Tales of the West

Ok so last week we went on a trip. We took a little boat, sailed over the river and headed to Glasgow's Westend where we were invited for dinner at the Ubiquitous Chip restaurant on Ashton Lane. It was such an unusual little trip we thought it worth sharing. How often do you go for dinner in more than two dimensions?

We weren't really sure what to expect from the night as our friend had briefly told us about the "Ing3dients" event which was on and was billed as "the world's first interactive sensory dining experience". All we knew was that it was the result of a collaboration with Alasdair Gray and involved us wearing 3D glasses - is it Avatar 2 we feared. Luckily there were no funny blue people with tail fetishes and just lots of very tasty food.

As it was a special event there was a set 5 course menu (with veggie option) with each course coinciding with a 3D piece of video footage on the main screen. I must be honest and say I was not completly won over by this main piece which wasn't really interactive at all. I found the 3D animals rotating on the screen a little bit distracting from the food with their constant sudden movement making me feel a little uncomfortable. Later, as the night progressed, the images became more absract with smoother movement and I found these far more interesting. The room was really atmospherically light and the sound was low and rythmic and this was really effective at making you feel like something different was going on. There was also a really fun little projected pond and sky in the middle of the space with fish and lobsters scurrying for safety as you passed. These were really good fun, as were the giant slowly moving coloured landscapes against one wall which felt more connected to Gray's normal art practice, while still feeling quite fresh.

The food was delicious, I had the full set menu, plus a few bites of Ann's veggie option and it was of very high quailty. The two highlights for me came towards the end with an amazingly tender roasted shin of beef dripping with thick dark juice and the Chip desert classic, vanilla ice-cream rolled in oats. Its quite an expensive evening at around £50 a ticket but for a special occasion we'd reccomend it, though you'll have to be quick as it stops on the 31st March.

As a wee experiment in visiting other parts of the city we must say it was very enjoyable and we now challenge all our Westend friends to come over to our side and give the best of the South a try. One of the things we always regreat about Glasgow is that the different sections are not easily connected, you always have to pass through the Centre to get anywhere else.

Maybe we should organise some kind of exchange programme, we send over a dozen or so of us Southside lot and they send us back over a dozen or so of their people. Anyone like the some of that and fancy signing up to do some exploration?