I am making a brief return to blogging now that I am visiting a conference/exhibition in Glasgow. I went to uni for 7 years in Glasgow in the late 1970s/early 1980s. There are a lot of food memories from that time as I went to university having little idea of how to cook and being used to typically bland 1970s UK food. I was taken out to an authentic Chinese New Year dinner and realised that the high street chinese was not reconisable to my fellow students from SE Asia. I was introduced to my first curry at the Agra - then an affordable place for students - on Gibson Street just south of the University campus. Later Indian students taught me to make curry and pakora. I expected Gibson Steet be a sort of West Glasgow equivalent of Drummond Street but was left wondering what had happened?
After today's conference sessions, I went to Kelvinbridge station on the "clockwork orange" underground and headed for a journey down memory lane. I started with Great Western Road where I recalled a greasy spoon cafe and a wholefood shop called "Grass Roots" opposite the end of Oakfield Avenue. Grass Roots sold things like oat, wheat and barley flakes or dried fruit out of big bins. I made my own muesli from what I bought there. I think that there is a betting shop now roughly where Grass Roots was and the cafe is now considerably upmarket from 28-30 years ago if it is in the same place.
Grass Roots created a spin-off called Roots and Fruits which was an eco-friendly fruit and veg shop. It is still there but looks a lot posher than in the past.
Gibson Street used to be regarded as the centre of South Asian eating in Glasgow (at least from my student-centric view). I was keen to report an update on the curry houses as I liked the Glasgow food which as a bit different from what you get in England. Most English Indian restaurants are run by Bangladeshis, while Gibson street seemed to be run by Punjabis from Pakistan and India.
In the past there were two major and two minor establishments. The Shish Mahal was closest to the University not far from the former church that was used for University exams. That used to be the post popular place with a queue outside at weekends. I liked the food but disliked the service/queue management which meant that your main course was thrust in front of you after you had just started on your pakoras. You did not feel welcome to stay long.
If I am not mistaken the whole tenement block which included the Shish Mahal is now gone (above). I then walked down to the bridge over the Kelvin where on the east side of the street the other big establishment - the Koh-i-noor - used to be. I recall that they were also very successful and even got their curries in frozen form into the Bejam freezer food shops around 1980.
I think that the restaurant block has also been demolished and replaced by UNITE private sector University accommodation. The only reminder of the past was this little takeaway with the Koh-i-Noor name.
Between the Shish Mahal and the Koh-i-Noor there used to be two smaller establishments - the Shalimar on the South side of the street and the Agra on the North side. The Shalimar seemed to keep going despite its small size whereas the Agra seemed to change owners from time to time.
Today there is a near eastern offering roughly where the Shalimar used to be. On the left Pars is a Persian Restaurant while on the right Falafel is Lebanese. Despite both of these looking interesting, I was firmly in a curry mood so walked further towards Byres Road.
If anyone can fill me in on what happened in the last quarter century of restaurants on Gibson Street please post a comment!
PrincessFiona
welcome back