Lucky 7 Canteen

Scraping the bottom of the pocketbook, Mr A and I opted to try Lucky 7 Canteen for lunch on a recent Saturday. Destined to be a haven to broke students, Lucky 7 offers lunch entrees for £4 and dinner entrees for £7. Somebody from work told me ages ago they tried it and it was "really good."

The tagline for Lucky 7 really should be, "what do you expect for £4?". A sandwich from Pret costs about as much as a lunch entree here, but the difference is you'll actually enjoy your sandwich.

The lunch menu is small (fair enough) and featured some good veggie and vegan options. Not surprisingly most dishes are budget home cooking meals: casseroles, fish and chips, a burger. The decor of the place is I think trying to match the home cooking menu: an affectation for peeling, multi layered wallpapers done in muted antique-y, tea stained colours. It's like dining in a place that's being renovated as you eat.

Mr A opted for a special (£9) of the day, a dish of curried lentils and chorizo. I went for the wild mushroom risotto (£4) off the veggie menu, which to me was the more creative of the two. The lentil dish was described as a "sort of dahl" to us by our waiter, he recommended a side of potatoes to round it out.

My entree was sized normally, I thought this was a refreshing change from the mega sized portions you get in some places. Mr A being a big eater was alarmed, but as his special entree was dinner sized, there was a plentiful amount of lentils in his bowl. What wasn't plentiful at all was any concept of seasoning; where was the curry? How much chorizo was actually in there, a cm sized piece? 'Cause it was totally lacking in any chorizo flavour. How about some good ol salt and pepper? My risotto was similarly disappointing: wet, bland and lacking in any depth of flavour promised by the billing of wild mushrooms.

I don't think a return visit to Lucky 7 is in the cards for these diners. I'm sure the students whose self catering options are pot noodles and tinned spaghetti on toast will keep coming back for the cheap deals, we'll leave them to it.

Lucky 7 Canteen
166 Bath Street
Glasgow

Jamie's Italian

When it was announced in the Herald that Jamie Oliver was opening a mid-scale italian in the renovated GPO building, I admit I experienced a frisson of pukka tucker excitement. I freely admit I own two Jamie Oliver cookbooks and have made and enjoyed loads of his simple Italian inspired recipes; I also watch him on telly. Yet, Jamie's is a chain restaurant with his name and concept design- Oliver isn't in the kitchen (he's too busy revamping school dinners in Appalachia or making tangines onsite in Morocco). Unfortunately.

I'm not alone in my enjoyment of Oliverness, the public have been lining up out the door since Jamie's opened- they only take bookings for large parties, so if you want in, you'll wait for it. Mr A and I waited a couple of months for the buzz to wear off and then chanced our luck first thing after work on a Friday night. A 40 minute wait in the bar was agreeable, the £10 rounds for two drinks each was not. (£10 for a bottle of beer and a vodka and soda?! And this was the house vodka, not a Stoli.) According to the menu, drinks start at £2.95 and mixers start at £1.35.

The wine list is more reasonable, and offers some house wine at good prices. We had a bottle of the Pinot Grigio for about £19 which was fresh, crisp and easy drinking.

For a starter, we both ordered an antipasi selection- this was actually a pretty good value at £6.95 each and tasty as well. It's served rather kichily on an elevated wooden plank balanced on two tins. We sampled both the meat antipasti and the veggie one. Both were good quality and offered a nice tasty sampling of flavours. The cheese in particular was very yummy; mozzarella was melt in the mouth soft and rich.

Jamie's boasts on their menu that they make all their own fresh pasta, so I opted for the bucattini carbonara and Mr A had the pappardelle and meatballs. We were both disappointed by the pasta dishes- I felt they majorly lacked seasoning. My carbonara was made with cream, a pet peave. Once you've had traditional carbonara made simply with eggs, bacon and Parmesan (thanks Stefania!) you won't want any tinkering with that simple and perfect formula. I am a fan of al dente pasta but my bucattini went beyond what would be considered al dente in the UK and more into the uncooked category- I'm sure this was a mistake from the kitchen and not on purpose. Didn't the chef test it first?

Though the starter was decent (and that would be in this case more about the quality of the restaurant's suppliers and less to do with any actual cooking) failing on the main course knocks the overall rating down by a few stars.

All in all, if I were going out for an Italian meal, I can name three great Italians in the area (Italian Kitchen, Osteria Piero, Mediterraneo) I would go to before opting for another stab at Jamie's. A straw poll to several acquaintances who have tried Jamie's indicates they also left feeling like they had a mediocre meal. However, with the celebrity cache I am sure the line will be out the door for many months to come.

Jamie's Italian
1 George Square
Glasgow
G1 1HL