The Olive Tree
Savoy Centre, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
What do the Chinese people order, I ask the waitress while looking round conspiratorially at the other customers on this dusty Glasgow lunchtime amid the faded 1970s splendour of the Savoy Centre.
“Chicken Steak In Black Pepper sauce,” she replies, “Salted Fish and Diced Chicken With Fried Rice, maybe Twice Cooked Pork with Rice”.
We order them all up and off she goes to that busy little window opening onto that teensy, weensy, totally crowded kitchen there while we realise we also need some Fried Dumplings and Fritters.
That taken care of there’s not much to do except watch what seems to be a fashion shoot take place outside the hairdressers to our right. And to start crunching those long moreish fried and crunchy tubes of dough, that they call The Fritters.
Now, if you’ve not been to the Savoy Centre for a while, and maybe only once to the still famous disco on that office-night-out-you’re-trying-to-forget there’s good news: it hasn’t changed. At all.
Little booths, a tired and somewhat weary, but in true Glasgow style still-fully-alive vibe even in this communal area where we’re perched on picnic bench seats at picnic trestle tables.
Can’t say that about Sauchiehall Street outside, though. Allowed by the City Fathers to become a slum or, as I just overheard an English tourist say to her family, “a bin”, its decline is only exacerbated by the endless intrusive street works - no actual physical work being done today.
I’ll be back out on Sauchiehall Street at the end of this meal looking for a cashline, my laptop left uncomfortably behind in the clutches of a burly chef as some sort of security, after realising way, way too late: CASH ONLY.
How we laughed. Well I didn’t.
Anyway, did I mention there are two menus in here. The standard Glasgow Chinese one and a secret, proper Chinese menu with far more interesting dishes.
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I have to go up to the window; ask a waitress for the other menu, do some gesticulating towards a wall menu in Mandarin, then one is magically pulled from the bottom of a pile.
The food? Yep. It’s good. The fried rice when it arrives still steaming and slightly smoky from the wok is light, moist and chunked with chicken, little salt bursts coming from micro (almost invisible) pieces of fish that turn out to be not nearly as scary as they seem on the menu.
Garry here, who’ll cause my laptop to be held hostage later simply by clearing off to a Herald meeting long before the bill is paid - where has your friend gone, the waitress will say suspiciously - actually chose this place.
A recommendation from Anne, aka Mrs Scott, who praised the dumplings. Praised a few dumplings in my life myself, but these filled pot stickers, the dough so light it’s almost wobbly when it hits the mouth, bursting hot rich porky juices all over the palate? Excellent.
There’s a dozen plus here and we fork them one by one in between mouthfuls of well…that twice fried pork. Sticky, crispy, glazed pork slices; clean white rice and what I’m taking to be Chinese Black Ear mushroom.
Get Ron's review two whole days before it appears anywhere else.
We’ve got some rocket-fuel chilli paste to dip into, plus a bowl of soy, but this is so well-rounded we don’t need either.
That Chicken Steak in Black Pepper? The very first recommendation? Stop the Bus. It’s a hmmm. Thin sliced fillet, cooked, breaded then fried, doused in sauce and piled with a selection of onion and greens on a mound of rice on a large platter. Not nearly enough black pepper sauce action for me - just a little bland. Soggy too.
Course, we’ve only touched on the menu choices: the Egg Yolk Soimol, Spicy Brisket Soup, Beancurd and Pork Feet? Next time. And there will be a next time despite the fat food critic indignity of being chased down the stairs by a 5ft tall waitress after I said: I’ll just nip out and get some cash then.
The Olive Tree
Savoy Centre
140 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow
Menu: They’ve got two. Ask for the secret Chinese food one. Good range of interesting and slightly different dishes including chicken and salt fish fried rice, woozy dumplings and fritters. 4/5
Service: Remember it’s a cash-only operation and you won’t have any problem. The waitresses, pleasant and helpful. 4/5
Atmosphere: Come on, it’s The Savoy Centre at lunchtime. No glam, no glitter, but you come to this secret little spot for the food. 3/5
Price: Dishes come in big, fat platters for two and are around £11 each. Fritters £2. Dumplings £9. Good 4/5
Food: Fabulous chicken fried rice, and those crisped on one side pot-sticker dumplings have a wow-factor. 8/10
23/30
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