SOME say love is a burning thing, or so Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck is moodily claiming tonight anyway through the restaurant’s sound system. Probably on Spotify. I know who he is only because I idly Shazam the tune on my phone as I sit crunching my way through black pudding spring rolls. And I’m believing the owners of Fault and Blame when they claim this is genuine Stornoway black pudding inside.
There’s a lovely oatmeal aftertaste to these long, thin and initially not-very-promising tubes of filo pastry. The last one being dipped into beetroot ketchup and polished off while Song for Zula glides onwards and downwards, settling its melancholy dust upon this already dark basement on Glasgow’s West Regent Street.
I remember this was a Korean restaurant a few months ago and definitely a place selling burgers before that. And didn’t somebody once drill very big holes in the tables for dropping shells through and announce it was a seafood bar? That didn’t last long.
Meanwhile, Mr Houck is promising us all that he will not open himself up like this again, a warning that I am assuming is lost on the couple at the next table who are having a jolly old time. No food on their table though. No food on anyone else’s table tonight, oddly.
I have moved anyway on to musing about when is a pie not a pie. The guys at Fault and Blame are pinning a great deal on the comeback of the pie. They make theirs fresh every day – short rib and steak, corned beef hash, black pudding and baked egg, cullen skink with dill mash … the menu floats on and on.
A cider chicken and ham pie sits before me like a king in its castle, a huge rising battlement of buttery shortcrust pastry; a crown of herbed mash with crisped chicken skin atop.
It is a thing of beauty as it cracks and chunks of chicken, pieces of crimson ham and vibrant peas tumble into the moat of gravy. But – riddle me this – was the base blind-baked and then the filling loaded on just before it was served? Or was it re-baked with the filling inside? And not even having a lid, is it even technically a pie? Or just a pastry bowl? The answers to these and any other questions on a postcard please.
I can only say this: there’s nothing wrong with a bit of comforting starch on starch, crumbly pastry on excellent mash that hasn’t, thank goodness, been sieved to a cheffy gloop. Tender chicken, salty ham and those fresh peas confirm this has all been cooked with a light touch.
Without the pastry it would be good, with it maybe even better, though the cider is posted completely missing tonight. Probably out in the desert with Mr Houck.
I order triple-cooked chips, only because I never tire of saying if you use great potatoes, twice is more than enough. I suspect these are not great potatoes, not Idaho Russets anyway, not even – shock, horror – Golden Wonders, but they’re pretty OK.
As is the chilli-crusted calamari. The kitchen has mastered the art of the super-light, super-crisp, super-appetising batter, and it’s seasoned well too, though more chilli please. I am just not sure squid rings this size can be served in batter unless they are tenderised first. They’re rubbery and hard to eat, which may mean they’re fresh because the best way to tenderise squid is to put it in the freezer. Not that I really know about these things.
Moving swiftly on to Fault and Blame’s fried chicken – drumsticks and wings, served in a bowl. Once again the coating is perfect – crisp, browned and crunchy with
a well-judged hint of rosemary through it.
Does the chicken need to be seasoned too? I’m not sure but, like the squid, it feels like a work in progress.
Not that we are in the business of knocking good ideas.
Or good music.
And these guys have both.
Fault and Blame
48a West Regent Street, Glasgow (0141 354 0010)
Menu: Pumpkin pakora, Stornoway cigars with black pudding, rosemary fried chicken and lots of freshly made pies. Innovative. 4/5
Atmosphere: Moody basement bar cum restaurant with a pleasant relaxing vibe and an upbeat menu. 4/5
Service: A quiet evening and I was the only person eating and so the service was largely untested but nonetheless faultless and friendly. 4/5
Price: Those pies are meals in themselves at £9.50. Desserts, calamari and most starters under a fiver, even the chicken was only £5.25. Bargain. 5/5
Food: Excellent Stornoway black pudding spring rolls, very good chicken pie, even if it wasn’t a pie and a few other dishes that with tweaking could be very good. 7/10
Total: 24/30
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