Review: Bo’vine, Byres Road
It’s pretty much a given these days that if you want to eat steak at a restaurant, it’s probably going to cost you. Not at Bo’Vine it’s not! I know what you’re thinking - if it’s cheap, surely it’s not very good quality? Wrong again. Bo’Vine specialises in steak and boasts some of the finest meats and wines in Glasgow. Well, I decided to go and sample their new menu and it is safe to say I wasn’t disappointed.
Their new offer is two courses plus a bottle of house wine for £40 - for two people. In my book, that’s a pretty good deal. Any additional courses cost £4 each and there is no uplift or supplement for ordering the steak - one of my personal pet hates on set menus. If you’re not interested in the wine, don’t worry, they offer the same set menu without the wine which costs £14.50 for two courses or £17.95 for three!
For starter I chose Stornaway Black Pudding, Poached Egg, Pancetta, and Red Wine Jus. Fancy, right? It’s quite a small portion and I was sharing it, which I probably wouldn’t advise because of its size, but knowing I was planning on a dessert meant it was the perfect amount for two. The red wine jus was so full of flavour, the pancetta was super crispy and the black pudding fell apart beautifully but still had a bit of that crunchy exterior. The egg in my opinion didn’t add very much but perhaps stopped it from being too dry as you don’t get all that much of the jus.
I had the steak for main course.
My main was, of course, steak. The cut on offer was sirloin, served with triple cooked chips and fiery peppercorn sauce. I asked for my steak medium-rare and it arrived perfectly cooked. The only downside was perhaps that the outside was a bit pale and didn’t have that charred, crisp exterior. Regardless, it was a quality piece of steak cooked exactly as I wanted, pink and tender. The chips were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside and the peppercorn sauce was gorgeous. It was a little sweeter than I would have liked, but had a good kick to it while being deliciously smooth and creamy.
For dessert I went for the Dark Chocolate and Orange Mousse, which was accompanied by crumbled up carrot cake, citrus jelly and ginger popcorn. The popcorn to me was a bit unnecessary and I didn’t really like it, but the carrot cake and citrus jellies were great. The mousse itself was rich, smooth and full of flavour - topped with a piece of candied orange peel. It was the perfect sized dessert after the steak and chips and I finished my meal feeling just the right amount of full.
The service to begin with was very quick and impressive, our bottle of house red was brought to us almost immediately, and our first and second courses were brought to us surprisingly fast. There was a slight dip in the service between finishing our steak and having our dessert order taken, however I blame this on it being the busy graduation period and the staff were apologetic for the delay. Our bill came to a total of £44 because we ordered an extra course, but this to me is great value for money. Two steaks, two desserts, a bottle of wine and a starter for £44? Not bad in my book! The quality of the food for the price you pay is a really high standard and just goes to show, you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good steak!
You can read more from Amy, the author of this review, on her own website The Glasgow Diet.
