Topic: Checking in...

[Stephen Lindsay]

Brilliant literate self-introduction, SD : welcome to the forum !
** Phil.

At first I thought the eloquent use of lanaguage was Phil in disguise! Welcome to CRO from Bonnie Scotland, alas not Glasgow, but Dundee - however our claim to fame is that Dundee had the first BIR to get in the good food guide, an establishment no longer there but one of many good curry houses in our small city / large town. When did you last have a curry in Scotland SD?

regards

Steve

[Salvador Dhali]

Brilliant literate self-introduction, SD : welcome to the forum !
** Phil.

At first I thought the eloquent use of lanaguage was Phil in disguise! Welcome to CRO from Bonnie Scotland, alas not Glasgow, but Dundee - however our claim to fame is that Dundee had the first BIR to get in the good food guide, an establishment no longer there but one of many good curry houses in our small city / large town. When did you last have a curry in Scotland SD?

regards

Steve

Thanks for the welcome, Steve. To my shame the last time I had a curry in Scotland was November 1982.

Although I did some exploration up there, the nearest I got to Dundee was Perth - and the only curry I had there was cooked by the mate I was staying with. (From memory he didn't make too bad a job of it.)

Most of my Scottish BIR experiences and all of my formative drinking experiences were had in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr, and as said I've been chasing 'that' taste ever since.

Talking of formative drinking experiences, I'll never forget my first ever time in Scotland. I'd driven up to Glasgow to start a new job. I was 20 years-old and very wet behind the ears. After the drive from hell I found myself lost in Glasgow at around 8.00pm on a January night, running about 5 hours behind schedule (no sat-navs or mobile phones back then). I saw a bar, pulled up and popped in to ask directions.

You know those Western films where the protagonist walks through the saloon's swing doors, and the piano player stops and the whole place goes quiet? Well that was just what it was like, except there was no piano player, and no swing doors - just me and a bar full of extremely hard-looking locals fixing me with a steely gaze.

I remember thinking "F**k. I'm not going to make it out of here in one piece..."

Plucking up courage, I asked in my most polite and respectful voice if anyone knew the way to the Red Road flats.

I was answered by another period of lengthy silence and steely gazes.

Then, from the dim recesses of the back of the bar someone shouted "He's a f****ing Sassenach!". 

I remember thinking "F**k. I'm not going to make it out of here alive..."

Before I could make a run for it, a huge unshaven guy stepped towards me, and said in an accent I struggled to fully comprehend...

"A Sassenach, aye? Well then, ye'll have a wee drink wi us, son."

I got the impression that it wasn't an offer I was supposed to refuse, and before I knew it, three hours had passed and I stoatered (staggered) out of the bar completely and utterly 'steamin' (drunk), having been thoroughly introduced to the concept of the 'wee half', whereby each glass of whisky is accompanied by a half pint of beer.

I'd also had a brilliant time, and made about a dozen new friends.

When I met up with my new work colleagues the next morning (feeling bloody dreadful), I told them what had happened.

"Where did you say this bar was?" asked one of them.

I gave him all the details I could recall.

"For f**k's sake man. Were you out of your tiny English skull? That's bang in the middle of the Gorbals!

"Eh? What's a Gorbal when it's at home?" I replied.

"Ach, never mind, never mind. Let's just say you were lucky to make it out of there alive..."

I instantly knew that I was going to enjoy my stay in Scotland. And that was before I discovered how good the curries were!

I really must go back. Hope it's still the same...

[ELW]

Brilliant literate self-introduction, SD : welcome to the forum !
** Phil.

At first I thought the eloquent use of lanaguage was Phil in disguise! Welcome to CRO from Bonnie Scotland, alas not Glasgow, but Dundee - however our claim to fame is that Dundee had the first BIR to get in the good food guide, an establishment no longer there but one of many good curry houses in our small city / large town. When did you last have a curry in Scotland SD?

regards

Steve

Thanks for the welcome, Steve. To my shame the last time I had a curry in Scotland was November 1982.

Although I did some exploration up there, the nearest I got to Dundee was Perth - and the only curry I had there was cooked by the mate I was staying with. (From memory he didn't make too bad a job of it.)

Most of my Scottish BIR experiences and all of my formative drinking experiences were had in Glasgow, Kilmarnock, Irvine and Ayr, and as said I've been chasing 'that' taste ever since.

Talking of formative drinking experiences, I'll never forget my first ever time in Scotland. I'd driven up to Glasgow to start a new job. I was 20 years-old and very wet behind the ears. After the drive from hell I found myself lost in Glasgow at around 8.00pm on a January night, running about 5 hours behind schedule (no sat-navs or mobile phones back then). I saw a bar, pulled up and popped in to ask directions.

You know those Western films where the protagonist walks through the saloon's swing doors, and the piano player stops and the whole place goes quiet? Well that was just what it was like, except there was no piano player, and no swing doors - just me and a bar full of extremely hard-looking locals fixing me with a steely gaze.

I remember thinking "F**k. I'm not going to make it out of here in one piece..."

Plucking up courage, I asked in my most polite and respectful voice if anyone knew the way to the Red Road flats.

I was answered by another period of lengthy silence and steely gazes.

Then, from the dim recesses of the back of the bar someone shouted "He's a f****ing Sassenach!". 

I remember thinking "F**k. I'm not going to make it out of here alive..."

Before I could make a run for it, a huge unshaven guy stepped towards me, and said in an accent I struggled to fully comprehend...

"A Sassenach, aye? Well then, ye'll have a wee drink wi us, son."

I got the impression that it wasn't an offer I was supposed to refuse, and before I knew it, three hours had passed and I stoatered (staggered) out of the bar completely and utterly 'steamin' (drunk), having been thoroughly introduced to the concept of the 'wee half', whereby each glass of whisky is accompanied by a half pint of beer.

I'd also had a brilliant time, and made about a dozen new friends.

When I met up with my new work colleagues the next morning (feeling bloody dreadful), I told them what had happened.

"Where did you say this bar was?" asked one of them.

I gave him all the details I could recall.

"For f**k's sake man. Were you out of your tiny English skull? That's bang in the middle of the Gorbals!

"Eh? What's a Gorbal when it's at home?" I replied.

"Ach, never mind, never mind. Let's just say you were lucky to make it out of there alive..."

I instantly knew that I was going to enjoy my stay in Scotland. And that was before I discovered how good the curries were!

I really must go back. Hope it's still the same...

Hi Gary, welcome to cr0,the Gorbals has beeen gentrified on it's 3rd regeneration & the Red Road flats are on their way down. The big block is being razed this year. We still have full on curries for full on people!

ELW