The Mussel Inn – Glasgow

I spoke so much about food in that last post that I thought it would be extremely rude not to share some foodie diaries from August. The proof is in the pudding, right? SORRRRY, I couldn’t help myself. As you read this I should be a few hours into flight one of two (Glasgow to Dubai, then Dubai to Singapore) We left at 2pm today, and arrive in Singapore at 3pm tomorrow, and they’re 7 hours ahead – which I think equals jet lag? We’ll see! We are spending a few days with my Uncle Chris and his wife Rachel, then heading across to Hoi An and Da Nang in Vietnam, back to Singapore for the last few days of our trip, then home! I’ve scheduled a few posts for while I’m away, and you can keep up to date on my travels on instagram and twitter (@hellorogue) Any recommendations for things to see and do while on our South East Asian adventure would be much appreciated. Now, I’m pretty sure I mentioned food…

On the eve of Milk’s famous pop punk karaoke (if you saw the snapchats… I am sorry, you will never be able to unsee that) Pete and I were invited down to review a well loved and established little eatery in Glasgow city centre, the Mussel Inn. We were long overdue a date night, and are both massive seafood fans so getting to visit this iconic fish restaurant in the heart of Glasgow on a busy and bustling Friday night was just what the doctor ordered.

The Mussel Inn is owned by a co-operative of west coast shellfish
farmers who got together
to market their produce. They are very proud that their mussels are
grown and harvested naturally, and the restaurant takes great pride in
the production methods used for its
shellfish and their emphasis on sustainability. Scotland’s lochs,
rivers and seas are the most perfect natural larder for this sort of
cuisine, and there are plenty of other fresh catches on offer if you’re
not a fan of mussels.

For starter, I went for the Queen Scallops grilled in garlic butter which were absolutely delicious. I love scallops, and know they are notoriously difficult to cook without overdoing them. These little ladies were grilled to perfection! £8.95 is a really reasonable price for 6, but I could have easily eaten more. Pete had the Tiger Prawns grilled with red onion, chillies, parsley and garlic butter. He let my try one (after much persuasion) and it was lovely and fragrant with a slight kick, and a nice firm consistency but not ‘chewy’. Nothing worse than over cooked, rubbery prawns, y’feel me?

When it came to the mains, of course I ordered a 1/2 kilo pot of mussels. They come in the half or the full kilo, with 5 difference sauces (if that’s even the right word) on offer. I went for the specials option on the night, which was a tomato based broth with chorizo. Absolutely divine. For £7.30 these were actually cheaper than my starter, but extremely filling. Pete opted for the Grilled Sea Bass, served on a rocket, feta and warm new potato and roasted red pepper salad, drizzled with balsamic dressing. More expensive at £15.70 but again I think this is a reasonable price for a seafood dish at a seafood restaurant. You probably wouldn’t blink twice at paying that price for sea bass in a mixed cuisine restaurant.

The only underwhelming part of the night was the dessert. Well, for me, Pete was over the moon with his amaretto affogato! I feel like the Mussel Inn focus so hard on their specialism (and why not, it’s what they’re great at) that the dessert menu has become a bit of an afterthought. My first two options were sold out (at 9pm on a friday night, maybe fair enough?) which left me with the choice of Coconut Pannacotta or Chocolate, Orange and Almond Torte. I went for the latter, and although it was nice enough it felt like quite a heavy way to round off such a fresh and flavoursome meal. I think The Mussel Inn could take advantage of their roots and perhaps offer more of a scottish twist on the dessert menu, perhaps some Cranachan or some locally sourced ice cream with tablet? Just a thought, they do seafood so well, that it would be a shame for the meal to lose momentum by dessert. Anyways, in this case the proof wasn’t in the pudding, it was in the mussels, and nowhere in Glasgow does them better than the Mussel Inn.