The Loveable Rogue: Good times and good scran

With the promise of good times and good scran, Ellie Forbes checks out The Loveable Rogue in Glasgow to see if it can deliver.

The Loveable Rogue is doing a very skilful dance. 

The restaurant in Glasgow’s West End is niftily luring in the gastropub crowd with exciting menus without scaring off people who just want a burger. 

It’s an impressive performance and one which is clearly working well, given how packed the place is when I arrive at 5.30pm on a rainy and cold Saturday night.

With hints of exposed brick, tartan clad chairs and mounted stags on the walls, it has your typical ‘warm and cosy’ Scottish pub feel. It’s welcoming and homely. 

When it comes to the menu, it is decadent in places and simply hearty in others. 

Those with more discerning palates might opt for the hand-dived scallops with squash, capers, raisins, and smoked almonds. 

But at the end of the day, this is a pub, so if you’d rather you can go for Rogue’s fish & chips, a pie or a burger.

That’s the beauty of the menu owners Joe Lazzerini and Amalia Colaluca have created, you can indulge in a bit of lobster luxury or have a scotch egg – does it get much better?

We try to take a tour around the menu that hits all the top spots while also not straying too far from your traditional pub grub.

We start with scotch egg, wrapped in Stornoway black pudding and crispy bread crumbs. While the egg itself could have done with a bit more cooking, the piccalilli puree hiding underneath is deliciously smooth and moreish.

The lobster and crayfish rarebit is a pure joy. A square of toast topped with a super creamy hit of salty fish, covered in a light char, it’s a winner.

The monkfish scampi is divine, with chunks of perfectly cooked fish served alongside a hot sriracha mayonnaise.

We venture over to the meat portion of the meal next, starting with a bavette steak.

It’s pink and soft, packed full of flavour thanks to the delightful chimichurri smothered on top. A fennel and watercress salad accompaniment gives it added freshness. 

A golden ox cheek pie arrives next. It’s comforting and the meat inside is melt in the mouth, but the dish struggles to shine in the shadows of what’s come before.

We indulge in an extremely decadent lobster macaroni which there is not much to say about other than wow. 

I know every trendy eatery just now loves to throw mac ‘n’ cheese on the menu as a side, but this is in a league of its own and not to be missed.

The Filthy Rogue double smash burger is up there with the best burger I have had in Glasgow. Streaky bacon, burger sauce, pickles and chips, it’s good pub scran at its finest.

Desserts are worth sticking about for too. We share a warm sticky date pudding, lathered in butterscotch sauce. It sums up The Loveable Rogue perfectly – pub classics done really well, and let’s be honest, that’s all we could ever want or need.

When they opened the restaurant Joe and Amalia promised good times and great scran. I am just delighted they keep delivering on that promise.

 

The Loveable Rogue, 333 Great Western Rd, Glasgow G4 9HS, 0141 339 3701

Read more news and reviews on Scottish Field’s food and drink pages.

Plus, don’t miss the December issue of Scottish Field magazine.