I had a cunning plan, after a hard day pounding the sidewalks of Merchant City.

I didn’t want a microwaved ready meal while the Moll showed me her stash after a day of ‘bargains’ in the smoke – so I suggested we met up at a place I’d spotted on Trongate, the strangely-named Troneau Redfox, which seemed to have opened up under the radar in recent months. I knew nothing about it, but I thought, hey, let’s roll the dice.

We didn’t have reservations, but as there was still a good couple of hours of shopping left when we showed, it seemed pretty quiet. Sure enough, we were welcomed into a cosy bar area and assured it would be no problem. Our head waitress headed confidently to the stairs to a mezzanine level, but Blondie’s bunions were bothering her after a hard afternoon’s shopping, and she whimpered: “Can’t we sit down here, Tec?”.

Again, no problem for the bright-eyed, bushy-tailed staff, and we were seated at a table for two near the bar, and all on the flat, thanks so much. Foxy items were all around, from a felt figurine near our table to a cute ornament on the bar – someone was obviously a fan, and the Moll was all signed up, too. “Look at him, he’s cute!” she said of our various vulpine companions. I had to admit, it was kind of endearing. Tec Towers sometime gets a fox in the garden, and it never fails to give us a thrill.

Anyway. After a look at the menu, I fancied the venison carpaccio (cute animal-wise, I can turn on a dime). Toots didn’t want a starter, but liked the look of the sea bass for mains. Oops. We should have been told, apparently, but both were off. Back to the drawing board. For me, the scallops with black pudding and a parsnip puree. For mains, I ordered pork skewers with salsa, and the Moll went for the comfort food option of lamb casserole. Not sure why we got spooked, but for some reason we ordered a salad and an order of chips as well, along with a couple of big glasses of their recommended white wine.

Drinks arrived lickety-split and very nice, too. Then we waited. And waited. Judging by the action on the mezzanine, they weren’t that busy and we were all on our lonesome downstairs. Finally, and with loads of smiles and apologies, my starter arrived. Give the chef credit, it was worth waiting for, melting scallops, earthy black pudding and, unlikely as it sounds, a divine parsnip puree, hinted at real skill in the kitchen. Moll was so hungry by now, she was jabbing her fork in, and agreed it was heavenly.

But then another long, long wait for the mains. Spooky, again, once it arrived, it was all excellent. My pork skewers came with a delicious pouring sauce, and the Moll’s outstanding casserole came with a little jug of extra gravy. Both came with sauteed potatoes that would have rendered our extra chips redundant, if they hadn’t been so delicious.

And I never thought I’d rave about a side salad, but it was top, too.

“It’s weird, Tec,” mused the Moll. “Someone knows what they’re doing, but I’m sure glad we’re aren’t in a hurry.”

She decided to risk a dessert, and this time, her berry pavlova turned up pronto. It looked a dream, and tasted better, judging by the incoherent moaning sounds across the table. Good thing the joint was pretty quiet.

The bill was a pleasant surprise for the quality of the food, but somebody backstage needs to remember that old saying about the ‘quick brown fox’...

Troneau Redfox, 96 Trongate, Glasgow. Tel: 0141 258 4600

THE BILL

Starters

Scallops £9.95

Mains

Pork skewers £9.95

Lamb casserole £9.95

Extras

Mixed salad £2.95

Chips £2.95

Desserts

Pavlova £5.25

Drinks

Lamuro Grillo white wine x 3 £4.85

Total £55.55

Rating:

Food: ****

Atmosphere **

Service **