Café Andaluz

The 2013 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2013) edition.

The two Café Andaluz branches in Glasgow share menus, deals and décor, but while there isn’t much to separate them in culinary terms, there is a distinctly West End feel about the (original) Cresswell Lane restaurant. Glasgow University’s main campus is only yards away, and the good value lunch, pre-theatre and Sunday tapas deals here have an unsurprising appeal for students, staff and visiting parents. Here classic tortilla española is a substantial wedge of egg and potato, prepared to the ideal point of firmness and still moist, while albóndigas meatballs – surprisingly made from lamb rather than the traditional pork – have a rich, rather Middle Eastern spicing about them. The stand-out tapa may be pimientos de padrón; tiny peppers flash-fried whole with plenty of salt to go brilliantly with beer or the very decent house red. Paellas are available from about £12 per head (as at other Café Andaluz branches), but the convivial tapas format seems to suit the local clientele better.

• High point: Genuine padrón peppers, straight from Spain
• Low point: Dessert is something of an afterthought