The Spanish Butcher in Glasgow is one of those restaurants that you recommend to visiting friends and family, but, in my case anyway, don’t often get a chance to visit.
Opened in 2016 by Rusk and Rusk, an independent Scottish restaurant group who also own The Butchershop Bar & Grill in the west end, and, up until 2021 Hutchesons, The Spanish Butcher is billed as a Galicia meets Brooklyn offering.
It’s a kind-of blink-and-you’ll-miss-it venue on Glasgow’s Miller Street, just down from the always-busy Paesano Pizza. Luckily it’s so popular that those who know it won't miss it, and those who don’t, have probably been told to look out for it.
It’s garnered such a name for itself that Rusk and Rusk are gearing up to open a venue in Edinburgh, on Castle Street, next month.
The Spanish Butcher restaurant has a menu that combines vibrant Spanish and Mediterranean-inspired flavours and the very best homegrown produce from Scotland’s larder. Inside it’s dark, with low lighting, wood panelling, exposed brick walls and French bistro style seating.
I booked for a Thursday night dinner with a friend I’d not seen for ages, but this is an ideal spot for a date too. After we settle into our corner table, and have the menu explained - the only really complicated parts are the sharing cuts of meat that are priced by the gram - we decide on our starters and mains.
My friend instantly chose the beef carpaccio (£15) while I umm and aa over the Gambas Pil Pil, street corn or seared king scallops (£16). For some reason, I overlooked my favourite, Gordal olives. The scallops won out in the end, and were served with confit tomato, mojo verde, samphire and crispy onions.
The three fat juicy scallops were topped with spears of samphire (surely the vegetable of the spring?), some micro herbs including the dreaded coriander (which was swiftly picked out) and surrounded by mustard coloured blobs of tomato and the herby sauce, which was a bit over-powering.
Across the table, the vibrant pink hued, thin slices of beef were served with guindilla chilli, payoyo cheese and pepinillos - meat, cheese, chillies and pickles, what’s not to love?
While fresh, there wasn't much taste to the beef and, possibly from the heap of rocket salad on top or the pickles, there was a slight floral taste to this dish that was unexpected.
For main, we ordered the roasted monkfish tail, (£30) and a fillet steak of Scotch beef, (£36). I am a big believer that the beef we have here is world class, so can never understand why steak restaurants don’t just stick to it.
The meaty fish, once taken off the bone, was used to soak up the bright caper brown butter sauce, which was punctuated with chunks of chorizo.
Truffles fries were a side here, as with the steak, although they were more chunky chips than fries, with slivers of grated cheese sticking in clumps.
The steak, cooked medium, was faultless, and quickly devoured along with the truffle fries, a punchy peppercorn sauce and a side of less than vibrant green grilled asparagus, (£6). The Manchego mac and cheese side, (£6) was a delight.
On to desserts and who could resist the classic churros with a warm chocolate sauce (£8)? Crisp and dusted with just enough sugar, these were lovely. The Santiago almond tart (£8), wasn’t bursting with the nuttiness you might expect but the poached pear and addition of rose water lifted this dish.
The Spanish Butcher has a solid menu, concept and following, but some of the dishes didn’t really shine and I get the feeling that, on our visit, it wasn’t as good as it could have been. The stylish, broody atmosphere along with the range of dishes will be making their way to the Edinburgh branch soon, so let’s see what that has in store.
