On the most drab and depressing Main Street in Scotland, in the middle of a plethora of hair dressers, barbers and florists, sits one of the best restaurants I have ever been to in my (almost) 23 years of living.
Artisan's cuisine falls under the rather unusual bracket of 'Scottish food with a modern twist', which is right up my alley. Fed up with the chains of restaurants that serve reheated, mass produced grub, and sick of spicy Indian meals and salty Chinese takeaways, I needed a change. And I definitely found what I was looking for at Artisan.
I booked a table for my mum and I as a belated Mother's Day treat on a dull, wet Monday at 1pm. When we arrived, there were already 4 or 5 full tables of people eating, testament to the popularity of the place. We were seated at a spacious table for four in the small dining area, which is up a couple of steps. There is also a small secluded dining area to the left of the door, so all in all it holds around 15 tables of people, mostly in 4's, which gives it a lovely cosy, homely feel. The decor is modern and understated, like the food. Creams, browns, sandy tiles and dark wood feature heavily. There is a bar which is fully stocked as soon as you walk in the door, full of bottles of Whisky of every description. In fact, they have over 90 varieties available.
It was 1pm after all, so we gave the Whisky a miss and ordered a couple of soft drinks from the lovely waitress (who seemed to be serving by herself, poor girl!) and along with those she brought us a small ceramic pot and crusty bread. The pot contained Chimichurri, a dipping sauce made from tomatoes, garlic and herbs. It is out of this world, I could have finished the whole pot! Really nice complimentary dish to have whilst you are waiting, and perfect as a starter if you are only popping in for a quick main course on a lunch break.
The lunch menu is outstanding value for money. Three courses for 8.50 and two for 6.95, with the evening menu of equal value, 14.50 for three courses, which is brilliant considering the choices on offer. This even includes an option of Steak in the evening menu!
The menu is also very extensive, with choice of a good 7 starters and 8 or 9 main courses, which made choosing a nightmare! My mum and I both opted for the same; chicken liver pate with crusty bread, red onion jam and balsamic salad. The plates came out pretty quickly, and we were faced with one of the biggest starters I have ever seen! The slab of pate was akin to a house brick, served with 4 huge chunks of crusty bread, lying on the red onion jam and salad. i don't even like onions, or salad really but this was exceptional. We managed to wolf it all down, which was no mean feat! The pate was smooth and tasty, and the bread slightly toasted. Yum. We looked at each other in the knowledge that we would probably struggle to eat a whole main!
We both opted for beer battered Alaskan Haddock with chips for our main, luckily this dish was a little slower to arrive to give us a wee minute to breathe! When it did arrive, it came served on a huge rectangular glass plate, with mini glass dishes of tartar sauce and tomato sauce. It looked really fancy and upmarket, which adds to the outstanding value in here. Everything is presented the way you would expect food to be presented in an expensive boutique restaurant.
The fish was white and tender, flaking away from the batter and melting in the mouth. The chips were more like potato wedges, enormous and piping hot. I opted for my main without salad but there was plenty of that on my mums plate. The only tiny gripe I have is that the batter was a bit soggy for me, I prefer it really crispy. It was gorgeous but neither of us could finish it! (we gave it our best shot!).
We decided to go all out and have dessert too. There were only two choices of Chocolate and brandy cheesecake or sticky toffee pudding. I decided to go for sticky toffee pudding with a scoop of tablet ice-cream (drooool).
The chunk of toffee pudding was huge, really moist but incredibly light, which was nice after the big meal we just had! The tablet ice cream was immense too. They have a massive selection of ice-creams, including coconut and Eton Mess flavours, which vary all the time.
We were suitably stuffed and ready for a lie down after all that! Thoroughly delicious and satisfying, fantastic home cooked food set in a cosy and friendly atmosphere with a wonderful waitress who kept her cool at all times and delivered some awesome service. And the best thing about it all? The bill arrived at our table, at an astonishing 19.40! You can't ask for any more than that!
One of the best restaurants in Lanarkshire, I would go as far as to say, possibly even outdoing similar places in Glasgow which charge three times the price for 'traditional' food that just doesn't measure up to this standard.
Can't recommend it highly enough read more