Dining out: The Flying Scotsman

I'll just say it straight off: I'm delighted by The Flying Scotsman, a new pub-style eatery that recently opened on 1300 East near the University of Utah.

I spent a year living in Great Britain in the 1990s, traveling through England, Scotland and Wales, and eating in not a few pubs and mom-and-pop restaurants. The Flying Scotsman forcefully reminded me of the good ones, with its comfortable, green-and-gold interior and snug back room with a fire warming a recent rainy weekday.

The place's amiability also is channeled from the best of Britain's own pubs, with smiling service and anxious inquiries about our meals. And the food — well, let's say that in Britain, pub food can be one of two things, just like bar food in these parts: horrid, warmed-over pre-made nastiness; or simple, homemade, comforting goodness. Guess which one The Flying Scotsman delivers.

A word about that goodness: it's largely of a gravy-drizzled and deep-fried nature. There are salads on the menu at The Flying Scotsman, but it almost seems wrong to order something so garden-like in a place that, by and large, could have been plucked by that giant hand in "Monty Python's Flying Circus" from an Edinburgh street and plunked down in Salt Lake City. Trust me: If there's one thing the Brits know, it's gravy and frying.

We started with the Highlander Cheese Fling, one of the more British appetizers on a menu that also includes twists on American classics such as wings and onion rings. The cheese fling is a fat little Brie wheel baked in a pastry shell, drizzled with tart, seedy raspberry sauce and accompanied by thin wedges of Granny Smith apple and warm crusty bread. I probably don't even have to tell you it was delicious.

There are menu items for "wee folks," and our host welcomed the kids with coloring pages and crayons, little puzzles and a squeaky toy for our 10-month-old to bring home.

The kids had the child-size fish and chips, a delicious piece of white fish in crackly breading and a pile of those breaded "British-style" chips. In a year in Britain, traveling up and down the country, I rarely ate those. Real chips, fried quickly in very hot oil, are more like steak fries or potato wedges, only better. I wish The Flying Scotsman did 'em that way, but the chips they have taste fine.

My husband zeroed in on the shepherd's pie, and he was glad he did. It's the basic model — simply seasoned ground beef in light gravy, a few veggies for flavor, red-skin herbed mashed potatoes piped on top — but that's not a bad thing. In fact, it's great. If you're a fan of this classic comfort food, check it out.