Nola Soul: Bringing the American South to Govanhill
Nola Soul is a brand new authentic Southern-style restaurant on Victoria Road. We sampled some of the food from the latest edition to Govanhill’s vibrant food scene so you don’t have to. Read on to find out more about the new spot, what’s on offer and what's to come.
Words, video and photos by Devon McCole
Newly opened at 72 Victoria Road, the site where Nanika once was, sits Nola Soul, the Southside’s brand new, Southern-style restaurant and takeaway.
The restaurant, which is easily recognised by its clean white store-front and funky hand-painted sign, opened its doors on May 27. The new joint is expected to be open almost everyday of the week from 2pm to 10pm, except on Mondays.
We met with the owners, Matthew Major (28) and Ryan Wood (28), to discuss the inspiration behind Nola Soul and to sample some of their unique dishes.
Both have culinary backgrounds as well as being friends. Matthew developed a love for Southern-style food after past visits to America. So, the foodies decided to pair-up and bring the unique taste of the American South home to Glasgow’s Southside.
The name NOLA is taken from the acronym for the city of New Orleans in Louisiana. NOLA is often affectionately used for the culturally significant city, which is well known for exceptional food.
As the name Nola Soul suggests, the staff are inspired by the soulful and hearty traditional dishes originating from the city of New Orleans and the wider State of Louisiana. However, the pair were keen to share their Scottish twists on some of the classic Southern recipes, as Matthew explains:
“We had to get creative and change some of the traditional ingredients out of necessity. So things like crayfish and collard greens are the traditional ingredients you’ll typically hear being used in these Southern-style dishes, but both are obviously not native to Scotland. Instead we use ingredients like ‘shrimp’ or prawns and greens like kale.”
Greater Govanhill went along to find out more….
On arrival, diners are presented with two different menus, one was entirely vegan/veggie and the other included options with meat, seafood and dairy. The owners told us they really wanted to make sure that catering to the needs of everyone was not just an afterthought. They wanted the flavour palates and textures of the dishes to remain as similar as possible on both menus so anyone can enjoy the taste of the American South when they visit.
Once given the menus we were quickly offered a glass of Nola’s very own, freshly homemade lemon ice-tea. The iconic Southern beverage certainly went down easy in the summer sun that shone through the big, store-front window of the restaurant.
We also sampled the veggie option of fried okra (aka lady’s fingers) with the original blue cheese dip and the Southern-style kale, which was enjoyed alongside a freshly baked ‘biscuit’ – this traditional Southern delight is best described as a savoury scone and is usually paired with sausages and gravy (also available on the Nola Soul menus).
The food we sampled, which was the smaller and more affordable (£3.50) plates of food, was very tasty and incredibly filling. And, unlike food from other mainstream Southern-style food chains like KFC or Buck’s Bar, the cuisine seemed to be genuinely authentic and varied with plenty of healthier options on offer.
The menus are likely to change over time as the owners explore new recipes, but for now, customers can look out for the changing daily specials. The flavoured ice-tea is also likely to change every so often as they experiment with other fruity and botanical blends.