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 this Big Deal on a tremendous tapas meal at the Café Andaluz restaurants in Glasgow.

Buzzy ambience

Decked out with stained glass lamps, colourful ceramics and Moorish tiles, the Café Andaluz restaurants on Cresswell Lane and St Vincent Place each have a lively, buzzy ambience which would give a Seville fiesta a good run for its money.

If you are looking for some Andalucian warmth without braving the boarding queue, this Big Deal is the passport.

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, and is available Sunday to Friday.

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, lemon Hollandaise and crushed black pepper to roasted Padron peppers served with coarse sea salt.

Popular desserts include the white chocolate and caramel cheesecake and raspberry Pavlova.

Some dishes incur a supplement.

Happy diners

The two Café Andaluz restaurants are among the most popular 5pm restaurants in Glasgow. Between them, they have been given slightly fewer than 5000 ratings from 5pm customers. Those ratings tot up to give them both a whopping combined score of 4.4/5.

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

‘Excellent food and atmosphere and brilliant service. Highly recommend it.’ Rating 4.6/5

‘Smiling. Been before, never disappointed.’ Rating 5/5