My dad came to stay with me for the weekend. Not really to see me but rather to see his my gran, his mum, and also to sort out some legal things still lingering after the death of my grandfather, his dad. My gran now lives in a care home, something she always said she didn’t want to do, but when she went there for respite care after an admission to hospital she didn’t want to leave. She absolutely loves it there. Which says something as my gran is very very picky and isn’t afraid to tell you when she doesn’t like something. We had told her in advance that we were going to come to the care home and then get a taxi (so we could get her wheelchair in) to take her out for dinner. She said she wanted lamb chops and I spent some time on the internet trying to find out where might have lamb chops on the menu. Needless to say there weren’t many options and a lot of the online menus were samples so a good chance they would not represent what was on the menu that evening. My dad and I plumped for taking her to The Butterfly and the Pig in Shawlands as it is near the care home and also her old stomping ground.

I had been to the west end Butterfly and Pig a few times before it closed for drinks, but never for food. It was very sleek and modern whereas this had a much more old man pub feel to it. The furniture and decor was all very higgledy-piggledy which I really liked. It looked like it was all reclaimed from charity shops and given a new lease of life. The same went for all the crockery which was mismatched and included a side plate from a dinner service that my parents had when I was little which delighted us all (and my mum and sister when they were sent photographic evidence). The atmosphere was a little lacking when we first arrived. We were eating early to be in keeping with the norm for my gran so we arrived just before 5 and there was no music on. The lights were dimmed and the music started about half way through our meal and this made a huge difference to the atmosphere. The staff were amazing in accommodating us with the wheelchair and were generally very polite and patient with my gran when she took ages about doing thing and generally changed her mind. I was very very impressed with the staff and couldn’t have had a better service at any of the fine dining michelin starred places I have been. They were lovely and seemed to really care about their customers.

The menu is written in a quirky and comedy fashion which again I really liked, but lead to some confusion for my poor gran who’s knocking on 90 this year and didn’t quite get it. My dad and I had to interpret it for her. She saw garlic bread mentioned and she was sold, she wanted that to start. Unfortunately the garlic bread was only listed on the menu as an accompaniment to the lasagne which we told her. But she didn’t listen she just repeated “that will be nice, garlic bread.” I sometimes think she has selective deafness. My dad asked the waiter if it would be possible to have it as a starter and he was like “yeah sure! I will talk to the chef.” They hardly charged us anything for it (£1) and gave her huge slabs of the stuff.

My dad and I both went for salads to start, for him the Cilla Black is back, black pudding, apple, bacon and quails egg (£5.95) and for me the sweet potato and goats cheese (£5.65), my salad was very fresh with a lovely sweet dressing and just the right amount of sweet potato and creamy goats cheese. Scoffed it. My dad also appeared to appreciate his black pudding and quails egg salad ensemble. It certainly looked good.

Both my gran and I ordered the sirloin steak with peppercorn sauce. I went for medium rare and she decided to murder hers with well done (£17.95). The plate was huge, particularly for my poor gran who can normally only polish off a kids portion and had already has a bit of her huge plate of garlic bread (which she couldn’t finish). She really did enjoy it though. Making lots of mmm noises as she devoured what she could. She left a bit of everything, which meant that I had a decent hoard of meat to take back to my furry man (dog) in a napkin. I only left some chips, which were really nicely cooked but just too much to fit in. The peppercorn sauce was beautiful and creamy and not too peppery. I think I pretty much cleared the cup of sauce before I admitted defeat. It was a lovely steak.

My dad went for the Spanish caravan (£11) which was Mediterranean veggies, baked with a sausage and topped with an egg with huge slabs of bread. This was also a big portion size and he thoroughly enjoyed it.

We finished with some coffees and were given a coconutty sweet at the end. My gran had a brilliant time, and so my dad and I were very happy. I cannot compliment the staff enough for their service. They were brilliant. So I would have to say highly recommend!

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