Declan D.'s Profile

I'm rubbish at booze.

It's a long story I won't bore you with, but I have a low tolerance for alcohol and an even lower one for hangovers. Seriously, a lone bottle of weak cheap lager whilst watching TV and I'm a mess the following morning. I'm not completely pathetic, there is somewhat of a medical reason for this, but whatever, I'm not good at booze. We don't get on. So when I do drink, I drink shandys, or I alternate with a beer and a soft drink. It's ok, you can judge me, I've dealt with it.

Here's a thing though: I went to Brew dog last night to meet a few of the other fine yelpers and I was a bit nervous about the booze. For one, the beer here is strong. For two,  I think they might ban me if I attempted to ask for a shandy. So I went all in. A pint of beer. Delicious. Then another. Then a cheeky half. ON A THURSDAY NIGHT.

I was mildly drunk, but not enough to immediately start to worry about my potential work hangover the next morning as I started the walk home.

Then I awoke. No hangover.

'It's just being sneaky, it'll hit me mid morning.' I thought.

No hangover.

'Ah! The old post lunch attack. Come at me!'

No hangover.

And now I'm writing this, and it's late, and I can probably say with confidence that there was no hangover.

I'm not saying go nuts and drink yourself into a stupor and you'll be grand, because you absolutely won't be, but what I'm saying is that I had two and a half pints on a school night and I do not have a hangover. No shandys, no soft drinks. Just big, strong pints of beer that appear to be so well brewed, so well made, that I was able to handle it, and have no hangover. It is a revelation.

Brew dog made a man out of me.

This is based entirely on my take out experience, the grouchy shut in that I am, but it was just terrific.

First impression as I received my bag of food and paid the delivery guy was, 'How much!?' This was in relation to the price and the portions. As much as the price took the wind out of me a little, the portions were so generous we could have probably halved the order and still been left satisfied.

The mixed veg starter was a crunchy, veggie treat, and a meal all in itself. The dipping sauce was out of this world.

For the mains we went for the traditional red curry & green curry and were not disappointed. It looked amazing for a start, all too often with takeout food you end up with a big plate of yellowy brown foodstuffs, but here everything seemed fresh and luxurious and interesting. The coconut rice was a highlight, and was infinitely superior to my sticky rice. Which was rice but, you know, a bit sticky.

One for special occasions for sure, or if you're attempting to cheat your way to a beautiful homemade dinner Mrs Doubtfire style, but highly recommended nonetheless.

I lived just around the corner from here for about a year before finally venturing inside. Like the TARDIS, it's much bigger inside than you might think. Also like the TARDIS, it's capable of showing you great wonders. Some amazing architecture, some lovely views, and my goodness the people watching. The best foot chaseI ever saw went straight through Alexandra Park, and everyone inside was rooting for the runner.

It doesn't travel through time though, and only the sky part is blue.

The menu is intense. A tome. Thick and luxurious, laminated to protect from drooling townies. It's so thick in fact that it's difficult to know where to begin, are you bold and adventurous or do you stick with what you kn..hang on, what's THAT?

Pearl apple tea ice cream. A punk green coloured cocktail with jelly spawn and slush. Ok, well, that's a given.

Emboldened by the drink order I went plain white bread with my main and just got Sweet n Sour Chicken. Sauce was a little syrupy, it's no Asia style etc etc. but it made it's mark on me with the incredible drinks. It's what will bring me back. (Full disclosure: The drink wasn't that tasty. Considering the presentation it was surprisingly bland. Pretty though, and such a fun name.)

I never think to get a sandwich in a coffee shop. Excuse the banality of my opening gambit, but in the west end of Glasgow you're absolutely spoiled for choice for culinary pleasures, and my distinctive impression of the Avenue G event (I keep calling it Avenue Q in polite conversation for some reason. In fact I've now decided that the addition of muppets for the baristas and waiters to use as avatars would absolutely give this the five star rating, I digress..)

My distinctive and lasting impression was just how fine the sandwiches were. They were only little tester plates but every single one was a delight. Not just the sandwiches either, all the food was excellent, the little savoury scones were a particular pleasure I'd not experienced before. And the cakes!

So much to recommend. Coffee was great, staff knew their stuff, they managed to pull off a white interior without feeling clinical or cold. An excellent place,  and a pleasant evening with the Yelp guys, as always.

My only real complaint is the muppets thing, which I'm actually a bit sad about, but since that's all just in my head I can do nothing but recommend the place whole heartedly.

I don't drive, I've never rented a car before, home or away. My girlfriend can drive though, which was good news since we needed a vehicle to get us down the coast to LA . A few online checks and Dollar offered the best deal by far.

Was slightly apprehensive of the experience and the car we would receive for going budget, but was pleasantly surprised by the whole experience.

No waiting or hassle at the pick up in San Fran or the drop off in LAX, and as an extra treat the car we actually received was way better car than our website booking had led us to believe. It was big and white and fast, I can't be more specific, I don't drive.

Like a massive Nandos, only the food was a bit better.

That's perhaps a little unfair, but it was my overriding impression. Decent food, good service and all that, but the whole rustic vibe with the planks of food and the tea towel napkins really jarred with the massive open space, plastic chairs and absolutely terrible music selection.

I'm sure that the intention is to provide a quality food selection to as large an audience as possible, and Jamie being such a bankable name they know they can fill the place. but it wasn't for me.

I got a Velasquez. A ham & pineapple pizza. A good one too, with a clever name. Everything has a clever name. It's a clever name kind of place. It says thank you, I love you as you leave, but it's, you know, whatever.

Sweet potato fries are excellent.

Crazy hippies selling crazy trinkets, incredible skateboarders, tanned muscle men, freak shows, street performers, burgers, blue skies forever. The ultimate in lazy LA strolls.

It was good, but for the price I expected much better. It's a great way to hit the tourist spots and photo ops in a single day, but you really just get a snapshot of each place before you're back on the bus and onto the next stop. If you're staying for a while it'd be worth noting the places you really dug so you can plan a trip back and really take the place in.

The driver was great and friendly and everything, but you can't really expect an intimate and involving description of the city whilst he is simultaneously navigating the hills of San Francisco. Maybe they have a proper guide during the holiday season, but I felt a little short changed.