Thai Siam

We've found Argyle Street to be slowly turning into the new Ashton Lane these days, or to be more exact, a map of the world. India, Italy, Korea, Thailand, er Ireland are all represented here. Thai Siam, from the outside, doesn't look very special. Kinda bland actually. The décor inside doesn't do much to change your mind. However the food doesn't just change it, it drives off with it and parks it around the corner. Staffed by authentic Thai ladies (makes a change in Glasvegas, natch) we've found Thai Siam to be one of the best Thai restaurants in these here parts. It's not pretentious, it's just good food, it's as fresh as you could get it, and they serve it sizzling to your table. And that's what Thailand is about. Aside from the obvious.

Written by: Steve Adams

Blog: http://irishsteve.blogspot.com/

500 Days Of Summer

500 Days Of Summer

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a once architect who now writes greeting cards for a living, falls head over heels for new girl Summer (Zooey Deschanel). Problem is, Summer doesn't believe in love...
The story, told in a nonlinear fashion, is not the typical boy meets girl movie, and thank God, as we get to avoid all the usual clichés. As we move through the titular 500 days, little known director Marc Webb (who? Watch this space) does a fantastic job of making sure we can still follow the story, and afterwards you can't help think it wouldn't have worked as well simply travelling from Day 1 to 500.
Zooey Deshanel can do kooky and adorable in her sleep, and she brings warmth to a character that has the potential to leave audiences detached. Gordon-Levitt is of course his usual excellent self and has fun with the character (watch for the High School Musical inspired dance scene), but there are one or two faults, such as how a 12 year old girl knows more about love and relationships than the rest of the cast combined. Aside from this mis-step, it's another well chosen, solid movie by Gordon-Levitt who seems to have developed a knack for such things, and Itchy suggests that Marc Webb is a director to keep an eye on.

Steve Adams
www.500daysofsummer.co.uk

Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery

http://www.itchyglasgow.co.uk/article.cfm/7/41/7297/Glasgow-City-Guide/article/Two-Fat-Ladies-at-The-Buttery

Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery

Two Fat Ladies at The Buttery presented us with such a conundrum, it's forced Itchy to do something we've never done before – give three separate marks: one for service, one for the restaurant itself, and one for the food. We just couldn't decide on an overall conclusion, and when you've got an idea, hey, sometimes you just need to go with it.
Restaurant first then. Frankly you don't expect it right next to a motorway, in the middle of a housing estate, but there it is. Inside though is like stepping into a different world. It's superbly decorated, using panels and furnishings from an old church, and feels very warm and cosy. Kind of like how your Gran's might have looked when you were three.
The service was outstanding. Greeted by the maitre d', we were sat with a bowl of complementary olives and the food menu, and the gentleman was uniformly polite and just...lovely. We wanted to take him home with us to serve us dinner every night. Fe was happy to sit with us and talk about the history of the restaurant (who knew it used to be a freemason's club, and was one of the first establishments in Glasgow to start serving food?). Top notch.
Then we come to the food. Itchy's meal was certainly tasty...but something didn't quite work with it. For example, for dessert (some say the most important part) we had lemon tart, with raspberry sorbet and passionfruit. All individually, tasted great. When together however, didn't quite work. It was the same for the starter and main course, though we should point out our companion's food, and wine, was enjoyed very much.
Verdict then out of 10? For the Restaurant an 8 (location is a bit odd but the place itself is excellent) Service 10 - can't fault it in any way. Food 7 - good but not great. Overall then we have to go with 7 1/2 out of 10, which we're slightly disappointed with because the only thing that let us down was the food. Perhaps we just ordered the wrong thing?
www.twofatladiesrestaurant.com
Steve Adamshttp://irishsteve.blogspot.com