The Glasgow Restaurant Festival is well underway and Glasgow diners are being spoilt for choice as some of the city’s best restaurants “pop-up” at the Spiegeltent on the corner of Bell St and Candleriggs.
More recently Tony has opened the doors to the 120 seat restaurant Tasty at Alea which as the name suggests is housed within the Alea Casino overlooking the Clyde, where he has produced an exciting menu with a mash up of flavours that captures the freshness, energy and simplicity that is ‘street food’ and ‘sharing food’ from all over the world.
Tony – It’s all about big punchy flavours. Fresh cooking, street food style served in a restaurant atmosphere.
Citylicious – Why Glasgow?
Tony –because they asked! Seriously though, I had always wanted to have a look at doing something in Glasgow and Alea came up. It was a good fit as it’s where adults go to play and we’re all about fun and having a laugh.
Citylicious – Are there any other plans to roll Tasty out across other venues?
Tony – No. We’ve got Tasty at the Apex through in Edinburgh which is a different set up, more small plates for sharing.
Citylicious - You're known for your Pop-Up events, do you have anything else in the pipeline?
Tony – We’ve got G&T @ Tigerlilly coming up. That's Gin and Tony – where we’ll be serving up five different gins with matched foods.
By the time we had finished our little interview, the first diners were arriving so Tony made his way back to the kitchen for the start of service whilst myself and Nicola grabbed a table so that we could enjoy the Tasty Experience.
First up was Vuhra – a spiced lamb patty with mint & coriander sauce with a tamarind dressing. Tony had said earlier that Tasty is all about big, punchy flavours and he wasn't kidding! The patty was well seasoned and balanced with the mint from the sauce while a ton of chilli heat jumped from the tamarind dressing. Thankfully, the patty was served on a bed of fresh salad which helped cool the mouth.
Next up was Jiaozi – vegetable dumplings (called little ears) from North China, with soy and chilli vinegar. The dumplings were light and delicious and we could have easily eaten another few platefuls.
After a short break, we were presented with the next savoury course, Korean Burrito - Kim Chi fried rice, bean sprouts, haddock and gochujang sauce served in a warm tortilla. We weren’t sure what to expect from fish in a tortilla but the mix of sweet, sharp and spicy flavours & soft and crunchy textures was a winner.
By this point we were both feeling pretty stuffed but the thought of the Nutella Gateau kept us going. In truth, we probably didn't need a dessert but not wanting to miss out on the ‘experience’, we worked our way through the stacks of pancakes and praline served with vanilla ice cream. This was heavy going but the addition of a sharp marmalade sauce helped cut through the rich hazelnut chocolate although Nicola had to admit defeat half way through.
So £15 for four courses or £20 with a drink if you add the ticket – either way, for the quality of food served up, we both felt that the Tasty Experience offered fantastic value for money.
The Glasgow Restaurant Festival will run on until 24th April but this was Tony’s only appearance and based on the feedback across social media, Tasty by Tony was a big hit.
Tony Singh is back in the comfort of Tasty at Alea serving up his new ‘Spring Menu’ which was launched on Monday so why not put a little spice in your lives and book a table now.
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