Watch: Inside the small plate pizza and pasta menu at Assaggini on George Square

It can be difficult enough choosing between pizza toppings or pasta sauces when visiting an Italian restaurant, but making a decision between these base dishes is an even greater tragedy, eliminating one from the occasion and missing out on a bit of the experience. A new premise has recently opened on the South Eastern block of George Square counteracting this tradition and catering a concept that permits both. 

Assaggini is the second of its kind in Glasgow, a small plate pizza and pasta venue, the first having opened on Byres Road earlier this year. While diners can share dishes between a group, they are portioned in a way that individuals can enjoy two or three to themselves, allowing opportunity to explore the menu in a manner of situations. The restaurant worked with East End brewery WEST to design each offering, with every item paired to a beer.

Situated within a sandstone Victorian facing the Square, its interior is bright and bold - reds, pinks and yellows, displayed against monochrome similar in style to a modern New York eatery. The space holds a 150-capacity and when this is filled there is quite an atmosphere. There is also a downstairs mezzanine with room for entertainers.

We spoke to General Manager Panos Dimou on the restaurant’s launch: “We’ve been open for a month almost, only launching officially last week with a big party. The concept 13 fresh pastas, 13 pinsa-style pizzas and 13 beers, all coming from WEST brewery. That makes us the only venue outside of the brewery to actually host the whole range of beers. 

“Most of our pastas are egg-based and our pizzas are 48 hour proven sourdough, so that gives a lot of extra flavours, it gives the dough time to showcase its profile. Assaggini means small Italian dish share so the concept is to get a bit more of all your favourite dishes.

“The whole range of beers is paired to match an individual dish, and a non-alcoholic beer can also match each of the dishes. So based on the profile of the beer, the type of the malt or the barley used, you can match it with the flavours of the pizzas or the pastas.”