We tried the Spice Bag from Glasgow's Irish Tapas spot and are now converts to this TikTok fave
In recent years, random food and drink favourites from Ireland have followed in the footsteps of the likes of Guinness and Murphy's, Taytos and Club Orange, in becoming favourites over here too.
If you've been on social media of late, you might have come across the most recent Irish institution as it makes waves on TikTok and Instagram thanks to its fusion of Chinese Takeaway snacks.
The spice bag is everywhere, with Irish influencers and tourists harping on about how good they can get, and now they've started to pop up in Glasgow too.
Intrigued, we had to try it out and in the city, there was only one place that was the obvious choice.
Where do you get it and what’s it like?
A twist on a viral takeaway dish that's taking TikTok by storm, 'spice bag' is a Chinese takeaway dish that is an Irish fast food phenomenon. It comes with deep-fried salt and chilli chips, salt and chilli chicken, peppers, onions, and spices served up in foil or paper bag with a side of curry sauce - though some purists will add sweet and sour sauce to this too.
Created in 2010 in Dublin, it's so popular it was voted Ireland’s favourite takeaway dish at the 2020 JustEat Takeaway Awards.
We headed to Irish Kitchen 33, the fun new restaurant on Ashton Lane, that is one of the first major spots in Glasgow to push their version.
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What did you have?
The spice bag was the one thing on our mind, and though we would have loved to have some Potato Boxty, the team confirmed they are set to change up their menu soon - along with a new look that we can't wait to see, and sadly this was one of the sacrifices (we've never been more gutted).
The spice bag is priced at £8, for which you get a pretty meaty portion, delivered in the famous bag alongside a bowl and a wee jug of the curry sauce.
Once we'd poured out the (thankfully) crispy chips and chicken onto the bowl, it was time to pour lashings of curry sauce all over it and man, did it smell good.
The sauce was the milder style you get from any standard Chinese while the salt and chilli chicken chunks were of generous size and covered in spice.
There's a debate here where the double-fried Chinese style chunky salt and chilli chips would have been better and we were expecting both more of the onion slices and the peppers but this was a minor quibble as once we'd had our first forkful we were pretty much soon inhaling the lot.
What else can you get?
So, 33 is set for a transition soon, and it appears they'll be creating a few more versions of the spice bags and we'll let you know when that happens.
Our Verdict?
Could the bag have done with more onions and peppers? You bet.
Could the chicken have been juicier? Probably.
Could the chips have been chunkier rather than the skinny style? Yup.
But, was it worth the money we paid for it? Every. Single. Penny.
Seriously, consider us converts after just one try. The Irish have created another belter here that we are happy is going to become more of a thing over here.
33 have created a cracking treat that we can't wait to go for again. The staff were brilliant and the kitchen knows what they are doing, we'll be back once they launch their new menu and are more than excited to see what other versions of the spice bag they come up with in the future.
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