Pinxto, Glasgow - Restaurants in Glasgow | s1play.com

Raising the tapas bar

Review published on 21/02/2008 © Sunday Herald

I like my optometrist. He managed to keep a straight face when I told him in all sincerity that, no, I didn't have any trouble reading, except when the light is dim (which is pretty much permanently at the moment), or when I am asked to read a road map in the car. Come to think of it, the phone directory definitely has smaller print now than it used to. And of course, there is always the optical test presented by the laminated menu. Or worse still, a restaurant like Pintxo on Glasgow's Dumbarton Road with laminated menu and candles, a combined challenge to one's visual acuity.

Pintxo is so dimly lit, you could arguably conduct an affair there and not be spotted. The ceiling is haphazardly lit with random, subtle spotlights shaped like tiny flying saucers. At table level, you can rely on those forgiving, twinkling candles to make you look captivatingly mysterious, and to instantly banish dark circles under the eyes. It has the conspiratorial, almost womblike atmosphere of a bodega in the narrow lanes of San Sebastian. Ceramic-tiled tabletops add a little flourish of Iberian style.

When I eventually managed to get my eyes to focus on the shadowy menu, it was definitely worth perusing. Let's face it, tapas joints are 10-apenny at the moment, and most of them aren't much cop. Anyone can slice up jamon and plate up Manchego cheese with quince paste. Good buying alone will all but sustain a tapas bar.

When cooking is required, however, the cracks show. There should be more to patatas bravas, for instance, than fried spuds, slathered with a cook-in sauce, and there's a surprising amount that can go wrong with a tortilla. The apparent simplicity of Spanish cooking tends to make too many chefs slapdash and lazy. But not at Pintxo, where the food speaks of care, effort and an underpinning understanding of the finer points of Spanish cuisine.

One bite of the Valencian rice cakes was enough to make me realise Pintxo is a serious outfit. The grains of rice were firm, and only just bound together with chopped black olives and earthy piquillo peppers. There was a hint of smoked paprika – potentially a sledgehammer flavour – but not too much, and they had been fried to produce a marvellous crust.

Afabada, Spain's answer to cassoulet, a classic Asturian bean stew with morsels of pork shoulder, chorizo sausage and morcilla (the Iberian black pudding) was another treat. There was nothing sloppy about the rendition. The beans were creamily floury, suffused with saffron and all the rich, fatty flavours from the meats.

A staple of the Spanish larder, sherry vinegar is another fabulous ingredient, but again one that needs to be used with restraint. And it was, first as a condiment for crisp-skinned chips of red rooster potatoes that had been tossed in flaky sea salt, and then to spike a tomato sauce on chorizo and jamon-stuffed pasta tubes, topped with molten Manchego.

Everything fried at Pintxo was impeccable.

Little curls and tentacles of squid in a rustling batter, memorable salt cod fritters with crisp exteriors. Both of these were partnered by gentle alioli – an oil and garlic emulsion. When accompanying the squid, it was flavoured with saffron and sharpened up by the addition of fresh, green apple.

The only weak notes on the savoury front were the courgettes, stuffed with goats' cheese and topped with mint. They were distinctly undercooked. The fabada, too, was barely warm enough and it may be that investment in a better, bigger oven is needed, what with Pintxo being so deservedly successful.

Our desserts, a baked cheesecake and a crema Catalana (a creme brulee-like dish) were over-solid and rather bland. That said, the prospect of a sticky, nutty Pedro Ximenez sherry poured over ice cream is hard to beat and there is a lot to be said for working your way from dry to sweet through Pintxo's by-the-glass sherries. Aficionados of Spanish wine will have a field day. This is a wine list featuring illustrious growers with many interesting bottles.

Pintxo has a particularly well-priced menu that offers exceptional value. Generous tapas portions range from £2.95 to £5.95 and high-quality nibbles, such as salted almonds, are thrown in for good measure.