The buzziest bars and restaurants in Glasgow's Cathcart
With our updated Eat & Drink 365 Glasgow food guide out later this month, David Kirkwood explores the new openings and revamps building a buzz in Cathcart
The neighbourhoods come thick and fast as you travel through Glasgow’s Southside; if you don’t pay attention, you can fall behind. Where does Battlefield end and Langside begin? Does Strathbungo even exist? Flippant geography aside, Southsiders would probably agree that while Cathcart is a fully fledged and historical ‘hood, gastronomically it has had the slimmest of pickings, mainly focused around cafés and takeaways. Until now.
Enter Bar Bosie, an accomplished newcomer run by Len Archbold and Danny Morrow, seasoned operators and alumni of Henry’s and Chinaski’s. It’s equal parts neighbourhood bar and laid-back foodie place where you can grab a Martini and a gilda, or pick and choose from a menu that feels utterly casual but deliberate; a bit Eastern Med and a bit New York. So why Cathcart and why now? ‘It was actually the space at first,’ laughs Archbold, referring to Bosie’s petite, three-level corner site, with its open wooden staircase and outdoor awnings. ‘But it was also the spot: we realised that as well as Danny, who lives on this street, we had about ten mates who lived within a five-minute walk, with nowhere to get a great cocktail.’
Archbold believes it can be harder to stand out and have a degree of separation in more established locales like Shawlands. Bar-hopping in a hot neighbourhood is fun, but most bar owners would ideally like you to stay just a little bit longer. Morrow has taken the lead here, with a stylish cocktail menu that gives Bosie a bit of a destination feel, including twists on the happy hour, with £2.50 oysters accompanying Bloody Marys on Sunday afternoons. The food is local bistro with a cosmopolitan feel. There’s bavette steak with chermoula and a picture-perfect burger that’s unashamedly thick and pink in the middle. Elsewhere, there’s creativity: surf clams were on when they opened and Kentucky-fried rabbit was a recent special.
Sometimes one new place makes sense of an area. Bosie shares punters with the established Beechings Bar just down the road, while opposite is Caesar’s Social, doing some of the best pizza in the city with a tenement-flat quirkiness. Moving north there’s Ceylon Tea Bar, where you can get a flat white, a pekoe tea or a wattakka curry. Drifting up the hill towards Hampden, you’ll find Café Salmagundi serving brunchy delights like a roll and chorizo or kimchi and cheese toasties, while The Real Wan brings café-style cuisine from China’s Guiyang region.
There’s a fresh energy among long-term favourites too; such as Clockwork, a much-loved beer spot that had lost its way a tad. Now under the same ownership as whisky bar The Pot Still, they’ve kept its familiar hallmarks while adding some much-needed oomph. That includes Tuesday whisky tastings with owner Frank Murphy, and a solid range of beers from Germany, Belgium and Scotland.
Murphy’s ties to the area run deep. ‘I was at the Clockwork before I was at The Pot Still,’ he explains. He’s watched and waited patiently for an opportunity to bring it back to its former glories. ‘We’re slowly trying to bring back the vibrancy and range it had.’ There is a gigantic upstairs space with scope for more tastings and events on a larger scale and ‘being beside Hampden doesn’t do any harm either!’ says Murphy. ‘Although I can confirm Lana Del Rey fans don’t drink as much as Metallica fans.’ A lot of people live in Cathcart. It seems that, finally, they don’t need to roam around the Southside for good food and good times.
Bar Bosie, 3 Clarkston Road; Clockwork, 1153–1155 Cathcart Road; the new edition of Eat & Drink 365 Glasgow is available from Monday 19 October wherever you get your copy of The List.