“The History of the Duck Club:
“the ducks of partick quake with fear, crying lord preserve us, here’s mcTear”.
All Day Breakfast Menu / Lunch & Dinner All Day Menu
Score: 19/20
Why: although I haven’t yet had the opportunity to visit for dinner I’m confident PDC is worthy of 19/20 across all meal times; their stellar service, food, atmosphere and coffees at brunch time are too good not to be mirrored across the board. The owners are friendly and heavily invested in their business being a success, so how can it not be when their commitment to ensuring every customer’s experience is excellent is paramount?
You’ve got to be quacking mad if Partick Duck Club isn’t in your top places of ‘must go NOW’ brunch spots in Glasgow! I’ve seen numerous photos all across Instagram and beyond for the last few months, which has had me eager as a beaver to plan a mate date brunch here. They do brunch all day, every day – does this not make all your dreams come true?! This weekend, my fervent anticipation has finally culminated in the BEST brunch, featuring Orkney crab. Now anything with shellfish generally means I’ll love it, but PDC truly has taken the wonderful and delicate flavour of tantalising Scottish crab and transcended it beyond any normal expectations with crème fraiche, avocado, sourdough toast, a poached duck egg and a smattering of choice garnishes. However, I’m getting ahead of myself as I didn’t just dive head first into a plate of crab on toast upon entering (even though this sounds like the aforementioned dream plus infinity when it comes to dreaminess).
The mirrored wall inside, viewed as you enter, gives the impression that the place is bigger than it actually is. I can’t decide if it’s a shame it isn’t bigger than originally expected, as more people should be able to experience the wonder of their fare, or a good thing, as the smaller size means it maintains a sense of intimacy. The mirror serves a dual purpose of reflecting the natural light and the subtle tones of blue allude to the duck egg colour theme that comes through throughout the restaurant, which I’m assuming is the intention. The booths are leather and blue tartan and the empty glass bottles lined up along the window sill are a noticeable feature. My friend and I were seated at one of the tables for two along the mirrored wall. I love the burnished brass effect salt and pepper grinders and the duck decorated china sugar bowl; all little touches that bring a smile to your face before you’ve even sampled the food!
My friend, being slightly hungover, decided she was having the Eggs Benedict and a portion of the salted duck fat chips (have you ever heard of a better idea… chips WITH your Benedict?!), and I ordered the hummus, pine nuts, tomato, sourdough from the Nibbles Menu and Potted Orkney Crab with crème fraiche, apple and radish starter, which isn’t on their online menu but you can see a photo of it on their Instagram: @partickduckclub. The staff were attentive, friendly and polite – and not even a grumble from them when Ms Fussy Pants here decided she wanted to change her original order… I’d seen the crab on toast waltz by and decided I wanted that A LOT more than the potted crab, ha! So they allowed me to swap the potted crab starter for the Orkney crab on sourdough brunch option I mentioned above. My friend ordered an orange juice as well, which only came in a small glass, so she probably could have been doing with a bit more… I can chug a whole carton when hungover, but she remained ladylike and proper; sipping only a little at a time (she’s a better woman than I – I clearly lack self-control around fresh orange after a night out).
Our food arrived in a decent time, and it was a delight for the eyes! The garnishes they use to decorate the food and the plates are used smartly; they lift the dishes from simply pleasant to engaging, colourful and eye-catching. It’s been proven we eat with our eyes first, and taste buds later, hence why the Instagram culture is so embedded in our food pleasures nowadays, thus PDC have ensured they deliver on this extremely important factor first to grab your attention. I love the light blue colour of the plates, as the contrast of the food on them looks fantastic.
My combination of flavours was fresh, zingy, spicy with the hint of chilli and creamy from the avocado. It’s the best brunch meal I’ve had in a long time! I can’t recommend highly enough, and the hummus was edging close to being as tasty as Paradise hummus (I measure all hummus against Paradise hummus, as it’s the best in the city – in my opinion). Having the hummus was probably a bit much, but it would have been a nice extra if I’d stuck with the lighter option starter. The micro herbs, finely diced tomato and pine nuts were a welcome textural addition. Christine, my friend, thoroughly enjoyed her Eggs Benedict, and proceeded to dip some of her chips into the hollandaise sauce. Some of the best ideas are born from hangovers, I’m sure of it! I helped finish her chips, because that’s what friends are for after all, and I can confirm they were scrumptious.
I finished off with a coffee, decorated with a pretty fern – well done coffee maker! And the total bill came to around £36 for everything, which I felt was pretty reasonable considering the portion sizes and the quality of ingredients.
Further dishes from my visit with Jonathan in August 2018:
duck leg & nduja hash, fried duck egg, sour cream, sourdough
mushroom duxelle, portobello mushroom, goats cheese cream on sourdough
potted orkney crab – crème fraiche, chilli, lime & apple, sourdough crisp
Links below to the menus:
