Enjoy generous portions with Old World flair at Elena's. They've won a bunch of awards for a…read morereason, maybe due to the unique concept, but they do a nice job combining Scottish pub and Spanish panache. Of course many come for the tapas, and you'll get more than the typical microscope-required dishes at other places. Get your imported beer here on tap as well. It goes well with the diverse choices that should keep everyone happy. Croquettes are sharable but that didn't stop me from eating them all. You get a variety but notice: the chicken ones remain hot! The lamb was tasty and sides filling. A couple drafts later I'm waddling out satisfied. It's a nice alternative to the Argyle area dining scene, and I'll hope to return and try much more.

This is the best Spanish food to be had in Glasgow by a country mile and then some! Why haven't I…read morefound this place sooner? We'd recently returned from a short break in Malaga and were pining for some Spanish ambience, so I was very pleased to discover Elena's, even more so when we spotted the Paella de Marisco (seafood paella) - I'll be having half of that, yes please! They have a pretty good wine list too, and we soon settled on a nice fragrant Alberino, which was a pefect accompaniment to the seafood. The table was soon very cluttered with dishes, wine cooler and glasses, but we managed. I'm afraid I forgot to take any pictures of the food, it was too yummy not to get stuck in. For dessert, I couldn't resist the chocolate brownie, although I opted for coconut ice cream instead of the lemon. I probably shouldn't have had either given my lactose intolerance, but sometimes you have to be prepared to suffer. It did almost finish me off, it was so chocolatey, but wow, it was worth it. I'm only giving four stars as I thought the service was a little lacklustre in places. They didn't offer to pour or let us taste the wine, didn't provide a finger bowl or any wipes for the sticky fingers, and - more importantly - didn't tell us about the menu specials when we were ordering. We only found out about those when I spotted the specials board on the way out. I don't know if it would have made much difference actually, as we were pretty committed to the paella before we arrived, but it would have been nice to have had the choice. Annnd.... I've just spotted that they have Caipirinhas on the cocktail menu - now I'll definitely have to go back!

This is well overdue, as I went here almost a year ago. So sorry for my tardiness...excusing that,…read moreplease read on. My boyfriend and I came for dinner one evening. He'd been before but I had never. We very much enjoy tapas and wine, so it made sense. The decor was fun and colorful. The outside looks a bit unassuming, and I honestly can't say I would have known to go in if it weren't for my date, but it was well worth it. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because it felts so cramped at our table. It's tapas, so of course we ordered more than one plate each of food, however our table was so cramped that we could barely fit all the tapas we ordered, comfortably, with water glasses AND wine glasses. Even a party of 2, it might help to seat at a larger table if at all possible. We did order a LOT of things, and shared a bottle of red wine. The food and drink were delicious, that is for sure. I can't speak to the price, because I just don't know the cost of living/comparison of value/cost in Glasgow (I live in the US) - but I would certainly be back. Of course it (now) holds nostalgic value in my mind, but the food and drink left a clear impression of delicious delights, so I hope to come visit again soon!

Strange one, we actually went here completely by accident, we had been recommended the restaurant…read morenext door but these Glasgow buildings are awful confusing so we ended up going in the wrong door and by the time we had realised we were already seated and looking at the menu. They do say that sometimes the 'best things happen by accident' or do they? Anyway, once seated in Rioja the waiter could not have been more welcoming, maybe he knew we'd made an error. He showed us the menu and told us what he'd have. We ended up going for three tapas dishes each for £12.95. We opted for the Bravas, Chorizo, Mussels, Squid, Chicken Wings and Prawn Paella. The food all came out when it was ready, which I like. This gave us a chance to admire each individual dish. The stand outs for me were the Mussels and the Chorizo. The Mussels swam in a rich buttery sauce that could easily be served as soup. The Chorizo was obviously authentic and bursting with flavour, I could have eaten it all day, but my cholesterol would have been through the roof. The place was quiet but it still had a good atmosphere, the waiter sat us next to the window and we were bathed in the rarely seen Glasgow sun for the whole meal - it was a really nice experience overall. I loved that fact that even though it was quiet the staff kept themselves busy by cleaning - that's what you want to see! Easy four stars for me, so close to being five!

A wee review update and still a very strong 5 stars from me!…read more Cubatas is definitely one of my favourite restaurants in Glasgow, I've now had countless meals here and enjoyed exceptional food and friendly, attentive service each time. We often take our little boy with us and they are so lovely to him, I order him a couple of dishes as soon as we arrive and these are brought out not long after we have him settled in his highchair and our drinks have arrived. It's brilliant as food keeps him occupied and we can relax and enjoy our food too. I force myself to order some dishes I haven't tried before - it's so easy to stick with the ones I have tried and I LOVE - and each time I discover another mouth watering dish. One of my new favourites is the pork cheek, melt in the mouth, jam packed full of flavour and so moreish. Added to some regular favourites such as the spicy prawns, paella, patatas bravas and their delicious salad dishes and you get a wonderfully varied meal. My top tip is to order a basket of bread for the table, the sauces and oils that accompany the dishes are divine and I love mopping them up with a chunk of soft fluffy bread. It's great going to Cubatas in a big group, with people who are happy sharing. My ideal would be to go and order one of everything off the menu, heaven :) These guys also do gift vouchers, I know as I bought my mum and dad some for Christmas. We've taken them for dinner here a few times and they love it!

Well what do you do after working out? Stuff your face uncontrollably until it hurts to breathe! I…read morelove this feeling, I am full equals happiness. Let's start with Bread which couldn't be any fresher. Roasted almonds and nachos. The nachos were different served up with BBQ rather than salsa, this might actually be a new thing for me. The great thing about tapas is that you can order everything and everyone just shares. Pataas Bravas, marrocon kebabs, fired cheese, chorizo in pastry..... Yes pastry! Prawns in garlic, fajitas, A pork dish, chicken with a batter and colorful sauce, meatballs and a massive paella, I'm sure there has been a few dishes I've missed. Feeling full yet? A tapas of deserts oh my goodness. A baileys cheese cake, check! Creme brûlée....check something that tastes of butterscotch. Tiramisu ooofffft! Some other spongy thing and a walnut cake. Man I've just re lived this experience....so good! Staff friendly and great food make this my perfect match!!

An excellent find in Helensburgh, and one of the best tapas restaurants to be found in Scotland…read moreIMHO. There was only one server on duty, but he coped admirably with the increasing numbers who arrived during a Monday lunchtime. The portions are large enough to satisfy the appetite, the menu is quite extensive, and the prices are reasonable. Lunchtime price was £16.45 for three tapas. I had Paella Verduras, Champinones con Huevo, and Calamares a la Anadluza. Herself had Tortilla Espanola, Boquerones en Vinagre, and Vieiras (Scallops - which had a £4 supplement). All delicious, and with such a good range of dishes to choose from, I'm sure we'll be making the trip 'doon the watter' again soon.

Greated by surly Joe , shown to a table with nowhere to hang our coats , kitchen door was open…read moreassume to help cool the chef ,not so good for the freezing customers in the draft Joe and to top it all off one hour for six tapas dishes ,,come on six small plates can't be that difficult ,, in a nutshell overpriced and over rated but if you do decide to go take a jumper

My daughter and I stumbled across this place and we totally fell for the whole experience; the…read moreservers were friendly and efficient, the food was outstanding and the atmosphere welcoming. Our food choices were: TAJINE DE CORDERO Slow-cooked lamb tagine with paprika, cumin, tomatoes, cinnamon, sultanas & apricots ENSALADA ANDALUZA VG GF Asparagus, artichokes, sun blush tomatoes & lemon hinamin dressing

I'd give Cafe Andaluz a 2.5 stars based on this first time visit. The restaurant is actually quite…read morelarge - it expands far back, which you initially can't tell when you walk in. We arrived after the lunch rush, assuming it would be easy to get a table. We could be seated right away as long as we could finish our meal in 90 minutes. Evidently Cafe Andaluz is very popular even in the afternoon! I took this as a good sign that the food must be good then. Unfortunately more disappointing than I thought. We ordered the patatas bravas, calamari, gambas pil pil (king prawns roasted in olive oil, chilli, paprika and garlic) and pollo y panceta (skewers of chicken, pancetta and red onion marinated in chimichurri, with rocket, pine nuts and chimichurri salsa). I've had patatas bravas many times in Spain so was excited to see this on the menu. Cafe Andaluz's interpretation of patatas bravas is not as authentic. The potatoes were mushier rather than firm. The calamari was lukewarm and tasteless - like I was eating semi fried rubber. The real head scratcher was the pil pil. It looked appealing and promising but the whole dish was tasteless. The shrimp sat in red oil that was tasteless. There was zero garlic flavor. We were perplexed at how something colorful and vibrant would have no taste?! The only thing that truly redeemed this meal was the pollo y panceta. The garnishes and chimichurri helped enhance the dish. So all in all, an overpriced and mostly flavorless tapas late lunch that did **not** meet expectations.

What a wee hidden gem of a place this is. I have driven past it dozens of times and thought is was…read morejust a workers' caff serving the many industrial units along South Street. It wasn't until I read the reviews on Yelp that I realised what I'd been missing, so we booked a table and made a special trip down there for lunch today. First impressions - we were the only people there and the chef came out of the kitchen to meet us, which didn't bode well I thought. The decor is unassuming and definitely a 'work in progress', but it is clear that they have already put a great deal of effort into getting the place functioning. The bar is near the entrance and there's a line of tables along the window wall, with a larger central area that looks like it could double as a dance floor, and finally there's a stage area at the far end. It all looks delightfully 'hand-knitted' and I loved it immediately. Once the owner returned from upstairs and realised that we were his booking, things picked up. In short order some music was played, menus appeared, and soon we were tucking in to the first of our tapas. As neither of us are carnivores, we picked fishy choices, olives, tortilla, and some papas arrugadas. The boquerones (anchovies) and olives were the first to arrive, and we both wolfed them down like the ravenous dogs we were. Delicious. Then came the tortilla and papas arrugadas. The tortilla is definitely something special, and I wished I'd ordered two portions, it was so tasty. The papas arrugadas turned out to be baby new potatoes with a separate dish of pepper sauce and another of coriander sauce. A fantastic combination of tastes, and the pepper sauce was just right - not too hot at all. Finally, the boquerones frito (whitebait) and the calamares a la romana appeared. The menu jokingly describes the whitebait as 'fishchips', but actually that's a great description of them. They're crispy and full of flavour - yum! I'm not generally a great fan of tapas as a primary meal choice, as I always feel that they're more of an appetizer option whilst sitting at the bar with a drink; but I might be won over by this place. The portions aren't huge, but with the 3 for £9 special offer, it's pretty good value. I will definitely return when the place is a bit more lively and they have some entertainment on. They may not be in a prime location, but it's definitely worth making the pilgrimage to this place. But let's not tell everyone about it - we don't want it to become too popular. Let's just keep it between ourselves, OK?

I have been meaning to visit La Bodega for a while . The combination of tapas , music and dancing…read moresounded very alluring . What can I say bar the fact that this was a real fun night , great staff , food and music . Linda Jaxson is a real character and was on stage with a new band . She entertained us the whole evening and the crowd really appreciated it . Staff were not flustered by the influx of clients and managed to keep everyone fed and watered throughout the night . There is a good entertainment programme here including salsa and tango classes so get your glad rags on and come down and dance.

I saw this restaurant on my walk home tonight. The kids had plans, so my husband and I tucked in…read morefor a quick bite around 6pm. The place was empty, but we certainly don't mind having the place to ourselves so early in the evening. We got a good seat by the windows. The menu was extensive and the waiter showed us which tapas were included in the 3 for £9.50 promotion. We ordered the sangria, which was delightful, and the waiter brought some bread slices and dip. I didn't care for the dip - as one reviewer said it's vinegar-based and was too strong for my preference. Our tapas were good! We shared 3 plates and both left full. The sangrias probably helped with that full feeling! The staff was attentive and we had a wonderful evening. We'll likely go back.

It was a Sunday, the 3 for £9.50 offer was calling. I'd heard a number of mixed reviews of this…read moreplace, but decided it was worth a gamble. The decor is weird, I've no idea what Spanish style books they'd consulted, but it was nothing like anywhere I'd ever seen in Spain. There are some nice individual touches, the belts holding the cushions, the pink adobo walls, but there doesn't seem to be a cohesive theme.. When I arrived it was just a little before 7 on a sunny evening, but tellingly there was only one person in the restaurant. The staff at first seemed disinterested, but seemed to perk up after a while. After ordering a glass of the house white, which was good, I looked over the menu and saw a lot of familiar dishes. I was a little bothered by the inclusion of houmous on the menu, it's not Spanish, not Moorish, not needed. Anyway I went for 2 of my Spanish favourites, goat's cheese, aubergine fritters & rolled the dice on the third choice of pan Catalan. The cheese was served on top of caramelised onions & was garnished with (a lot of) rocket. The cheese was soft, both in texture and taste, just the way it should be, but the onions were really tangy (sauce?) & the taste was strong, especially when served with the rocket. The aubergine fritters were crunchy & a bit overcooked. They weren't served dressed with honey, instead I got a comically large pot of honey set on the table to spoon it on myself. I honestly felt a little like Winnie the Pooh & was tempted to just stick my whole hand in. The pan Catalan was really just two slices of cut french loaf with tomato paste & little garlic chunks. I'd give the experience two, two and a half stars, but I enjoyed the wine, the staff warmed up by the end and I have to give the place the benefit of the doubt / food snob bonus points. I think I'd be happy to sit in with a glass of wine or a bottle (or ten) of Cruzcampo (yaaaas!) if not go back for the food. One of the benefits of it being quiet is that you could go in for a glass of wine & a chat (or read) without it getting too loud.

Amazing. We tried about 5 dishes and they were all delicious. The grilled octopus was among my…read morefavorites. I will need to return to try the Paella.

I give 5* because 10 or even 15 is not available!…read more Best Spanish meal in Glasgow by far!!! OMG! I can't describe here how good and real it is. Let's start from the beggining, the restaurant deco is similar to my favourite restaurants in Madrid, modern, a little dark at night and full of typical products (cheese, wine, garlic, ham's leg). We were invited to wait at the bar to wait for a better table , and a super nice Spanish guy gave us recommendations about the wine and the ham. Just 5 minutes later we had our table ready. We ordered a verdejo wine, d.o rueda, a porron pot. As starter we ordered the Presa de lomo iberico and bread with olive oil. All of them was amaZing, the wine was perfect and the lomo was super tasty!! After that we ordered the tapas, difficult choice! The selection was: black rice with alioli, aubergine with honey, chorizo lolipops with alioli and ham croquetas. I can't say which one was the best, absolutely incredible, but the croquetas was same as the best in Spain!! Even the rice... To be honest it was like beign in Spain! Furthermore the Staff invited us to try the 3 hams selections and cheese with mojama. No words!! After that for sure it was dessert time: tarta de la abuela (chocolate, crumble...) another 5* The staff and service was excellent as well. To be honest, and not because I'm Spanish is the best restaurant I've tried in Glasgow! And the price was only £52 !!!! I want to go every single month!!!!!!!!

We stumbled into the one in Merchant City in Glasgow and then went to this one a few nights later…read more Both are excellent. Beat Italian I've had since I was in Rome. Great options for smaller portions and lots to choose from. The pizzas are good, the pasta was great and the Burrata was amazing. Cocktails are good, service was good, not super polished, but attentive. Great family place.

This place was recommended to us by a local. We were so impressed! We got a sampler option. Oh my…read moregosh! Everything was so delicious!!! The crust on the pizza was spot on. The spaghetti bolognase was spectacular and thr arincini...my Italian husband said it was like his grandmother used to make. (I can't recall the exact name of it but it was the one with the meat in it. They have the rice only one and one with meat.) We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the views and the weather while enjoying the amazing food. Definitely eat here!