Tuk Tuk Glasgow opened it’s doors early in 2017, I unfortunately had to miss their launch party but I was invited to go along to try out their dinner menu … so off I went to try out yet another new restaurant in Glasgow serving Indian small plates. Don’t get me wrong, I love Indian food and have done so for years but at this stage I’m kinda done with the small plates thing. However, I had heard amazing things about Tuk Tuk Edinburgh from my dinner companion, Lisa (aka Little Miss Glasgow Girl), that I decided I needed to try it out. Technically speaking as they opened in Edinburgh in 2012 they are not jumping on the bandwagon of the latest craze - they have been doing it since before it was ‘en vogue’. And don’t get me wrong I have actually enjoyed all the small plated Indian restaurants that I have been to but I suppose I am just looking for something different.
I suppose I should stop ranting and start talking about the restaurant. The restaurant wasn’t at all what I had expected - it is huge, in my mind I had imagined it would be a lot smaller but it is very big. The restaurant is just so bright and vibrant, a really nice place to hang out in. I don’t think I have mentioned any light fixtures in any of my recent posts but oh my god they have an amazing display of lights here. We were shown to our table and the menu was explained to us in great detail. Before I even had a chance to look through the whole menu Lisa informed me that she knew what I was going to have …. and as I am so predictable when in an Indian she was right.
On the menu you have your roadside plates which are starters, street curries, meat market, sides, coolers and soft drinks. We were advised by our waiter that 3 dishes each is the recommended amount. We decided to start with poppadoms and some dips…it would be rude not to - right? From the roadside plates we ordered golgappa and the pakora platter. Golgappa’s are new to me, I had never actually heard of them. They are described as popular chaat part snack from Mumbai with potatoes, chickpeas, coriander & tamarind. The pakora’s where your normal deep fried vegetables in batter. From the street curries section we ordered the butter chicken (creamy chicken dish cooked in buttery sauce with almonds), Tarka Dhal (yellow and black lentil curry), Aloo Gobi (baby potato & cauliflower curry with north Indian tomato gravy) and Daal Makhini (signature black lentil curry cooked for 24 hours with kidney beans). We actually didn’t order anything from the meat market section of the menu … my bad, we just got caught up in the curry selection. We did order some sides though we went for boiled rice and peshwari naan. Unusually enough for me I also ordered some thumbs up which is the cola of Bombay. I don't drink a lot of coke but for some reason when I arrived at the restaurant I felt that I just needed a sugar hit. I really loved the thumbs up and think that I would have it again.
So as with any small plate restaurant the food comes out when it is ready but in fairness our starters were the first to arrive. I had six little funny shaped cases on my plate with a little jug of sauce (I know I'm the worst at describing things). The waiter very kindly explained how I should eat my starter. You need to pour the sauce into case and put the whole thing in your mouth. Whilst I liked the taste, the texture with the sauce on it wasn’t for me. However I ate the rest of them without the sauce and thought they were quite tasty. Lisa enjoyed her pakora’s - I didn’t taste any of them as I didn’t want to fill myself up too much.
All our other dishes arrived at the same time which was great as there is nothing worse when you are a food blogger and trying to take photos of your food, when it arrives at different times …. I loved my daal makhini - it has such deep flavours and was so satisfying as was my aloo gobi. I tasted some of the tarka daal and I did think that it was a little on the bland side. Lisa really enjoyed her butter chicken - but this is a firm favourite of hers when she goes to the Edinburgh branch.
Tuk Tuk is also bring your own beer so don't forget to bring a bottle or two with you.
We also decided that we would go for a dessert but only one. We were both pretty stuffed at this stage but we ordered the thumbs up ice cream float - when I read it in the menu it brought me right back to my childhood. I will admit we didn't get to finish it as we were both stuffed but it was tasty - not what I would normally go for but it was good.
We also had some tea and a tuk tuk masala chai. Our total bill came to approximately £51 which I thought was great value for the quality and quantity of food that we got.
This is another great small plate Indian restaurant, the service, atmosphere and food are great and it is another place that you should visit. I must make a special mention of Zaheer who is the manager. Zaheer came over and spent a bit of time talking to myself and Lisa but I also noted that he spent a bit of time at each table talking to the customers.
Date Visited: 1 March 2016
Restaurant Details:-
426 Sauchiehall Street
G2 3JD
Glasgow
Telephone: 0141 332 2126
Website: click here
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Thanks a mil for reading.
Emma mai xx
Disclaimer:- I was invited by Tuk Tuk's PR company to have dinner here. As such I didn't pay for my meal. However, I have given a true and accurate account of my experience on the night in Tuk Tuk.
