I-on magazine, September 2009
Lunch @ Velvet Elvis

For a good few years now Pintxo has been the must-go destination of lower Dumbarton Road - so much so it's a struggle to get a table at the weekend. So on hearing it's owner had opened a new place next door called Velvet Elvis, my friend Ronnie and I thought it wise to get in early before the crowds descended.

On first sight the restaurant looked bright, fresh and without too many frills - clearly an Elvis before he hit Vegas and the sleeping pills. The premises were once a butcher's shop and it's a provenance that's been appreciated rather than destroyed. The original blue and white tiling has pride of place and even the old butcher's invoiced feature on the menus - albeit scored out in red with Velvet Elvis written alongside. This nod to nostalgia, not to mention eco chic recycling, is carried through to the loo signs - a Dennis the Menace annual grimaces from the doof of the gents while good old Bunty graces the ladies. Old record sleeves and vinyl also have a home here, with vintage 45s supplying the 'starch' to the menus. All good stuff but would our meal have us singing I Believe or Never Again?

To start with we both chose the poached egg with Stornoway black pudding, £4.95, which arrived accompanied by two triumphant spears of asparagus. One slice of the knoife and the egg yolk slithered provocatively over the spicy black pudding. The asparagus, not my favourite vegetable, was seasoned to perfection - was there a hint of celery salt there? - and both plates were greedily cleared. An absolute treat.

For a main I went for the chargrilled burger with hand cut chips, £8.95, while Ronnie took my second option of the Italian sausage with mash, £7.95 - both generous portions. Now, I don't know about you but I think burgers are funny things. They should be one of the safest dishes on a menu yet after eating the Velvet Elvis burger I realised I'd been dealt a bad hand on too many occasions. On first cut the juices dribbled onto the tomato bottomed toasted bun and I was immediately in burger heaven. Funny how it only takes one seriously good burger to put you off the jokers you've been having elsewhere. The plate was further stacked with double-cooked chunky skin-on chips and a salad that resembled more of a starter than simply plate dressing.

Ronnie's dish was no less impresive with two huge Italian sausages resting on a bed of buttery mash. The sausages had been split to reveal their porky innards and their smell was so tmepting I didn't hesitate in trying some. The sausages were meaty with a good bit of spice but without the overpoering garlic hit that somes from the sausages of our French cousins. We didn't manage to finish either dish but it wasn't for the want of trying. We have lunch on a sunny afternoon so the doors were fully open giving a lovely cooling breeze and a great opportunity to people watch from our table while sipped at a couple of cappucinos, £1.95 each.

With the jukebox playing classics from the past to the no nonsense, accomplished cooking, Velvet Elvis is an excellent culinary addition to this stretch of Dumbarton Road. Even the most jaded of diners with find something to get the All Shook Up about here.

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