I’ve been for dinner at a couple of great restaurants with David recently, so I wanted to share them with you here on my blog. One is new on the scene and serves up great American fare and cocktails; and the other is an upmarket Chinese restaurant with amazing food. Let me introduce you to Revolution Glasgow Mitchell Street* and Lychee Oriental*.
Both of these restaurants are on Mitchell Street – a small street/lane that runs from Gordon Street, down the back of House of Fraser, to Argyle Street. It’s a 2-minute walk from Glasgow Central Station and is right in the heart of the city centre.
Revolution Glasgow Mitchell Street has taken over the building that previously housed The Tunnel nightclub, and they have done wonders with the space inside. It’s now has a quirky and trendy industrial design vibe, and is the perfect place for dinner or after-work cocktails. They also have proper comfortable armchair seating, which is lovely.
The menu is very American, so lots of burgers, dirty fries, sharing platters and indulgent desserts. To start with, David and I went for the Sticky Chicken (£6.95 – ‘chunky fried chicken bites rolled in Rib Tickler BBQ sauce. Sweet ‘n’ seriously tasty’) and the Chicken Skewers with Rib Tickler BBQ Glaze (£5.50 – ‘Chicken strips pan fried until golden, glazed how you like ’em’). It’s a real, traditional BBQ sauce – thick, sticky, sweet, smokey and with a bit of a spicy kick. The Sticky Chicken was my favourite as these were flour-coated before being fried.
For our main courses, we went for the Denver Fries (£9.95 – ‘skin-on fries piled high with creamy peppercorn sauce, pulled salt beef and manchego cheese’). This was my choice and they were really tasty, but I probably wouldn’t order them again as a main course. They are more of a sharing side for me. I felt as if I should have had some of these on the side of something more substantial. We also tried the Chicken Parmesan (£11.50 – ‘Crispy fried chicken breast layered with parmesan, smoky tomato and manchego cheese sauce. Served with zesty gremolata, courgetti salad and skin-on fries’). The chicken breast was so tender and juicy, and the sauce it was in was delicious.
We also tried some cocktails. Our favourites were the Glug Jug (‘Plymouth gin and Beefeater Pink gin shaken with strawberry purée, passion fruit syrup, lime and pineapple juice. Dive into this sweet fruity dream’) which is served in a quirky blue ceramic jug, and the Blended Strawberry Daiquiri (‘Bacardi Carta Blanca rum, vanilla liqueur, strawberry purée, lime, grenadine and cranberry juice. A sweet take on a Cuban classic’). The cocktails all come in at between £8-£10, so they are a bit pricey. However, Revolution have a lot of offers running during the week, to make them a bit more affordable.
Across the road from Revolution Glasgow Mitchell Street, is the Lychee Oriental – an upmarket Chinese restaurant run by Scottish TV chef Jimmy Lee. It serves all the traditional Chinese dishes you would expect, along with some more gourmet dishes and some beautiful steaks served with a Chinese twist.
For our starters we opted for their Chargrilled Chicken Satay Skewers (£4.80 – succulent chicken skewers served with a traditional satay sauce dip) and the Crispy Duck Rolls (£4.70 – duck spring rolls, that are packed with meat, and served with a hoisin sauce dip). These were so delicious, but for the price, I would have wanted a third chicken skewer and a fourth duck roll.
The main courses, on the other hand are huge, and are great value for money. They are even served in crispy noodle bowls. We had the Honey Chilli Chicken (£13.90 – crispy, fried chicken coated in a sweet and spicy honey and chilli sauce) and it was amazing. We couldn’t finish our main courses, so you could definitely share one meal between two people if you wanted to. With our main meals we ordered Chilli ‘N’ Salt Fries (£3.80) and Fried Rice With Panchetta (£3.50) as accompaniments. I definitely need to go back to this restaurant to have this dish again.
The desserts at the Lychee Oriental are also superb. They have a great selection – more that your awful average Chinese restaurant dessert offerings of ice cream or banana fritters with syrup. We had the Sticky Toffee Pudding and the Belgian Waffle. The portion sizes are perfect, they are presented beautifully and they are so delicious. All the desserts sit around the £4 mark.
The Lychee Oriental is a such a good choice for a celebratory meal or a special event, and Revolution Glasgow Mitchell Street is ideal for a casual night out or when you are in need of some comfort carbs.
Both of these meals were given to me on a complimentary basis, but all opinions are my own.
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