Because it was Lesley°s birthday, we thought that we°d have lunch locally to celebrate. So, where to go? I seemed to remember talk of a new Scandinavian restaurant near Borough Market. Sure enough, replacing Petit Robert opposite Neal°s Yard Dairy in Park Street was glas and it°s great!

glas is a sort of Swedish tapas restaurant è that is to say they have what they call the ¿grazing menuî: a list of small (but perfectly formed) dishes, averaging a fiver each, and a recommendation to choose three or four per person. Each dish comes when it°s cooked and the accompanying bread is excellent.

We decided to stick with fish and chose six dishes to share. The first two to arrive were gravadlax, exquisitely presented, and salmon tartar (with salmon roe and asparagus salad). Next came buckwheat crepe with seasonal vegetables and leek sauce and parsley and garlic noodles (like no noodles you have ever seen è strange green shapes, but delicious) with wild mushrooms and spinach. Finally came the roast monkfish and the fish casserole.

I started with a Swedish beer (Spendrups Old Gold), while Lesley got stuck straightaway into the Chilean Merlot (cool and peppery and just right for our fish-dominated meal).

We couldn°t resist the puddings: apple and almond flan with cider ice-cream for me, baked new rhubarb, vanilla pot and oatmeal crumble for Lesley. They were not huge but exactly right for that stage of the meal. We finished with coffee è a large cafetiere and very good.

The whole meal, including a tip, cost £70, but we were indulging ourselves. We°re definitely going back to try the meats on the menu: the reindeer, cabernet sauvignon reduction, sultanas and peashoots sounds tempting, as does the spiced venison, liquorice jus, root vegetables and pickled quince.

Service was friendly and efficient, the ambience is good and the chef insists on getting things just right. They°ve only been open for a month or so and we had no problem getting a table (on a Friday lunchtime) but once the word gets round glas could be very busy indeed. I°d like to keep it a secret, but I also want it to succeed so that we can continue going. A very valuable addition to the good local restaurants that you can walk back home from!

Richard Exton