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I think we can all agree that this summer has been a bit disappointing when it comes to the weather. After a month of sunshine in June, July, though warm, was showery at best and this trend has continued into August.
If you’ve not managed to make it abroad for the summer holidays, the bright days of early summer may seem like a distant memory (especially now that thoughts, and events, have turned to autumnal activities).
For a little slice of summer, we booked into Lobo, a Mediterranean small plates restaurant on Pollokshaws Road in Glasgow’s south side. Lobo is located on the site of popular brunch spot, Gnom, which shut in 2021.
As disappointed as the locals were with Gnom being gone, Lobo appears to have filled the spot well, as it’s fully booked on the Saturday night we arrive for an early evening dinner.
It’s torrential rain outside, but inside the restaurant has welcoming dark blue and exposed brick walls, punctuated with shelves full of plants, wine, knick knacks and fairy lights.
On the back wall are two large paintings from KFRBS. The overall vibe is stylish and laid back - it might be the time of year but it feels as if we’d walked into a restaurant you might find while on holiday - a break from the norm.
The menu is small but it’s hard to decide which dishes to choose. It is, as seems to be the norm now, a small plates affair, which are designed to be shared (and with experience there’s often not a big enough table for). We kick off the evening with a coco-chan-chara cocktail (£9) - a rum, coconut, lime and mint concoction that tastes and looks like (in a good way) liquid sun cream, with a fruity hint from the rum and citrus cutting through the creamy coconut.
A non alcoholic Lobo punch (£6) - pineapple, coconut, lime and orgeat - a very tropical, easy to drink juice. After mulling over the menu, which is split into snacks, vegetables, meat and fish, we ordered valdeon blue cheese croquettes (£5), courgette with chilli brown butter, dukkah and bean soubise (£9), harissa spiced aubergine (£9), mozzarella, anchovies and roast pepper (£11) and cured salmon, green gazpacho, cucumber and jalapeno (£14) with a side of roast new potatoes (£6).
We were talked out of adding the potato, gorgonzola and mushroom flatbread to the order by our waiter, due to how rich it was (and needing to choose between that and the croquettes, the croquettes won).
While the friendly staff started off very helpful, they soon went into holiday mode, causing substantial delays to getting plates cleared, drinks reordered and dessert menus.
First to arrive were the croquettes, which Id’ noticed had been ordered by a few of the other tables. These four perfectly golden, round morsels were sprinkled with coarse sea salt and topped with pickled shallots.
Sat on top of a thick raisin sauce, which gave a hit of sweetness to these rich gooey bites. While the mozzarella dish was the complete opposite.
Fresh, and light, this dish consisted of chunks of creamy cheese topped with thin strips of vibrant red pepper and slices of anchovy.
The salmon too was a light, bright dish of thin slices of plump pink fish interspersed with rings of bright green jalapeno, deep green fronds of dill and cooling chunks of cucumber. Eating fresh summer flavours like this, you could almost imagine the sunshine and warmth outside….almost.
Heavier, heartier dishes were the aubergine, which had completely soaked up the flavour of the harissa, tahini and herby zhoug sauces and the crispy potatoes, which sat in a mojo verde sauce., next to a swirl of moreish garlic aioli.
The courgettes, cut into thick slices (a bit like the corn ribs in Ka Pao for anyone that’s been and loved those), were charred and completely covered in sesame seeds, and sat adrift in an oily orange sauce, mixed with the bean soubise.
This dish, a highlight for me, had a zestiness and crunch from sesame seeds. The charred veg contained a smokiness and kick of heat. The collaboration of ingredients and flavours made an unremarkable vegetable remarkable.
Despite the correct advice on the flatbread, we still had enough room for dessert. Mine was the overly sweet caramelised lemon tart (£7.50) while across the table, the extremely rich dark chocolate ganache, served with coffee, sesame and banana (£7) was ordered.
We agreed quickly that one to share would have been enough and, while good, it was the savoury dishes here that did the heavy lifting.
Lobo is a delightful addition to the burgeoning dining scene in this area, and we could see why so many people would want to experience a bit of the Med on a rainy Saturday night in Glasgow.
758 Pollokshaws Road, Glasgow, G41 2AE
