There are always new restaurants being added to 5pm Dining. The Spanish Butcher is the most recent Glasgow restaurant to come on board.
Opened on Miller Street last November, The Spanish Butcher is the brainchild of the smart cookies behind The Butchershop Bar and Grill and Hutchesons.
The 5pm Dining blog was very impressed when we dropped in on a soft opening night last year.
In particular, we liked the snazzy crockery; the flattering low lights and the way that the dining room was split into several different areas; plenty of nooks for whispering sweet nothings. Or planning world domination.
Galician beef at the Spanish Butcher
We really liked the eye-level viewing window into the kitchen. And the sight of chefs throwing slabs of gorgeous beef on the grill is always an appetite sharpener.
Cuts of beef from twelve to fourteen-year-old Galician Blond cattle take pride of place on the menu. They are carefully cooked over glowing charcoal.
‘Swooningly tender with an initial grassy flavour giving way to a deep, rich beefiness’ is how we described it. While grinning from ear to ear.
However, it is not all about hunks of meat. A lot of the cooking is delicate and precise.
After last November’s visit, we also raved about a starter of seared, hand-dived Orkney scallop with premium pork cheek, a red pepper soup and morcilla, or black pudding.
Other options include the whole monkfish cooked on the bone; authentic, acorn-fed jamon iberico de bellota and grilled octopus.
And there is more. As well as the a la carte, a set lunch/pre-theatre menu and a Galician Sunday lunch option vie to attract attention.
Whole roasted suckling pig
Perhaps the biggest show-stopper at The Spanish Butcher is the whole roasted sucking pig for four to five people.
What links all the dishes is the thoughtful combination of traditional and contemporary techniques used plus the beautiful presentation.
We liked it. Can you tell?