Tusk

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• Average price 2 courses: £15.50
• House wine: £10.95 per bottle

• High point: Decadent theatrical space
• Low point: Confusion of cuisines
• Food served: Thu-Sun 5-10.30pm
• Bar open: Thu-Sun 5pm-midnight; Fri/Sat 5pm-3am
• Open since: 2003
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Wheelchair access

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

One of four G1 Group ventures in the Shawlands area, Tusk is housed in a cavernous former cinema and is a popular destination for a lively night out. Inside, dark red and gold drapes and luxurious silk and velvet cushions contribute to a glamorous and decadent vibe. The restaurant area is dominated by a giant, gold-painted Buddha, surrounded by cascading water, flickering candles and puffs of dry ice, giving a fun, theatrical, if rather unspecific Eastern feel to the whole space. The menu is similarly difficult to pin down, taking diners on a rather confusing gastronomical world tour by means of fajitas, koftas, pakoras, chow mein, lasagne and fish and chips. A starter of plump, juicy mussels is drenched with coconut milk and infused with lemon-grass and plenty of fresh red chilli, but could use a lift from some fresh coriander. To follow, a tender salmon fillet is beautifully presented, but is rather bizarrely coated in what appears to be a sweet chilli dipping sauce, and is served with Mediterranean vegetable fettucini - an East/West collision that is, perhaps, a fusion too far.