La Tea Doh

I made a hamper of Scottish goods as a present for a English friend recently. The pack was made up of goodies from Deli 1901 on Skirving Street, Cheese from Gusto and Relish on Pollokshaws Road and a large selection of unusual little things from the wonderful La Tea Doh on Nithsdale Road.

Its a bit of a feature in the area having opened in 1997 and they run on the ethos of trying to source as many products and ingredients from locally like minded businessess as possible.

Its a tiny little shop but it packs so much into its small space as you can see from the below photos. Huge range of preserves, oatcakes and breads and as the shop name suggests an equally large range of teas. I'd just had my lunch prior to going out shopping so was too full to try and any of the tasty sounding fresh sandwhiches on offer and had to be very strong not to buy one of the extremely delicious looking cakes. They do take out foo with a good menu or there are are a few tall chairs at a counter in the window where you could while away some time drinking tea and watching the people bustle by on Nithsdale Road.

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Its also the celeb hang out it seems as the customer infront of me while I pondered the multitude of items on the shelf was none other than Tagart star Blythe Duffy. Which got me thinking I wonder how many locations in the Southside have been used/ featured in Taggart - think that might be worth a wee investigation. If anyone knows of any then let us know.

La Tea Doh
136 Nithsdale Road
Pollokshields
Glasgow
G41 5RB
0141 424 3224

Mon - Fri 08:30 - 18:00
Sat - 08:30 - 17:00

Eve Boutique

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the little zone of shops on Nithsdale Road at the triangle with Darnley Street is another of our favourite wee places for a wander and a browse. A newish shop (opened 6 months ago) in the area is Eve Boutique

The owner Nicola Finlay used to be a accessories buyer for Harrods and knows her stuff, with ranges including womenswear brands David Meister and Yoana Baraschi, cashmere from Mani-Stone and jewellery from Susanne Friis Bjørner and Alex Monroe, none of which are available elsewhere in Scotland.

There are now quite a range of really interesting clothing stores in the Southside, stocking quite unusual items. Maybe they should all get together and run a little fashion show in the summer to show off their wares, a little bit of Southside Chic?

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Eve Boutique
8 Kildrostan Street
Pollokshields, Glasgow,
G41 4LU
0141 423 4343
Mon-Sat: 9.30am-5.30pm
Sun: Closed

This Weekend 11 - 13 February 2011

This weekend:

Love is in the air and all the restaurants have got their Valentine deals on? What offers have you spotted? Add them to the comments below.

How do you plan to spend your Valentine's? What is the most romantic spot in the Southside and what are your top tips for things to see, do and southside places to buy pressies?

If you are stuck for ideas may we suggest the following?
Club Noir is on at the 02 on the night of Saturday 12th with a lavish masked ball and burlesque show.

The music recitals series returns to House for an Art Lover on Sunday 13th February from 2pm - with the concert, Music of Love.Tickets cost £7.50 each or £20.00 including a 3 course meal in the Art Lovers Cafe after the performance. Tickets must be pre-booked either online or by calling the Events Office on 0141 353 4770.

A tribute to Ella @ Eastwood Theatre 2pm Sunday 13th - Approx running time 90 mins.

Joni Keen, recently featured on BBC Radio Jazz House, is thrilled to be bringing her Tribute to Ella show back to Eastwood Park Theatre. The show wowed audiencesand critics for six sell-out nights at the Fringe and, with anecdotes, humour and beautiful music, this wonderful performance will bring you closer to understanding the genius that was Ella.

Crafty adventures at the Hidden Treasures Craft Fair at Martyn's Tearoom 1067 Cathcart Road, G42 9AF from 12-4pm on Sunday 13th.

Ok people's what else is going on that we've not heard about yet?

Club Noir's Valetines masked ball

So its Valentines time again. The one day of the year when doing something romantic for your loved one loses a lot of its sheen by societies expectation that it should happen, somewhat negating the point of the whole day.

As we pointed out previously Glasgow claims to have good reason to celebrate the death of a Christian Martyr with part of his remains residing in the Gorbals so how should we all mark the day.

Lots of restaurants are putting on special meal deals all weekend and if you feel like braving the North the GFT is showing Casablanca on the 14th which is fantastic on the big screen.

But what if you don't want to go with the normal flow, what if you want to try something a little bit different this Valetines? Then how about Club Noir at the O2 this Saturday night? Its one of the oldest modern Burlesque groups in the UK and their website claims, the biggest in the world.

As they say:

"An unrivalled Valentine's dream world at our lavish Masked Ball.Two burlesque shows of romance and love, in its many and twisted forms. Reliving erotic and flirtatious acts from our passionate past. Plus 6 new acts orchestrated for this night."

I don't really know the burlesque world, only once having seen a show when in New York but from the line up and videos on the Club Noir website it looks like it will be a really unusual, energy packed and memerable night. The evening will involve DJs, burlesque shows, live music, a chill out love bar and the acts will include Gold Digger, Ernie, the Fastest Milkman in the West, Dear Mr Gable, In Love Again, Lou Hickey and the Phantom of the Burlesque Club.

Club Noir

O2 Academy,
121 Eglinton Street Glasgow,
G5 9NT
Please note Club Noir is on Saturday the12th not the 14th. Don't want peopel turning up on the Monady night ready for some burlesque to find the Kerrang! Relentless Energy Drink Tour show which is prob as far away from a traditional Valentine's Evening as you can get.
PS - Dress Code is strickly dress up only, no jeans of trainers.

Marie Brown at Home

We tried (and pretty much succeeded) in doing all our Christmas shopping in the Southside last year. One of the places we were able to find lots of presents was Marie Brown at Home on Kildrostan Street in Pollokshields. This row of shops along the triangle is one of our favourite wee spots, its got pretty much everything you could need. Just wish the Gregs was a proper wee baker.

Marie Brown at Home sells a range of different house hold items from smelly candles (for my Aunts) and lots really nice serving dishes and bowls (sis and Ann). With spring around the corner and people getting into the nesting spirit, cleaning and decorating their homes Marie Brown at Home is a great place to but lots or beautiful things to restock your house.

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Marie Brown at Home
10 Kildrostan Street
Glasgow
G41 4LU
0141 423 4307

Hidden Treasures Craft Fair @ Martyn's Tearoom

A fun sounding little event at Martyn's Tea room to buy last minute gifts for your loved ones for Valentines day. 5 Tables of goodies on sale 13 Feb 12-4pm 1067 CAthcart Road, Mount Florida, G42 9AF.

Cookie - A year or so on

We had the pleasure last year of being one of the first customers through the doors at Cookie, on Nithsdale Road, in Strathbungo. A year on and Cookie has become a very successful, popular Southside establishment. They've won the List's newcomer or the year and been listed in their top 100 in 2010. They've started a film club, cooking club, brought WEST beer to the Southside, hosted chef wars and numerous exhibitions.

So the other weekend we decided to revisit Cookie and see how it's changed since our first visit!  On a wet and miserable night, we were pleased when we reached Cookies door and were welcomed by the new service staff. We ordered some house wine and a carafe of water and were shown to our table in the window, allowing us to appreciate the warm cosy atmosphere of the restaurant against the rain battering down outside.

The first thing we noticed were the new menus which offer more choice than before, especially for vegetarians, I opted for soup to start and the Risotto of the day, Beetroot and Goats Cheese, for my main course. Two large bowls of steaming soup arrived at our table shortly after we ordered, with thick slices of delicous homemade bread. The beetroot and goats cheese risotto and slow roasted pork were both delicious and cooked to perfection. Indulgently, to end the meal, we both ordered deserts, lemon panacotta and spicy fruit crumble. Oh my goodness they were tasty but I was already full and was bullied into ordering desert by Alburt. The bowl of steaming crumble that arrived was delicious but so huge I couldn't finish it.

Pleased to report that the service was impeccable, food was delicious, portions were huge and it was a warm friendly atmosphere on one of the dreariest nights of the year.