Chompsky

The NOLA style popup event was delicious! I’ve been to New Orleans a few times before and was thoroughly impressed by the Chompsky spread. My husband and I tried everything foodwise on their menu and wished we would have ordered more. The beignets were aaaaaamazing — melted right in your mouth. Tom, one of the owners even took time out of their very busy Saturday night to explain the whole Chompsky mission and popup scheme. He’s a super cool dude that is passionate about food and his work. We had a fabulous time and cannot wait to go to their next popup event!

Dropped in for a feed at the Chompsky & Co Paint Their New Food Truck pop-​up at The Glue Factory last weekend. The toasties all sounded delicious — I plumped for the portobello mushroom, truffled leek and taleggio cheese. It was on good chunky bread and the filling was really rich. I also got to try the avocado, jalapeño and Monteray Jack — well tasty. The cakes were lovely as well — I tried the lemon and lime polenta cake and the brownie. Cool laid back setting, loved the artwork, and the truck was looking great when we left.

I’ve been to some Chompsky events before — first, their American themed desserts (s’mores, blondies. yum!) at Devil’s Deli in Partick, and then the Jamaican themed menu at the Hug and Pint on Great Western Road (goat stew was a highlight) and most recently their Dixieland weekend at the Drury St Popup.
I’d actually been to the Drury St Popup on Thursday before it was Chompsky in running the kitchen, and it was fine, although a little lacking in atmosphere. Fortunately when we returned on Saturday for Dixieland there was a lovely vibe. The music suited the theme perfectly and we appreciated the warm welcome :)
One of my favourite things about Chompsky is the menu and portion sizes — Jonny and I tend to order one of everything, and it’s a perfect amount for two people to share. It’s great to get to try a bit of everything on the menu! It’s also very reasonably priced, our bill came to around £25 with a couple of drinks and Unilocal discount.
Highlights from this event were the oysters (ideal ratio of spinach & cheese crust to oyster) and the perfectly seasoned sweet potato fried wedges with bloody mary chutney.
Near the end of our meal, Jonny received a drawing from Ruaraidh Crighton who was sketching people during their visit — what a fun and unexpected touch! We’ll definitely be going to future Chompsky events, looking forward to the next one at the Glue Factory!

I’ve missed the last couple of Chompsky pop-​ups but this one started on Friday so I was able to make it along. Dixieland is Creole cuisine from the heart of the French Quarter of New Orleans and they’re dishing it up at Drury Street’s pop up space which is actually on Renfield St if you want to get really confused.
The menu is small as you’d expect from a pop-​up: jambalaya, pulled pork po’ boy, oysters and stuffed peppers. I went for the jambalaya — 4 whopping prawns on top of some of the tastiest rice I’ve had in recent memory with a slice of lemon and packed with flavour. At first I thought the portion was a little small but actually, it was perfect and delicious for £6. I also tried some of the sweet potato fries which were nicely caramelised. Yum.
There’s a dessert option too — powdered sugar beignets which I couldn’t resist. For £2.50 you’ll get two and they’re super hot when they arrive and best eaten as quickly as possible. Lovely little pillowy bites of heaven, similar to a donut I guess.
If I wasn’t so lazy, I would totally go back today for their last day of the pop up. You should go along in my place and make me jealous with your photos. I can’t wait to see where Chompsky pop up next time.
Note: 15% off when you check-​in on Unilocal

I was really looking forward to Chompsky! I haven’t been to one of their pop-​ups before but I had time to go to this one and I love Creole food so I couldn’t miss it.
The space was pretty cool, in a kind of hipster way. Tables and seating were recycled wood palettes, with empty burlap coffee sacks to sit on. Ok, maybe a bit more than «kind of» hipster. A pop-​up gallery was running alongside the restaurant, which was pretty cool and we enjoyed moving upstairs after our meal to see a few more pieces. The music matched the scene nicely — mostly jazz and blues with a few other bits and pieces thrown in.
I ordered the shrimp jambalaya and a small glass of white wine. My partner ordered the pulled pork po’ boy, specifying that he didn’t want coleslaw (he hates all things creamy, mayonaisy, yoghurty, etc) and we decided to share a side of the sweet potato wedges.
The jambalaya was great. The rice was perfectly cooked with a generous amount of chorizo in it and the prawns were sweet and succulent. Likewise, the wedges were great and perfectly seasoned and the Bloody Mary chutney they came with was spicy, tangy and delicious. Sadly, my partner’s po’ boy came with coleslaw and a good helping of some sour-​cream based dressing.
Sure, he should probably specified that he didn’t want any other creamy stuff on his food either, but given that they ignored his request for no coleslaw perhaps it wouldn’t have made a difference. We didn’t have tonnes of time so, rather than asking them to go make him a fresh one, he tried to scrape most of it off and he ate what he could. Naturally though, this kind of ruined the meal.
It’s a shame because we’d both been looking forward to it. To me his meal looked great and I’d recommend the po’ boy to anyone else who likes this kind of food but if you have any dietary issues (or any ingredients you just hate) I’d be a bit wary. It’s such a basic thing and I’m sure if we’d had time they would have been happy to fix it but really it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
It hasn’t put me off Chompsky pop-​ups entirely though, because the food is really great. We’ll just hope for better luck with the next one.

Been to a couple of the Chomsky pop ups now, and they’ve all been really good. This time there was a New Orleans feel to it all, although it does seem to change each time (this is a good thing!).
Situated in an off-​shoot of Drury Street, which you get into on Renfield Street, it’s a pretty bare space, but it does have lots of pictures for sale from the gallery upstairs (worth a look) filling up the walls. The one thing to bear in mind is that it doesn’t have a toilet, so you need to go out and round the corner to Drury Street — it’s not a big deal, but it could be a bit annoying in the winter/​rain.
The fairly blank canvas in terms of the location means that Chomsky can let the food do the talking, and this case it has a lot to say. It’s a pretty wee menu, with nothing over £6, and the portion sizes are very much what you expect from the pop up places/​food festivals etc. — I’d factor getting one of the main dishes and a wee side or a dessert, and you’ll be fine. I’d already had lunch, so I didn’t have much, but what I did was brilliant: sweet potato fries that were nice and soft, and serves with a great chutney, and some fantastic doughnuts that were nice and toasty, with the right level of chewiness — definitely something to be enjoyed hot! Other folk I was with had oysters that looked great, and a jambalaya that gave you a good amount of prawns in what wasn’t a huge portion.
Overall, this is definitely something that’s worth popping into, either for the current event or for any in the future. The quality control is always pretty high, and the fact that you get something different every time makes it something you’re quite happy to try each time.

If you see a Chompsky sign/​event pop up make sure you go. The food is simply delicious!
I caught their pop up at the fantastic ‘King of the Breville toastie’ café Peña. They had an excellent choice for a small menu and catered well as Peña has no kitchen, so it’s all in the prep. This was The Breakfast Club so had the choice of fresh pancakes or southern grits. I had never had grits before but the pancakes sounded amazing.
I opted for the wholemeal pancakes, blow-​torched with brown sugar bananas and coconut mascarpone. Oh man it was just heaven. I decided on a wee cheeky mocha from Peña to add to my sweet breakfast. Why not?!
It was a lovely experience and I would definitely look out for another Chompsky event soon.

We went to the Chompsky pop up at Peña this morning for some delicious brunch. I had the grits with corn, spinach and spring onion. The grits were smooth and creamy and the spinach was cooked to perfection. My friend had the pancakes with banana and coconut mascarpone, which also got 2 thumbs up. I had a taste of the coconut mascarpone — so good! The only downside is that my friend wouldn’t let me stay on for the peach melba and frangipane pancakes! There’s always tomorrow…

This is my second time catching a Chompsky pop-​up event, and I’m glad I didn’t miss it! Those pancakes were superb!
I ordered the Chompsky pancakes with peach and marzipan and a choco hazelnut shake by Pena (to cool me off after a tennis lesson under the warm sun). My partner tried the carrot pancake with berries and cream!
The pancakes were DELIGHTFUL! My partner really liked his carrot pancakes, though they were a little on the heavy side for me. My pancakes with peaches were so good though and I much preferred my choice :) delicious!
The shake was so refreshing too! Nothing to complain there :)
It took some time for the guys to prepare the food but I assume it’s cause Pena doesn’t have much space for cooking and they had to improvise a lot which is ok (and props too them). Their friendliness and overall welcoming character also compensated for the slightly long wait.
Will definitely keep going to their pop-​up events!

When we arrived at the pop-​up at Devils Deli I bumped it to the utterly gorgeous Briony and Lynsay for a small impromptu bloggers summit. As soon as I walked up Briony instructed me to get the Peanut Butter and Jelly S’more immediately to try, with B being my Food Soulmate I took this advice very seriously and had one in my hand within a minute.
Boy, where do I even start with this… it was beautiful. Thick gooey peanut butter and tart jelly sandwiched between 2 slightly soft biscuits and served with blow torched marshmallows. Utterly Epic and massive, a great start.
Knowing that I couldn’t manage anything else I got the rest to take away for later.
Next I tried the Orange and Coconut Blonde. The sponge was heavy and dense while staying moist and so flavoursome, with the coconut definitely being the stronger flavour. It was a huge slice and I enjoyed it massively.
The Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownie was probably my least favourite, hey we can’t love everything right? I like a fudgey brownie as much as the next person but for my tastes this was a little too squiqy inside and I never really got the taste of pumpkin from it. Purely personal thing but I was unable to finish the brownie.
I definitely saved the best for last though… the Banana and salted caramel s’more. I don’t know what special powers head chef Felicity has but clearly being able to work out my absolute food porn dreams are one of them. To me this tasty treat was perfection, using the same biscuits as the peanut butter s’more which were slathered with creamy salted caramel, layered with big hunks of banana and then topped with blow torched mallows… it was amazing.
I don’t like raisins so I didn’t get an Oatmeal, raisin and caramelised pecan whoopie pie, but I have heard really great things about it from those who did try it.
An amazingly successful pop up by all account and I am already looking forward to seeing where these little food loving gnomes pop up next.

I was able to sample the Chompsky wares outside Devils Deli in Partick — I tried the salted caramel & banana s’more, the coconut & orange blondie and the pumpkin cheesecake brownie.
The s’more was truly ridiculous. The marshmallows were melted right there in front of me! Managed to get it home and it had it with a coffee. Tremendous.
The blondie had pieces of white chocolate in it which made it pretty special, but the brownie was the one for me — possibly one of the best I’ve had!
Would highly recommend you attend the next Chompsky event. Can’t think of many places doing American-​style baking this good.

Checked out the Chompsky stall outside Devils Deli in Partick on Sunday. Thanks to Unilocal for bringing it to my attention!
They had a small table set up on the street and on offer was American themed sweet, baked goodies. They had S’mores; 2 different types ~ peanut butter & jam or salted caramel and banana. Also on offer were Blondies (coconut & orange) and Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies. Yum. All sounded lovely and all priced at £3.
We went for one each of the P&J and salted caramel & banana s’more (s) and also I couldn’t resist the brownie as I do love a good brownie and cheesecake so combining the 2 is just genius! The s’mores were finished off in front of your eyes with the addition of mini marshmallows and a blow torch. Having never eaten one of these before I was most intrigued… my boyfriend said his P&J one was brilliant and I did like my caramel & banana one but I can’t say a s’more is something I would crave (s’)more of (haha!). The brownie was really good ~ not quite enough of the pumpkin cheesecake in the slice I had but what I had of it was truly delicious. Maybe could’ve done with being a tad more moist, but that’s just my preference.
I am a fan of blondies (being a natural blondie myself, ho ho!) but I prefer the more brownie textured ones as opposed to the cake-​like ones. So I didn’t buy one of these although the combination of cocnut & orange does sound good.
Nice people & lovely eats ~ just what we needed on a Sunday afternoon.

Amazing range of cakes on offer from Chomsky at Devil’s Deli today. I plumped for the peanut butter and jelly. Absolutely delicious. I am so pleased to see another independent business popping up. Spoke to the Chomsky guys today. Lovely people and fantastic baking on offer. Will definitely be looming put for more of their pop ups.

I LOVE korean food. I don’t think that statement even conveys how much I truly love all cuisine of the korean variety. So this event was right up my street.
Firstly, service was excellent — from he bartenders at Booly’s to the guys running the show, they were super chatty and smiley, which is a bonus! As for the food — ooft. They nailed the Deokbeokki, the popcorn chicken was moreish and I loved their home made kimchi. My only gripe was the portion sizes of the mains — they were quite tiny, even in comparison to the starters. I would have appreciated a bit more for my money! Also, my kimchi pot was teeeensy… :(
But growing pains, I’m sure. And it was a great first event — looking forward to the next one!

I’d lived in South Korea for two years and was really excited at the idea of having vegan-​friendly Korean food in Glasgow at this event. And… soju! (A Korean spirit.) Sometimes I’ve bought it from Seewoo (or Lim’s on Cambridge St also have it) but it was good to have it available in a bar. I’ve been to a Korean restaurant in Glasgow on two occasions and once they did a fantastic job on veganising menu dishes for me, and once the idea of putting tofu with vegetables seemed illogical to them. So, hit and miss.
Anyway — I loved the Franco’s Folly cocktail, I’d never had soju with whisky before, I will be again! The potato tornado was tasty and crispy, the kimbap was good, rice was nice (I love sesame flavourings), and the ddukbokki (rice cakes and veg) was delicious. I would have liked a slightly bigger portion as a ‘main’, though. Usually this comes in a sauce made with fish in Korea, and it’s been years since I’ve had it, so this was a big highlight. It had the right amount of hotness for me in that I needed water to drink with it. Koreans like their food h-​o-​t spicy and has caused me a number of embarrassing coughing fits in the past! It would have been nice if the romanisation of the Korean names of the dishes had been on the menu in brackets next to the food descriptions, just for a bit of authenticity.
I’m looking forward to seeing what other events Chomsky’s do next. I recommend getting there early as we got there around 5pm and had to wait for a bit to get seated and the venue weren’t taking reservations (and it was our fault for taking so long to get there as I had planned to go along for 1pm!).