Al Dente

Al Dente is still one of the best and most consistently good Italian restaurants in Glasgow. I’ve been coming here now for about 5 years and so I though it would be right to let everyone know that the food is as great as ever.
Al Dente is a little hidden away, on Stockwell Street, but I would urge anyone who likes a good, proper Italian meal to search it out.
The specialities are still very much the fish dishes as Costanzo the Chef is from the wonderful island of Capri, a place famed for its seafood. Front of house is his wife Phyllis who ensure diners are well looked after and charms people with her great chat!
Despite the focus on fish, fear not fish loathers as there are plenty of excellent non fish dishes to choose from. Ranging from veggie to meaty. Rustic pasta dishes like Spaghetti sciue’ sciue’ (simply just good olive oil, garlic and chilli), or Casarecci con zucchini, brilliant, simple and really tasty. Al Dente also do a mean steak or Saltimbocca Alla Romana to satify meat fans!
So next time you have a hankering for Italian food and you’re in town, do not hesitate to give this place a visit. Go hunt it out I highly recommended it!

They do some seriously delicious Italian food here, but there’s a few little reasons I can’t give this 5 stars.
First up, the location. Well, that’s not actually a reason it’s a 4 rather than 5 star. But it’s an odd location and even though I spend a lot of time in this area (I usually park at King St Car Park when going into town) I’d never seen this restaurant. That being said, it is handy that there’s a big car park right nearby — and if you’re visiting for dinner, the on-​street parking in the area is free after 6pm.
The décor reminds me of a hotel restaurant and could do with an update. We were seated in a booth near the door which meant it was a little breezy with people coming and going.
Onto the positives. There’s a two course pre theatre menu for £12.50 but I ended up ordering off the a la carte menu as I preferred the options on there and it wasn’t too much more expensive. I ordered the Parmigiana di melanzane (£4.90) — grilled aubergine with mozzarella, basil, tomato and Parmesan. This was just delicious — I mean, it’s got aubergine so of course I was going to love it, but I couldn’t fault this dish. The aubergine was perfectly cooked and smothered in oozy cheese. I’d love to have this as a main, it was that good.
For my main I ordered the pappardelle con porcini (£9.90) which is in the «specialities» section of the menu. This was a simple dish, with delicious pasta and a smattered of mushrooms. I would have liked a little bit of a mushroom sauce but they were served whole, although it was still a lovely, silky pasta dish.
I didn’t fancy dessert and we sat and nattered for a while. It did take a couple of goes to get the bill delivered to our table, and some of the service was a little gruff. The service combined with the «meh» décor mean it was more of a 4 star experience for me, but that’s not to say I wouldn’t go back.

I’d been planning on heading along to try out Al Dente for ages after a glowing recommendation of it from Rocco G, and finally decided to go the other night and absolutely loved it.
Colin and I went along relatively late, so the restaurant was incredibly quiet which made the speed of service absolutely incredible. The staff were very welcoming upon arrival and took the drinks order right away (the Pinot Grigio is to die for!)
After perusing the menu for a bit, and seeing at least 25 dishes I wanted to order, 7 finally settled on a layered aubergine dish to start with, and a mushroom pappardelle for my main. Colin went with the minestrone (his test of a good Italian restaurant (he said it was the best he’d tasted)), and a chicken pasta dish for his main.
The food was brought out quickly and efficiently, and was absolutely gorgeous. It’s difficult for an Italian place to impress me as they tend to a very samey, but Al Dente definitely broke the mould and delivered hugely on food and service.
For desserts I had a panna cotta and Colin had a toffee ice cream shell type dish, both of which were delicious.
After the meal we were the only people in the restaurant, and so had a lovely chat with one of the owners which went on for about 20 minutes. ‘Twas lovely to hear about her passion and her love of the food.
If you’re looking for an Italian place to try out in the city centre, you definitely have to try here. Will definitely be back!

More people should know about this restaurant. Owners and staff are a fantastic, refreshing and attentive difference than your general ‘Get ‘em in, get ‘em out’ routines you find all over the city.
The food is way above par and I have been a regular customer for the past few years and I would recommend this place to anyone with a passion for Italian food.
Forget your Jamie’s overpriced and underwhelming menus.
The set menus here are easy, simple and give you a varied selection of classic Italian grub.
Best in the city… by far