Brunch at ‘Babs, Glasgow

If you like a good burger and you’re in Glasgow but you’ve not been to Bread Meats Bread I want to know what you’ve been playing at. The City Centre and the West End branches are both amazing and serve up arguably the best burgers in the city.

When Bread Meats Bread announced they were opening a new Mediterranean restaurant, ‘Babs (like, y’know, ke-Babs?) I was cautiously excited. I love Bread Meats Bread and I love Mediterranean food but I do not love kebabs. Actually, I really do not like kebabs. And before you say, “oh, but most of them are bad, you have to try them in Germany” or wherever your favourite kebab place is, no. I’ve tried a few of “the best” kebabs and I just don’t like them. I don’t like Donna meat. Sheesh kebabs are a different matter, naturally.

 

One Hell of a brunch

 

Anyway, I figured if anyone could get kebabs right, it was the Bread Meats Bread team and, besides, there was no way their menu would only have your basic Donna on it, so there was bound to be something I’d love. I resolved to go but didn’t get the chance until my bookclub (which is now a [boozy] brunch bookclub) suggested we go try ‘Babs’ new brunch menu. Now that got my interest.

Like Bread Meats Bread, ‘Babs don’t take bookings. You need to show up and hope for the best and they promise to try to get you a table asap. Unlike Bread Meats Bread, ‘Babs isn’t already packed by 12 noon on a Saturday. Weird. Perhaps it’s somehow a slightly better-kept secret than I thought. Anyway, I was relieved to be able to walk straight in and get a table for 6 with no wait. A few other people were already eating, so it wasn’t quite enough to feel awkward, but wasn’t quite buzzing either. As our meal went on it got busier.

Now the brunch menu isn’t online, but trust me, if you love a good brunch there’s going to be something on it you want to try. Even if I’m wrong, their main menu is online and you can still order from it during brunch hours. After some serious deliberation I got a baked eggs bowl that came with slightly spicy chipolatas, perfectly cooked eggs, red cabagge, watercress, ribboned carrots, sour cream and some of the best, richest marinara sauce I’ve ever had. It was absolutely delicious and, incidentally, cured my hangover in about 3 seconds flat.

I got a mimosa to go with it. They do Brunch booze, but all the drinks are Prosecco based and I saw no sign of a Bloody Mary on the menu, more’s the pity. They do have a full bar, though, so I suspect if I’d asked nicely it would have been doable. Still, the mimosa was lovely and cut through the richness of the baked eggs perfectly.

Meanwhile, I was getting jealous of my friends’ orders. In particular the breakfast burgers and the Scotch kofta (a giant Scotch egg made with kofta) looked amazing. The parmesan fries looked amazing, and one friend who some kind of main of chicken skewers had obviously been struck by real inspiration.

The upshot of all of this is that, for the first time since we became a bunching bookclub rather than an after-work coffee/wine bookclub, we’re very likely to make a return visit to a place. So far we’ve been to Something at The Glad Cafe, Ocho and now, ‘Babs. The list of places to try is very long, and I always put it up to a vote, but since ‘Babs had been Gordon’s suggestion and he missed it, I wouldn’t be surprised to find us there in November. No regrets. I’ll be ordering the Scotch Kofta and Parmesan Fries.