Why you should never order goat curry on a Wednesday night

Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, we are eating in the world’s 22nd coolest neighbourhood. Yes, in the whole damn world. According to a magazine anyway, that claims to know such things.

Obviously, there’s now a glaring problem for Strathbungo’s continued global coolness status. And that is that I am sitting in it. Eating Trini Macora Pie; setting alarm bells ringing in some international headquarters, coolness ratings tumbling, hip young people shaking their heads.

And I am asking clunkily uncool questions of the waiting staff including: are you from Jamaica? “No, I’m from Shawlands”, comes the reply, “but one of the owners is from Jamaica”.

The Carnival plate- 1/4 jerk chicken on the bone, coconut rice and peas, Trini Mac Pie and gravy (Image: Colin Mearns) And.. "Are you sure this is coconut rice with these Tostones? Because I don’t see any peas, or taste much coconut?” (Nor do I get any crunchy sweet peppers).

Yes, it’s coconut rice, comes the reply. Those are actually nuggets of Haloumi. And so it goes on as Pat Kelly’s A Hard Day’s Night, plays on the sound system, followed by the Twinkle Brothers’ Babylon Falling.

As slowly, and surprisingly on a Wednesday night anyway, this Caribbean bar-cum-kitchen fills around me. Couples mainly, nobody else at all eating I can see, drinking, maybe from that selection of 100 rums. Looking over occasionally at the man in the cardigan (yes, it is back) and the specs (no, not NHS), with the Marks & Sparks guaranteed-pure-polyester suit, surrounded by dishes. A waitress occasionally popping over from behind the bar to check: everything okay. The lighting being so low that on at least one of those occasions I won’t notice her coming and jump ten feet in surprise.

Yes, coolness counter now sinking to the high thousands.

Here’s a confession. I’ve driven by the Rum Shack maybe a million times, and always thought: um, that looks like a dive. Only when I read about Strathbungo’s elevation will somebody mention that this place is actually known for its Caribbean food.

So here I am. Having paid £1 extra for the house-brewed chilli sauce: be careful, I’m told.

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It’s extremely, hot, just a big blend of chillies. I spoon some on to the Accra: those doughy deep fried balls of salt fish, with herbs and seasoning (£7.60). Ooyah. They weren’t kidding. Lethal. And just heat.

I then mix the tiniest amount into the garlic mayo alongside the Rum Shack patties and bite into one of these. Think here of two bridie-sized patties, shortcrust pastry, looking very freshly made, hunks inside of steaming and juicy chicken, the flavour of jerk seasoning throughout. I like this.

For a moment when ordering I considered a curry, a channa perhaps, from their Dutch Pot selection but, if I’ve learned anything in the years I’ve been doing this, it’s never order a goat curry on a Wednesday night. When nobody else is eating. And the kitchen’s cold.

So I play safe with Tostones and that coconut rice. The rice despite my prodding and poking being hot and seasoned, the Tostones – a Dominican inspired dish of plantain and cheese fritters – being scary sweet, not much savoury at all, beneath their crispy crust.

Also I order up a Notting Hill Carnival Plate (£16.25), swapping out the Quarter Jerk Chicken for Jerk Chicken Skewers. These skewers turning out to be plentiful, pleasant enough, the chicken perfectly reasonable and the jerk sauce, like the jerk gravy that comes in a little jug, adding a splash of subdued flavour.

It’s the Trini Mac Pie though that will be the dish of the night and that might make me want to come back.

The food is Caribbean (Image: Ron Mackenna) It’s macaroni, baked long enough for the outside edge to crisp and sweeten, just enough cheesy, spicy, gooey flavours to make it moreish. I’m thinking an Italian Timbale without the pastry, my mum’s day two fried spaghetti (the best).

Much more anyway than the sum of its parts. Like Rum Shack? Yeah, maybe.

It’s a pleasant place to sit. And to be fair: probably better to eat on a weekend when that kitchen is flying, and the curries will be ready to go.

Menu: It’s Caribbean; Tostones, Patties, Trini Mac Pie and goat curries; different and interesting. 4/5

Service: Efficient, pleasant and helpful staff. 5/5

Price: It’s not cheap but what is? Portions are on the large side and those patties would feed two. 4/5

Atmosphere: Never judge a bar and kitchen by its cover: clean, fresh and pretty comfortable. 4/5

Food: The Trini Mac Pie was a real hit, the rest was unusual, and interesting. Watch that chilli sauce. 5/10

Total: 22/30

Rum Shack

657 Pollokshaws Road

Glasgow

0141-237-4432