Chop Chop, Glasgow

I've had a long love affair with Chinese food and it's pretty much a given fact I'd never say no to Chinese takeout. I'd heard amazing things about Chop Chop and their famous dumplings but we don't get through to Edinburgh very often. Lucky for us Chop Chop recently opened a restaurant in Glasgow and invited us along to give it a try.

Chop Chop is famous for its "jiao zi" or North Eastern style Chinese dumplings. Both my husband and I are HUGE fans of dumplings so we knew we were in for a treat. If you are anything like me you tend to fall in to the same old habits when ordering Chinese food so we went open minded and ready to try something new.

The restaurant is hidden down Mitchell Street not far from the bustle of Buchanan Street and only a short walk from Central Station. It is bright and clean with lots of cherry blossom trees decorating the room. Our server was really friendly and explained the menu to us and we were sold on the Unlimited Buffet. I let them know I had a coriander allergy and while it did feature in several dishes it wasn't a problem to get them made without coriander or have something else subbed in its place. The server also showed us how to make dip for our dumplings, to our individual taste, which was a really nice touch.

We opted for the Chop Chop Unlimited banquet for two which is served Chinese style--everything comes out when it is ready so there isn't your typical Western progression of starter to main. You can re-order as many of the dishes as you like, as many times as you like but the portions are already really generous.

It included cucumber salad (tofu salad for me due to coriander), fried chicken wings, chicken dumplings, pork dumplings (coriander left out for me), spicy fried potatoes, aubergines, prawn crackers, crispy northern beef, crispy shredded potato and rice.

It's called a banquet for a reason y'all--it was amazing. I'd never had potatoes at a Chinese restaurant before but they had me questioning why I hadn't before. I was prepared to really not like the aubergine, but it was one of my favourite dishes by far. Nothing was greasy or oily; anything fried was crispy and light and we came away full but not gross if you know what I mean.

Gluttons for punishment we decided we couldn't pass up dessert and tried the ice-cream dumplings and sugar-string apple. My husband has travelled to China before and remembered the having the apple in China. I'm so glad that memory came to him because it was amazing. The ice-cream dumplings were nice but the sugar string apple was just so different and amazing. Cooked apple pieces are covered in a caramelised sugar coating and then you dip them into a bowl of ice water so it begins to harden. It's like the nicest candy apple you've ever had because the outside is a bit hard but the inside is still warm and gooey.

You can tell from the carnage we had a great meal, right? The staff were all extremely welcoming and helpful. I always worry about set menus with a food allergy but they were so accommodating to my coriander allergy that it was pretty much a non-issue. You can join their loyalty club for discounts as well as money-off vouchers on your birthday and anniversary, how sweet is that? They are also now deliver via Deliveroo, too!

We will definitely be coming back again soon!

Chop Chop

41 Mitchell Street

Glasgow G1 3LN

0141 248 5705

Opening Hours:

Monday- Thursday 12.00 - 14:00 and 18:00-22:00 Friday & Saturday 12.00-22.00 Sunday 12.30 - 22.00

@eatatchopchop

facebook.com/chopchopedinburgh

Côte Brasserie, Glasgow

The lassies were in dire need of a catch up and we decided on Glasgow's newest brasserie, Cote.

The 68th in the country, the restaurant is also looking to expand to Edinburgh, Aberdeen and St Andrews over the next year, but Glasgow is Côte's first Scottish location. While we all love to gorge ourselves on French food on holiday we don't often have French food in the city so we were excited to have a bit of our holiday favourites at home.

 

The menu is full of so many options to choose from and it's fair to say we are all notoriously indecisive when it comes to food so we took a while to order. So much so we were kindly given a pissaladière with caramelised onions and reblochon cheese as well as some olives to munch on while we contemplated our choices.

After making light work of the flatbread and with some help from the staff, we finally decided on the calamari, chicken liver parfait and charcuterie board to start. 

They were wise choices.

Even though I am not the biggest fan of seafood, I couldn't stop digging into (and reluctantly shared) the crispy squid with garlic, lemon and tartare sauce. 

The parfait with toasted brioche and apple chutney was equally delicious and was quickly polished off by us all. The chutney was warmly spiced and made the perfect counter point to the pâté. 

For the main I chose (again, with help from the waiter) chargrilled chicken with a mushroom, creme fraiche and thyme soon and potato gratin. 

I hate to say I left a a little on my plate. However this is because I work in an office where there is an allocated shelf for biscuits and cake only and I have no willpower. It could also be because I didn't stick to my own plate, sorry girls!

It's safe to say I had major food envy when Blondie's fillet steak was served. Vegetarians look away now:

In her words, it was perfectly cooked and melt in the mouth. I'll vouch for that as I had a 'couple' of bites. The bearnaise sauce was perfectly creamy, but if we are honest the fillet was so good on its own so we didn't use much!

Wee Lorz opted for a healthy option of haddock wrapped in bacon with pea purée which she said tasted very fresh and firm. Again, I'll agree with that after having a forkful...

The choice of healthy eating was quickly ruined with some wine as Wee Lorz explains: 

"We were given a choice of wine. Poor Blondie was driving so Steph handed the privilege to me, and I was more than happy to oblige. As we were both having chicken and fish, I headed straight to the whites. Now, some of my favourite white wine is French, a Chablis or a Sancerre. With a little persuasion from the excellent staff I opted for the Chablis - crisp with citrus notes and a mineral finish. This wine did not disappoint and went perfectly with our dishes."

The dessert menu was presented with immediate reactions of rubbing our stomachs and shaking our heads declaring we were too full, knowing full well we would cave and at least share one. 

The lemon tart was amazing - extremely citrusy with a slight crispy topping. Tarte au Citron is clearly a French classic and Côte paired it with Normandy Cream and fresh raspberries to make it absolutely perfect.

We wiped the plate clean.

I'll definitely be making another trip here. Working on George Sqaure means I can take full advantage of the lunch and pre-theatre menu which seems like a steal at £9.95 for two course and £11.90 for three. Côte also have a breakfast club that comes with a super cute croissant keychain that gets you a free hot drink with any breakfast on a weekday. Croque Madame anyone?

Staff at Côte could not have looked after us more. The lassies left extremely happy, not just because of the overdue reunion but also because of the fantastic service and delicious food. If you are looking for French food in Glasgow, Côte is the place to go! 

Côte

41-43 West Nile Street 

Glasgow, G1 2PT 

0141 248 1022

Opening Hours:

Monday- Friday 08.00 - 23:00 and 18:00-22:00 Saturday 09.00-23.00 Sunday 09:00 - 22.30

The Lassies were provided a meal by Côte for review but all opinions are our own.