Emma Delicious dishes to suit all tastes at Swadish
Opening in May this year at the Ingram St site which was for years Ad Lib, and before that Gumbo, the Fire Station restaurant (and an actual fire station at one point!) is Swadish modern Indian cuisine restaurant. It’s vegan and vegetarian-friendly but serves meat and fish dishes as well.
On the mirrored panel above our heads it states: “Authenticity innovation creativity” and you’ll find dishes here you won’t find at any other Indian restaurant in Glasgow. Things like soft shell crab, burrata butter chicken, duck, so the menu is quite unique. Indian cuisine is known for being vegetarian-friendly so you will also find a whole menu of not just vegetarian options but vegan too, presented on a separate menu.
Drinks
Peacock Indian ciders, Apple (4.8%) or mango & lime (4%), both £4.95 per 500ml bottle. Also on offer were Bombay Bicycle IPA, Cobra Zero and Peroni Libera, their new alcohol-free beer.
Menu
These are from our first visit. Note that they’ve changed a bit since.
Swadish A la Carte Menu
Swadish Vegan Menu
Swadish Lunch Menu
Food
To begin, we had an unusual assortment of poppadoms made with lentil, millet and sago, arriving alongside tomato, carrot and mango chutneys.
We enjoyed the popadom variety, thicker and crunchier than the norm. The mango was smooth and sweet, the tomato was tangy and our favourite while the carrot was heavily flavoured with Nigella seeds.
With softshell crab on the menu, a favourite of ours from Chinese restaurants, we had to order it. What would it taste like with an Indian slant? This is fresh Devonshire soft shell crab served with a fennel and apple salad. The apple is something I would never have thought of and went really well with the tempura-like crab. Coriander Mint based sauce alongside was tangy enough for flavour but not too overpowering.
Crisp outside and fluffy inside potato cakes served atop quinoa and green chutney with a flourish of beetroot gel. A vegan yoghurt dip added another layer of flavour. Definitely one to order again.
Chettinad duck with honey, pear and fondant potato. Now, this is something we wouldn’t expect to see in an Indian Restaurant. Fine dining Indian style here, Stylish, flavoursome and moreish. If you like the taste of fenugreek you’ll love this. Thumbs up from both of us for this one.
Super vegetable masala. Broccoli, sweet potato, asparagus and a stunning cardamom hit, which Mrs Foodie loves so she was very happy here.
A side of cauliflower and potato, as Mrs Foodie can never get enough of cauliflower! Added to this some cumin and coriander and there was even a smile!
There’s always room for dessert…well, most of the time, and so we ordered the Vegan Chocolate cake which tasted just like steamed chocolate pudding, moist and oh so chocolatey.
OK, so we ordered this mainly due to the name, simply to find out what it was! It was Strawberry Bhappa Doi: Steamed Yogurt flavoured with Vanilla. Strawberry Jelly, Fresh Fruits. Berry Crusted Sugar Shard.
Like an Eton Mess meets Panna Cotta. Makes a change from the mainstays of rice pudding or gulub jamin, although I wonder what chef’s take on these would be (they are / were listed on the lunch menu).
Verdict
Astounding food and well worth a visit for upmarket innovative Indian cuisine. It’s not only ourselves who think that as Ajay Kumar, owner and executive chef of Swadish, was crowned the Scottish Curry Champion at the sparkling gala final of the SPICE Awards recently (we have since returned for more food so here’s a pic):
Toilets are much better than the old Ad Lib ones. No mixer taps though and quite intense water pressure so a bit splashy! However Scottish Fine Soaps Silver Buckthorn used so plus points for that!
Accessibility is pretty good, the restaurant is at ground level with double door entry, booth and banquette seating is up a set of steps, with toilets up a ramp. There’s also a fire exit that could possibly be opened to provide easy access to one of the tables.
Christmas
Now that it’s that time of year, a festive banquet is available for groups of 4 or more. This includes a shot of Swadish (a shot-glass of refreshing non-alcoholic welcome drink) together with a trio of premium poppadoms with home-made chutneys, the menu features such starters as: haddock; chicken; garlic chilli mushrooms, lamb seekh kebab and palak.
Mains include: turkey kofta curry; roasted tandoori chicken legs; lasuni daal; pilau rice and a nan basket while the decadent desserts on offer are a chocolate and salted caramel Christmas present or a homemade berry Kheer.
Where
Swadish
33 Ingram St,
Glasgow,
G3 1HA
Transport
Nearest Railway Station: High Street, Glasgow
Nearest Underground Station: St.Enoch/Buchanan Street
Reservations
Click here for booking details
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Disclaimer: We received a complimentary meal for this review but have been back since with family and paid for it, and we plan to go back again soon.
