There’s always something rather exciting about discovering a high-regarded new restaurant not far from your home.
Mr MacGregor’s is a 15 minute drive away from my home, and I’d seen a plethora of positive comments from friends on social media about it. So, the chance to dine there wasn’t to be turned down.
Their menu is all about celebrating flavours from around the world with a Scottish twist and offering freshly cooked – and locally sourced – food to the local market.
The restaurant is easily found, with plenty of parking spaces, and offers warm, comfortable and spacious surroundings. We were seated in the glass atrium on a cool Sunday, but the heat was perfect – and a window was even open!
My companion and I opted to each three courses from the Sunday lunch menu (£22), with a two course option also available (£17.95).
Bruscetta, haggis in filo parcels and smoked salmon starters
I had an easy choice for me starter, declining the soup of the day and lamb and chorizo meatballs – as a lover of salmon, I opted for the beetroot and juniper berry cured salmon, which came with a horseradish mousse and apple crisps.
My mouth was drooling the second I saw the fish, which was pleasantly stained by the beetroot to a shade of purplish-pink, and it was lovingly presented, all rolled up. Dipped into the mousse, it was a lovely combination, as the horseradish wasn’t too strong. And the apple crisps – a lovely contrast in texture, adding a little crunch to a soft starter.
My companion loves her bread, so she went for the wild mushroom and truffle oil bruschetta. You could smell the truffle oil as the food was brought out – and was faultless. Beautifully baked and flavoured bread, with a lovely taste.
As ever, our junior diner likes to do things differently, so she chose haggis and herb mash filo pastry in a whisky sauce, from the main menu. Although she left the sauce (which I sampled – very nice indeed), she was more than happy, as the haggis was packed full of flavour, and the filo offered just the right amount of resistance and crunch. It’s a brilliantly simple idea – and was a real star turn.
For our main, the options were good – Scottish moules frites, butternut squash curry and shepherd’s pie were the ones we turned down – and I went for a pork and chorizo cheese burger, with jalapeno mayonnaise and chunky chips.
I love chorizo – eating it is the next best thing to getting a wee break to Spain at the moment – so having it in a pork burger was not a combination I was expecting, and was a surefire success. The meats combined well, with their flavours intermingling perfectly, with a nice piece of cheese to bring everything together. The mayonnaise was perhaps hotter than I expected, but a real success in a brioche bun.
And a word of praise for the chips – it’s often easy to overlook how easy chips can appear to be to get right, but there’s nothing worse than overdone chips, and these were absolutely on the money, like the best chip shop chips. Thick, chunky and full of flavour.
The roast of the day at Mr MacGregor’s
My companion’s choice was the roast of the day, and she was delighted to learn it was strips of sirloin. These were thick, and the portion size was perfect – no small plates here, this was a full and filling meal which was doused in delicious gravy, with plenty of vegetables.
The sirloin itself is worthy of praise – thick strips, perfectly cooked, and left a very pleasant aftertaste.
The a la carte menu had plenty of options for all dietary requirements, with grilled Lebanese piced sea bream, slow roasted ox cheek, buttermilk fried chicken, butternut squash, spinach and butterbean curry, and honey and sesame seed halloumi fries, the junior diner played it safe with beer-battered haddock, chunky chips, pea puree and a bloody mary marie rose sauce.
The fish was huge – absolutely perfect, and the batter was devoured. On previous occasions, I’ve sampled fish in a batter which was so thick it almost became off-putting, but here, this was thicker than a fish and chip shop, but still not too dense as to be full of fat. She was delighted with the fact it was a thick piece of haddock, and the batter crunched without being greasy. Winner.
The junior diner declined dessert, so myself and my companion selected ours – we declined the Porelli’s ice cream, and I opted for a winter ginger spiced pudding, with an orange creme Anglaise.
The spiced sponge
I didn’t want the pudding to end – that’s how good it was. The texture of it was just how I like it, not too fluffy but not so dense, and the spicy flavour wasn’t in your face. It felt like a home-made pudding that my mum would made – I can’t give it any higher compliment than that. And the creme Anglais… I could have eaten that all day!
Pineapple cheesecake
My companion’s choice was for the pineapple cheesecake. It didn’t last long – the base was perfectly crumbly, the cheesecake was full of flavour, and the pineapple on top had a spicy chocolate mousse. This packed a fair bit of heat, which wasn’t quite expected, but was soon disposed of.
Our group was more than happy with our meals, and we left, full and contented. The serving staff are first class, know their menu and are full of personality and friendly banter, which made for a perfect dining experience – what more can you ask for?
Mr MacGregor’s, 679a Clarkston Road, Netherlee, Glasgow, G44 3SE.
0141 261 7156
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