THE MOLL and I had just returned from a few days sunning ourselves on the continent, and felt totally relaxed.

That was until we stepped off the plane in Glasgow and were greeted with torrential rain and biting cold winds.

“I can’t run in these heels, idiot!”Toots yelled, as I told her to hurry in to the terminal building.

The rain lashed our faces and the golden glow from the past week abroad was all but vanished by the time we collected our luggage.

By the time we got in the Buik, Dollface was nearly in tears and my trench coat was soaked through. We were ravenous and needed warming up fast.

“Fancy some scran?” I asked, soothingly, as toots whimpered in the passenger seat, trying to dry her fur coat with a tissue.

I took her silence as affirmative, and headed for the West End’s newest joint - The Parlour.

On the former Booly Mardy’s site on Vinicombe Street, the restaurant-bar looked similar to its previous incarnation from the outside.

Nothing much had changed apart from a few extra tables and the name.

As we entered the dimly lit space, we looked around for a member of staff but after a few minutes of waiting we took it upon ourselves to choose a table.

After a further few minutes, I found a menu myself and we scanned it eagerly, hoping to find something mouth-watering to fill our stomachs.

Eventually we ordered drinks - a large Sauvignon for Toots, as usual, while I went for a delicious glass of red wine which I polished off too quickly.

The menu was quite uninspiring, with the all-too-typical range of ‘street food’ mixed with a selection of burgers, sandwiches and salads.

I went for chicken wings and the oddly-described chorizo and black pudding wontons, while toots wanted something comforting, so chose the kale and bacon macaroni cheese and chorizo spring rolls.

We ordered more booze while we waited for our grub, and wished we were still on holiday.

Glancing round the restaurant, a handful of diners chatted quietly while another couple seemed to be complaining about their food, with the waitress desperately trying to offer them an alternative.

“Oh great.” said Toots, rolling her eyes.

“If this is a sign of things to come, I may as well have another glass of wine or two now.”

Our food eventually arrived and we tucked in.

The Moll’s macaroni cheese was not cheesy, with barely any sauce. The whole thing tasted of garlic in a big stodgy mess.

Bizarrely, my wings came with a paintbrush sitting on the plate, which I presume was to be used for ‘painting on’ my dipping sauce.I gently put it to the side and pretended it wasn’t there.

The chorizo spring rolls went down well with Toots but I wasn’t keen at all - the taste of paprika mixed with Asian flavours didn’t float my boat.

It wasn’t all bad news though. The black pudding and chorizo wontons were a pleasant surprise. Their crispy shell wasn’t overdone, and the filling was exploding with flavour.

For dessert, toots had yet another glass of wine, while I opted for coffee and churros, which came after a bit of a wait, complete with a chocolate orange dipping sauce.

They were pleasant, but nothing special and I finished them feeling less than satisfied with my meal overall.

“I don’t think I’d go back.” said Toots. I agreed.

The Parlour, 28 Vinicombe Street, Glasgow, G12 8BE

0141 560 8004

Small pates:

Kale and Bacon macaroni cheese – £5.00

Chorizo spring rolls – £5.00

Black pudding and chorizo wontons – £5.00

Chicken wings – £4.50

Dessert

Coffee - £2.80

Churros – £4.95

Drinks

2 x Sauvignon – £12.50

2 x Malbec – £16.70

Total: £56.45