Pintxo

Oddly enough, I didn’t do a lot of TV watching this week, and the programmes I did watch were by in large old favourites so not much new to report there. I did go out to dinner however, so for the second time in its short life, TV Casualty goes foodie.

On paper Pintxo had me. Having perused the online menu and read a number of gushing reviews, my taste buds positively tingled all day Thursday as I dreamed about the upcoming Iberian feast. Letting my imagination run riot, I indulged in ramekins filled with new and exotic dishes, knowing smiles as I ordered the house speciality, then praise and admiration of companions for my choice as I sat back in my seat, satiated and looking ahead to when prudence might allow me to return.

Such was the anticipation that I advised everyone I met of my dinner plans at length, and had all but booked my birthday meal there before even setting foot in the door, so it was with childlike excitement that I got off the tube at Partick and made the short walk up Dumbarton Road.

Pintxo, (pronounced pin-cho) is the latest addition to Glasgow’s increasingly varied tapas scene, taking its name from the small £1 tapas that were purportedly for sale at the bar. Occupying a compact, understated space opposite the medical centre, the restaurant is heavily influenced by cooking from Spain’s Basque region, with the regions dishes featuring prominently on the expansive and tantalizing menu.

I had made an informed choice of Scallops with chorizo and the crisp baby squid with saffron and green apple alioli earlier in the day, leaving a space open for a wild card choice which I filled, wonderfully spontaneously I thought, with a “trio of gazpacho: andaluz, ajo blanco and pimiento.”

The scallops were the first to arrive, sat on top of wafer thin slices of chorizo and looking lonely on the plate with only a slice of lemon for company, and at a hefty £5.99, a touch underwhelming. Sweet and lightly seared just past the stage of gooeyness, the scallops were wonderfully fresh, although the flavour of the chorizo never really pushed through to give the dish the mild smoky heat the combination suggested.

Shortly after the crisp baby squid arrived, the small tentacles delicately fried and served in a bowl with an apple aloli dip on the side. Again, the freshness of the produce shone through giving the squid a deep, oceanic quality. The saffron and green apple alioli however, was little more than glorified mayonnaise, with little evidence of either apple or saffron.

A good 5 minutes after I had finished my other dishes the trio of gazpacho arrived, rather disconcertingly, in three plastic shot glasses on a crescent shaped plate. Mid way through the second shot I flaked, foregoing the last to a companion who then had similar difficulties.

Elsewhere on the table courgette stuffed with goat’s cheese proved greasy, bitter and inedible (actually) while coriander, red peppers and rioja did little to enrich a spongy slow cooked lamb dish. Redemption came, however, in the form of a chunky, perfectly cooked traditional Spanish tortilla, and encouraging noises were being made about some King Prawns with olive oil, garlic and chilli up table.

Overall, I left Pintxo in a mood closer to optimistic realism than brutal disappointment. While failing to live up to my frankly delusional expectations, the restaurant boasts some interesting variations on the standard tapas fare and comes as close to an authentic taste of the Basque country you’re likely to get in deepest darkest Partick. The three tapas for £8.95 lunch and early dinner option looks inviting, and I get the sense Pintxo might work better if approached in the Spanish style of tapas as an accompaniment as opposed to an end in itself.

I also learned to take restaurant reviews in future with a pintx of salt.