Rajous

So, you’ve been for a fancy dinner at Stravaigin and are heading home for a quiet night in, but of course, you need some wine.
That’s how we ended up at Rajous — I’ve never been into this corner shop before and I’ve got to say, nothing about it stood out to make it any different from every other corner shop in Glasgow. Well, apart from the price of wine. I’d already had a few drinks so I wasn’t that fussed on what I got — thankfully, because the selection here isn’t great. The wine I got was at least £2 overpriced which is why this is only a 3 star review.
Other than wine, it has the usual corner store selection and service was pretty friendly.

I think old Raj is getting a bit of an unfair press here. In my countless visits to this fine establishment I’ve found him to be nothing but cheerful, and while his prices are a bit higher than your average supermarket, that’s to be expected for an independant convenience store in the West End.
The hot food window at the back is a nice touch, and is wonderfully disorganised in a manner I find quite comical. There’s nothing quite like a crispy bacon and black pudding roll to set you up for the rest of the day. Comprehensive selection of magazines as well.

Rajous the newsagent does have it’s faults — but it does provide a fairly decent alternative for lunch to the Gregg’s a few doors down.
Although I’ve never been tempted by the selection of fairly sad looking sandwiches and wraps, they do have a section at the back of the store that serves hot food. This includes soups, hot rolls, paninis and toasties. The hot food isn’t too expensive, but the woman who serves it does seem a bit spaced sometimes and it can take you a good five minutes to explain to her what you want to eat (trust me, I’ve seen it…)
I generally go for the soup, which is fine as long as you SAY NO when she asks if you want pepper. Otherwise half a pepper pot will be tipped into the top of your styrofoam soup cup and it will be rendered uneatable (trust me, I’ve tasted it…)

Now see, I still have a soft spot for Rajous as a newsagent because it was one of my high school lunchtime haunts (it saved me clogging my arteries on the food in the kebab shop two doors down, that’s for sure).
I’d agree with what one girl said — the sandwiches are a bit of a grim culinery experience. They’re the cheap ones that a lot of newsagents do where the meat looks a bit lurid… but this grocers offers a bit extra, such as hot food in the morning — instant hangover cure! I really hope the owner hasn’t beomce a bit of a grumpypants as has been suggested because he’s always been super nice to me, and he remembers me and my pals from schooldays which is welcoming!
The booze is expensive, but so is everything in the recent economic downturn, so I guess you have to suck it up. It’s handy having an offy if you’re staying in the fairly new neighbouring student halls. And since this is student junction, I’m sure people take advantage of the fact Rajous has a license.
I still stay faithful to Rajous. It might not be the cheapest in some areas but then no one can be as bad as R S McColl in my eyes and it’s a pound for a Crème Egg these days, anyway. So if you’re skint, get a packet of 20p crisps and shut yer face. This guy’s bacon rolls have scared away my hangovers so I’ll fight this shop’s corner!

Raju’s Newsagent is a Gibson Street institution that continues to draw in punters despite being grotesquely overpriced. It stocks all manner of expensive items from rubbish wine at three for ten pounds to poor quality sandwiches. Now that I think about it the price of alcohol is actually shocking. I once attempted to buy a bottle of wine that I have seen sold for £3 (yes I am a classy girl) and to my utter horror it was £4.50. Naturally I politely declined and walked to a nearby off-​licence.
The price of everything is inflated. A small size Goodfellas Pizza will set you back about £3 while some breakfast cereal will cost you the fine sum of £2.50 plus. The staff are also quite rude. I was once told not to read a newspaper. A fair enough point if I had just walked in but I had done some (expensive) shopping and was briefly looking at the headlines.
A shop best avoided if you can, even if they do play some excellent background music.