An On-Foot Food Tour of Glasgow’s West End: Route 1

Man, this post has taken a long time!

It’s mostly because I don’t enjoy making maps. I kept putting it off and putting it off, and now we’re well into December when I actually did the walk on a frosty day in November.

As a result of postponement the details have receded into the fog slightly, so it is not the most detailed tour I’ve compiled, but there are a plethora of places to check out.

For this tour I’ve focused mainly on delis and shops. I’ve covered a few cafÃ©s, but there are many more I haven’t mentioned not because I don’t like them, but because I didn’t have the time or funds to try them. The address numbering and map pointers may also be a little out, but hopefully things will make sense once you’re actually there.

This tour only covers Great Western Road and Byres Road. I plan on another visit to catch more places at some point. If there are no directions listed just carry on in the direction you were already going.

Start Point: Great Western Road (St George’s Cross Subway end)

[map:http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?msid=207866745317354764790.0004b40e41b32d0d780e4&msa=0&ll=55.874408,-4.283445&spn=0.009955,0.033023&t=m&z=15&source=embed]

Stop 1
Location: Hakim Oriental Foods, 115 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

This shop was still opening when I meandered past, so I didn’t pop in. Offering halal meat and a range of groceries, it looked to have a reasonable selection of stock.

Carry on up the road.

Stop 2
Location: Fung Tai, The Oriental Food Store, 155 Great Western Road
Category: Shop/Takeaway

This is a very tiny takeaway, which also has a few basic things for sale like noodles and sauces.

Stop 3
Location: An Noor, Asian Food Store, 269 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

This shop has a good range of Indian ingredients, including large bags of reasonably-priced spices and pulses.

Stop 4
Location: Oriental Foods, 303-305 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

This shop had a small sign stuck in its window reading “goat meat available”. There were lots of spices inside too, along with an array of snacks.

Stop 5
Location: Lupe Pinto’s, 313 Great Western Road
Category: Deli

This deli has a spicy food focus, offering a great selection of salsas, hot sauces and Mexican ingredients, alongside Spanish, American and Asian offerings. The fresh food counter is always laden with delicious things.

Stop 6
Location: El Baraka, 337-339 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

I arrived here just as the meat delivery was underway, and witnessed several large carcasses being taken to the back of the shop. As well as halal meat, there are veggies and the by-now-expected range of spices.

Stop 7
Location: Solly’s African Village, 381-383 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

This is a fascinating shop crammed with many foodstuffs I hadn’t seen before, alongside items such as hair products. Bagged dried smoked fish, unusual veg and mysterious drinks all vie for attention.

Stop 8
Location: Andrew Reid, 401 Great Western Road
Category: Butcher

These guys were advertising Stornoway black pudding, which is the only type I’ve had so far that I like. That’s a very good reason to go here in my opinion!

Cross over Park Road, then turn left down into it.

Stop 9
Location: Sonny and Vito’s, 52 Park Road
Category: CafÃ©/Deli/Takeaway

I’ve had lunch in this swish little deli before. However you can also enjoy their savoury tarts and delectable cakes to go.

Stop 10
Location: Garden Fresh Exotics, 30 Park Road
Category: Greengrocer/Shop

This shop had an interesting range of fruit and veg including noina and kumquat. There was also a slew of spices, pulses and other usual suspects.

Stop 11
Location: Del’Ziri, 6 Park Road
Category: CafÃ©/Deli

This leans towards cafÃ© more than deli, but has a small stock of retail goods.

Back up to Great Western Road, left and continue.

Stop 12
Location: The Cave, 421 Great Western Road
Category: Beverages

This shop wasn’t open when I passed, but peering in the windows there were world wines and world beers on display, and what I could see looked very interesting.

Stop 13
Location: Quel Vin, 449 Great Western Road
Category: Beverages

Also shut, but a sign said that if you bring in an empty bottle you can fill it from their barrel of red or white wine (for a price of course!). This seems eminently sensible to me, and I hope people take them up on it. They also had lots of bottled wine for sale, as one might expect from the name.

Stop 14
Location: Roots, Fruits and Flowers, 451-457 Great Western Road
Category: Deli/Greengrocer

There was a run of 3 shops that were all part of the same brand. The first is a flower shop, the second a deli, and the third a dedicated greengrocery. The deli has a mouth-watering array of tasty treats, including juices, chocolate and a decent snack counter. The emphasis seems to be on organic.

The grocery next door had an excellent range of fruit and veg including a prickly pear (pictured above), which I tried for the first time ever (reminiscent of a papaya in flavour, with a plethora of seeds throughout).

Stop 15
Location: Il Cappuccino, 491 Great Western Road
Category: Deli/Takeaway

More of a sandwich bar. but bread, Italian goods, crisps, etc.

Cross over the road.

Stop 16
Location: I J Mellis, 492 Great Western Road
Category: Cheesemonger

A wonderful array of cheeses, with accompaniments such as hams, chutney and Different Breid bread also available.

Cross back over the road.

Stop 17
Location: The Flavour Co, 517a Great Western Road
Category: Beverages/Takeaway

A tiny wee place focusing on fresh juices, smoothies and soups, as well as toasties and the like.

Stop 18
Location: Natural Balance, 635 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

A small amount of healthy and unusual food is offset by a large amount of vitamins and homeopathic remedies.

Stop 19
Location:Â One World Shop, 649 Great Western Road
Category: Shop

This shop has a small amount of Fairtrade produce on offer including coffee and chocolate.

Carry on up the road then turn left into Kersland Street.

Stop 20
Location:Â Naked Soup, 6 Kersland Street
Category: CafÃ©/Takeaway

Great lunch offerings of hearty soups and tasty sandwiches. A range of special deals are usually available.

Drop back down to Great Western Road and continue until you reach Byres Road, at which point you should turn left.

Stop 21
Location: Demijohn, 382 Byres Road
Category: Beverages/Shop

Some shops are so specialist, I can’t help wondering how they turn a profit. Alcohols, oils and vinegars can be tasted and purchased in varying sizes of attractive bottles.

Perhaps I was a bit early, but there didn’t seem to be as many delicious goods on offer as usual in this well-known store. A good place to assemble yourself a posh lunch.

Stop 23
Location:Â Andersons Fruiterer, 190 Byres Road
Category: Greengrocer

Fruit and veg. Not much more to say than that!

Stop 24
Location: Bernard Corrigan, 188 Byres Road
Category: Butcher/Fishmonger

If I recall correctly, this shop was shut when I came past. However I’m confident it’s worth a look if you’re in the area.

Stop 25
Location: Rodgers Butchers, 180 Byres Road
Category: Butcher

I didn’t purchase anything from here as I wasn’t heading home for a while. I’m always keen on local butchers though.

Lots of sweet treats on offer including cakes, tarts, cheesecakes and croissants.

Very posh deli fare such as tarts, slices, bread, Portuguese natas (shown above) and an unusual-sounding parsnip and pecan cake.

Stop 28
Location:Â Peckham’s, 124-126 Byres Road
Category: Beverages/Deli

Part off-license part foodstore, there’s a good range of cakes, quiches, tortillas, sandwiches and soup available here.

I’ve been here for afternoon tea before which was lots of fun, and who wouldn’t love pouring a cocktail from a teapot?

Stop 30
Location: George Mewes Cheese, 106 Byres Road
Category: Cheesemonger

A beautiful selection of cheeses, with accompaniments such as fresh quinces, muscat grapes and pretzels (see above) on offer too.

Cross over, head back

A very cool place selling macarons, cupcakes, and their feature cold stone ice-cream. You select different flavours of ice-cream and types of sauces/toppings and they get smooshed together on a freezing cold slab of stone. I settled for a simple single scoop of peanut and chocolate ice-cream, which was delicious.

Stop 32
Location: Taco Mazama, 261 Byres Road
Category: Takeaway

I haven’t eaten here, but I approve of the concept and the different types of burritos and tacos on offer sound tempting.

I was distracted by two people enjoying a gorgeous-looking afternoon tea as I entered. They have a varied cupcake selection of which I tried the Lemon with Italian Meringue (shown above). The testers here thought the cake a little dry and not very lemony, but the marshmallowy icing was well-received.

Note: My pics again. I really need to get H back on the case as I’m not good at taking photos!

Beyond Sustenance

An On-Foot Food Tour of Glasgow’s West End: Route 1

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Documenting food finds for fellow food-lovers