Influenced by the cooking of Southeast Asia, Ka Pao Glasgow is located in the heart of Glasgow’s West End in the sprawling basement of the iconic, Category A-listed Botanic Gardens Garage, just off Byres Road. The name Ka Pao derives from the Thai word for Holy Basil, and a passion for the techniques and flavours of southeast Asian cooking is central to Ka Pao’s style, with a regularly-changing menu that honours the team’s time living and travelling throughout the region.
The kitchen team is led by Executive Chef Sandy Browning who has been at Ka Pao’s helm since its inception as a pop-up residency in Glasgow’s SWG3.
The menu unites the very best of UK produce with ingredients, flavour combinations and cooking techniques gleaned from the team’s travels and experiences working in Northern Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, as well as from sampling the uniquely knit Asian influences found in Australia’s modern cuisine. Signature dishes include corn ribs with salted coconut, shrimp and lime; Ka Pao’s own recipe grilled pork and bone marrow sausage; and best-selling fried chicken, fish sauce caramel and pickled banana chillies.
Of the menu, Browning says: “It’s a collection of dishes we love to cook and eat. We’re not trying to replicate any particular regional cuisine but I think it’s clear where our influences have shaped the food we cook. Our inspiration really comes from the ingredients we’re using. Scottish and Southeast Asian food both have their own distinct vocabularies and what’s most fun for me is finding where they cross over. Figuring out how a familiar dish comes apart and applying its technique and seasoning to something readily available to us like lamb, venison or even neeps and sprouts.”
A specially chosen sharing menu for groups of 4 or more offers a feast fit for the famished, as well as a great value lunch menu offering 4 lunch plates for £17.50. A bespoke cocktail menu combines clean citrus flavours with spice, as in the long pepper penicillin or palm sugar and cassia old fashioned. If not in the mood for cocktails, large format sharing beers, and a selection of wines have all been chosen to compliment the spicy and sweet, aromatic and funky flavours of the menu.
