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Gidi Grill, City Quay, Dundee (42/50)

By Kerry Moores

June 23 2018, 8:00am

This was another week I had the pleasure of visiting one of Dundee’s newest restaurants. We are so lucky that in this time of regeneration, places are popping up all over the place and the Gidi Grill in City Quay offers something a little bit different.

Although I drive past the quay all the time, I rarely pay much attention to the signage and so had missed the opening of the grill. It has a modest shop front facing the car park but the views from the restaurant across the water, taking in the wakeboard centre, are great. This takes people-watching to a new level and I was really disappointed that nobody was out on the water during our lunch. I also made a mental note never to book a wakeboarding lesson at lunchtime for that very reason.

The dining room is fairly small but is alive with character. Real attention has been paid to the detail and quality of the decor. The open kitchen style grill has a corrugated roof protruding from it, giving the impression guests are at a street BBQ. I really liked the simple, stripped back feeling with rustic bare wood and metal. The pictures of the rooftops broken up with purposefully shabby shutters also help with the feeling that customers are actually sat a long way from Dundee.

Every member of staff we came into contact with was just delightful and truly passionate not only about their new venture, but about their customers and getting to know them. We were made to feel not only welcome but important and valued.

The menu, like the music, leans towards the Caribbean and our mouths were watering at the descriptions, mainly due to the smoky, charred, sizzling aromas billowing from the Josper Grill. The grill is obviously the perfect tool for a steak and there is a selection of cuts to choose from but the Gidi menu offers so much more than this.

Although I love a spare rib, I am always nervous about ordering them as a bad plate is so incredibly disappointing either due to lack of meat, too much fat or just because the only flavour is the sauce that has drowned them. There were no down-turned faces after sampling these bad boys. The meat was chunky and had clearly been cooked slowly until meltingly tender before being whacked on the intense grill to bring on the crispy edges. These were good ribs. Really good ribs.

A Caribbean menu wouldn’t be complete without some jerk chicken and we couldn’t resist ordering it. We opted for the fillet of chicken although a full half bird or even a whole jerk poussin was also on offer. The fillet remained moist on the inside despite having been exposed to some serious heat on the outside. The seasoning was pleasingly hot without being overpowering but had that familiar, warming savoury, herby flavour.

Sweet potato fries were our choice of side with this one and they were deliciously crispy, standing up in their cup all on their own unlike some of the limp, soggy varieties often served elsewhere. We had been recommended to try the special home-made Gidi green pepper sauce, which I have thought about a lot since our visit. The colour really was green but the taste so delicious. Although it had a kick, the flavour of the chilli peppers really shone through and I could have sat and eaten it with a spoon.

Because of the smell of the grill tantalising us, I feel as though we played it a bit too safe with our choice of dishes. Now that I have sampled the home-made sauce, I am really keen to go back and try the other house dishes and all the sides such as the rice and peas and fried plantain. The nachos supreme starter that was presented to our neighbouring table just looked so unusually pretty too.

We couldn’t leave without trying the Afro Caribbean Rum Cake although it was a tough call between that and the spicy cacao and chilli brownies. I am trying to abstain from refined sugar but just one bite of this sticky treat left me coming back for more and more. It was a bit like the retro classic rum baba – a sponge-like cake that had been drizzled until almost saturated with a sticky, sugary, booze-spiked sauce. When served with a vanilla ice cream, this dessert will really be a hit with the sweet-toothed clientele.

I thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Gidi Grill and it struck me that for such a little place, they really have a lot to offer. Food can be carried out, there is a special lunchtime menu and the kids’ menu is also great with items such as lollipop chicken with vegetables.

Everywhere I turned, my senses were being treated whether it was the smell of the grill, spotting a new quirky design feature or lingering over the chilli pepper sauce. I truly hope that Gidi gains some loyal customers, it’s a great place for cocktails and food with friends or to take the family. I know I will be returning soon, maybe next time for a plate of Gidi’s Rasta Pasta.