The Calabash Restaurant

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.

Opened by Kenyan owners in 2011, Scotland’s first pan-African bar and restaurant is a unique experience. It’s a great venue for people watching: diners from Glasgow’s African community create a welcoming atmosphere with sharp fashion and animated conversation buzzing around in different languages. This is matched by the energetic African music entertaining the dance floor in the adjoining room and it’s easy to make new friends at the next table. Grilled meat is a speciality – a mixed grill of goat and lamb comes with fresh salsa verde to provide bite and balance. Peri-peri chicken wings have a citrusy heat and the menu offers an eclectic mix of sub-Saharan cuisines. Spicy chicken with rice and peas, a delightful lamb mince curry and Boerewors sausages create a culinary safari for food adventurers. The sides such as cassava chips and West African soups offer lighter options of which the Kenyan greens and potato mash is a highlight. To accompany all this excitement a range of African beers help soak up a setting as vibrant as the zebra print that lines the entrance walls.

• High point: Infectiously happy African atmosphere
• Low point: Lighting could be a little softer