Eat Deli

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.

This miniscule 24-cover café/deli caters to an astounding range of customers, especially on weekends. Couples devour the brunch special, friends chat over coffee and cakes, families lunch with kids opting for crispy bread, ham, cheese and fruit platters and parents going for risotto or pasta with wine or beer. Simultaneously the deli counter serves ready meals, homemade terrines and seductive cakes. The often hectic ambience could be overwhelming but staff keep everything calm and show an impressive knowledge of the monthly specials wine list which has become a key feature since the café became licensed in 2012. Balsamic-dressed, oak-roast salmon salad with crispy mixed leaves, avocado and asparagus and a few sinful croutons is delicious and permits a giant pistachio meringue with fruit and whipped cream. Eat Deli has plans to extend opening hours and is creating set menus for special events such as wine tastings and Burns Night.

• High point: Plentiful crisp well-dressed salads
• Low point: Cramped eating space and chaotic reception area

Listed in The Larder – in the shops now or buy online.

This Italian-influenced deli and café is well known as a place to stop for a Bei Nannini espresso and a pastry, but it also has an astonishing range of dried foods, organic juices, chocolates and home-made dishes. Highlights include The Fine Cheese Co fennel crackers and Findlater's Fine Foods excellent pâtés but it is probably the various lasagnes, available in generous portions, that make Eat such a well-loved feature of the Clarkston high street.