Cafe Andaluz

Spain is a lovely country with brilliant food.

Regrettably, getting there usually involves a budget airline and that seems a stiff price to pay for even the best patatas bravas.

Instead of checking in, we suggest you check out today’s Big Deal on a tremendous tapas meal at the Café Andaluz restaurants in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Buzzy ambience

From the Glasgow branches on Cresswell Lane and St Vincent Place to the Edinburgh branch on George Street, each Café Andaluz has its own take on Andalucian atmosphere.

Decked out with stained glass lamps, colourful ceramics and Moorish tiles, they all have a lively, buzzy ambience which would give a Seville fiesta a good run for its money.

Tapas feast

The offer is for two people to share five tapas plus a dessert each from the Big Deal menu at either Glasgow branch of Café Andaluz or the George Street branch in Edinburgh. The offer is available Sunday to Thursday.

With just under thirty different tapas to choose from, the only tough part of this Big Deal will be making your mind up.

The popular seafood section includes dishes such as crisp-fried baby squid served with garlic mayonnaise and lemon; fresh mussels cooked in white wine, shallots, garlic and finished with fresh cream as well as freshly marinated anchovies.

The carnes section of the menu has options such as spiced lamb meatballs in a rich tomato sauce; sliced Andalucian black pudding with onion and apple chutney or, and this is a big fave with the Big Deal team, spicy beef on a bed of rocket with a Manchego cheese and chorizo dressing.

Veggie choices stretch from the cracking Spanish omelette and patatas bravas via grilled asparagus served with shaved Manchego cheese, olive oil and capers to roasted Padron peppers served with coarse sea salt.

Popular desserts include the caramel cheesecake, raspberry Pavlova and the Spanish cheese board.

There is a supplementary charge of £1 on each of the two prawn dishes on the menu and a £2 supplement on the cheese board.

Happy diners

The two Café Andaluz restaurants are among the most popular 5pm restaurants in Glasgow. Between them, they have been given over 3500 ratings from 5pm customers. Those ratings tot up to give them both a whopping combined score of 4.4/5 – the same as the more recently opened Edinburgh branch.

This is what a recent visitor to the city centre branch of Café Andaluz in Glasgow thought of their experiences:

‘Thoroughly enjoyable. An early evening meal, the restaurant was fairly busy, and yet everything was served promptly with a smile. The food was great, and we were not rushed at all. Lovely evening.’

While this is what a recent diner thought of the Edinburgh branch:

‘Amazing tapas! Brilliant food, service and atmosphere. Have been twice already for the pre-theatre menu, plenty of choices and definitely value for money. Highly recommended!’ Rating 4.8/5