Teatime Treat

Since living in Glasgow, I have involved myself wholeheartedly in a certain “scene”, as have many other young people living in the city.


My regular haunts are Subclub and the Arches, as well as a couple of independent nights. As much as i love the club nights I go to and the people I go with, sometimes I itch for something a bit different, and I think other people feel the same.

The purpose of this blog is to investigate things t do in Glasgow that may fall under the radar, so whether you’re a Cathouse regular, or prefer Campus, hopefully you’ll find something a bit different to try.

Going out for drinks with my friends is standard behaviour, but I always find myself in the same bar ordering the same drink, so when I saw Teatime Martinis advertised at the Blind Pig on Byres Road, I called my friend Sofie (my most regular drinking partner) and headed over.

The Blind Pig has a sort of 20’s speakeasy feel, with music to match. Above the bar hangs various crystal ware, and the bartenders wear suspenders or waistcoats making it a quirky and enjoyable environment to be in.

For £20, my friend and I received a huge teapot full of a martini of our choice and pretty cake stand with sandwiches, scones and cakes.

The martini we chose was Strawberry Cream Tea, and it was delicious. Pretty pale pink in colour, the drink smelt divine and tasted even better. Dangerously you could barely taste the alcohol and it was very, very more-ish. The martini was shaken up and poured in front of us at our table, with the mixologist giving us some banter.

The cake stand was laden with sandwiches, cakes and scones. One of the cakes had banana in it so I was forced to spit it out (phobia of the fruit, you see) which almost ruined my experience, but not quite, perhaps because the martini had dulled my senses!

If you want to try the delight of teatime martinis, visit the Blind Pig on Byres Road, or check out the website: http://blindpig.co.uk/

Dub and Grub.


A lot of my friends are into Dubstep music, a genre that I myself am not too keen on.

But when of my Dubstep fanatic pals asked me to come to a “Dub and Grub” night at The 78 in Glasgow’s west end, I was a bit reluctant to go.

My friend explained to me, however, that dub is a bit different to Dubstep. It grew out of reggae in the 1960s, and is known more of a subgenre than anything else. Dubstep does have elements of the dub genre, but is more like Grime, Garage and Drum ‘n’ Bass. Firstly, for anyone who isn’t familiar with these terms, here are some examples.

Grime: (Dizzee Rascal’s earlier stuff was a lot more "grimey” than his current electro pop work)

Garage: (who could forget this?!)

Drum and Bass: (a mainstream Drum n Bass track most have heard)

Anyway, I had my arm twisted and on Thursday night, went along to the night with my dreadlocked hippy friends.

It was awesome.

Dub n Grub has its name because of the Dub music, and the fact they do a reasonably priced set menu of vegan and vegetarian food.

I’m a massive carnivore, but can really appreciate good vegetarian food, and I was not disappointed.

The menu changes weekly, but the first time I went I had a Moroccan stew, full of chickpeas and beans and all that other stuff vegetarians love so much. I returned, as I loved it so much, and had Caribbean curry, a coconut-ty delight with butternut squash amongst other vegetables and rice. The pricing is around six or seven quid, excellent for the students who predominantly reside in the west end.

Now the music. The friend who dragged me along promised it wasn’t going to be full of heavy “filthy” Dubstep, and it wasn’t. It was mostly dub and reggae, and some chilled out Dubstep tunes which I actually rather liked. Mungos Hifi usually DJ, who are partly responsible for the only Dubstep tune I really like:

The atmosphere was the best thing about the night. Everyone was friendly and chilled, enjoying the food and the tunes, and it wasn’t like an Ashton Lane poser bar, where everyone is more concerned about how they look than having a good time.

I fully intend on returning to the 78 on a Thursday, and if you do too, here’s the website.

http://www.the78cafebar.com/index.html?pid=77