Pesto

The 2012 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2012) edition.

The Pesto brand has come to Glasgow with this huge, welcoming venue. The concept is tapas-style Italian, offering a myriad of small dishes for sharing. Choose two or three dishes each, but be prepared to hog the ones that you really like. The menu takes in a range of little pastas, from tagliatelle con porcini – a filling dish with wide strips of pasta and mushrooms in a thick creamy sauce, to linguine al cartoccio, which arrives freshly baked in a twist of parchment paper filled with pasta, prawns and fresh salsa flavours. The 5-inch pizzetta alla Fiorentina is delicious topped with wilted spinach and a quail’s egg cracked in the middle, the pale yolk still runny. There are plenty of dishes to mix up the pizza and pasta, from deep-fried calamari rings, chicken skewers, and patate di origano – crispy sautéed potatoes with a tomato tapenade. On the meatier side, the peposo has chunks of slow-cooked beef and potatoes in a fiery stew of tomatoes, red wine and black pepper. Fun-size food in a king-size restaurant.

• High point: Genuinely welcoming service
• Low point: Home-made desserts would be nice