith conjures up some scenes from an Italian restaurant
Dear EADith
I’m in a new relationship with an Italian student who’s in the same year as me at drama school. Things could not be better but his dad is coming over for the Easter break and I’m feeling the pressure. I’ve never met him, he’s never been to Glasgow before and all I’ve got to work with is that ‘he’s old-fashioned’. Help a brother out...
Luckyinluvvie2001
Dear Luckyinluvvie2001,
Darling. I know exactly what we need here. While it’s been lovely to see the recent swathe of modern twists on Italian dining in this city, your Auntie EADith firmly believes there’s a time and a place for the old ways. I’m talking oversized pepper grinders, dried parmesan in a bowl, framed pictures of the Tuscan hills (though I lost no sleep mourning the demise of the gingham tablecloth).
And that’s why you need to take him to La Lanterna in the city centre. There’s something rather exciting about having to go downstairs to get to a restaurant, and then... it’s cavernously large! Waiters wear their aprons and strong accents with pride, hustling and bustling between tables. It’s jam-packed through word-of-mouth alone. Every classic Italian dish you’ve heard of is here, and they’re all gloriously full of flavour and as they ought to be. Bruschetta bristles with crunch and garlic, tomatoes thoroughly marinated and vibrant. Pasta e fagioli (pasta and bean soup) is perfectly simple and comforting. It’s all comforting here, in fact, because you get the sense that every person at every table feels a bit special as they dine.
Impress him by opting not for the spaghetti bolognese but rather the tagliatelle ragù. He’ll be equally struck by the veal saltimbocca that arrives in a sage and white wine sauce so glossy, so luxuriant, so perfectly spiked with veal stock, that Anthony Bourdain would have written pages about it. And there’s a hefty old wine list as well, from southern juicebombs like nero d’avola right up to your barolos, amarones and (pass me a goblet) super Tuscans! Where in Italy is your future father in-law from? Pages are divided into region... perhaps you could score some points if you casually suggest wine from his neck of the woods? Buona fortuna!
La Lanterna, 35 Hope Street, Glasgow; average price £20 for a main course.