Address: 321 Hope Street
Website: www.cafehula.co.uk
I have been a bit tardy with this review because it hurts me. I can't write the glowing review that I imagined I would before our visit last Sunday.
It started off well, K picked me up post gym and we got parked right outside, a very good start. Then V and M joined us, we got a good table. I got a latte and k got tea, everything was going sweet.
The menu says brunch to 1130 and it was 1145 so we had a wee panic but the waiter assured us brunch is on all day, so back to the happiness.
I love Cafe Hula it is so cosy and their nighttime food is good, i highly recommend the chickpea and chorizo stew, good times. This was my first daytime visit.
I ordered scrambled eggs with bacon and toast (£4.75), k went for french toast with bacon & maple syrup (£4.95), v and m both went for the make your own omlette , v with patatas bravas and spinach and m with just patatas bravas (£5.50 and £5) then we just settled down for some chat.
A few minutes later I saw the waiter sit out 2 plates and put side salad on them for the omlettes, fine i thought until another plate appeared 5 minutes later with toast on it, that better not be my toast i though. The toast then sat there for 15 minutes before scrambled eggs and bacon joined it. I mean how hard is it to provide people with hot toast? It wasnt even very busy so that isnt an excuse, it really dampened my, previously all positive, feelings for the place.
I'm a pussy so i didnt send it back, yes i know i should have but i just dont operate that way. Anyway the toast was thick so didnt go that hard way that normal toast goes, the scrambled eggs were amazing which makes it even sadder that the toast was rubbish and the bacon was served crispy, which was nice. K loved her french toast even though a bit of it was a bit burnt. V and M really liked their omlettes too but V found hers to be a bit oiley, she was left with an oiley puddle on her plate but M wasnt. I mean patatas bravas in an omlette is a genius idea, i would have paired it with chorizo but M is a veggie and V didnt fancy it, the fool!
So all in all if my toast had been warm it would be a really good review, I love the decor and the chilled atmosphere but I really think that it is the little things that matter and if that is going wrong what else is or is going to?!
Sunday, 10 February 2008
Sunday, 27 January 2008
Sun 27/1 Tribeca
Address: 102 Dumbarton Road (just at the bottom of Byres Road)
Website: none but you can see the menu at http://www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/show.php?contentid=569 or phone 0141 576 0122
The name comes from Tribeca an area in downtown Manhattan, and I love brunch in New York so expectations were high when I first came here. Tribeca is styled on the New York cafes that I love and is one of my favourite places for brunch, when I think brunch Tribeca is the first place that I think of.
Me and my sis arrived at about half 10 this morning and were told that it was going to be about a 40min wait for food as 2 big groups had just arrived, this was fine by us as we were in no rush but if you want a quick brunch (surely a cardinal sin) this might not be the venue for you.
I ordered a chai latte and my sis ordered a pineapple juice and a soy cappuccino. The latte was huge and had a drizzle of honey on top, I consider myself something of a chai connoisseur and the ones in Tribeca are for my money the best you can get in Glasgow (and better than any i've ever had in London). The cappuccino and pineapple juice were also well received.
My sis ordered the veg breakfast (£6.90) and I ordered the ciabatta with 2 sausages (£2.50) with a side of hash browns (cheeky). What I love about Tribeca is that you can get a really nice brunch for not much money. I could have had my sausages on either Bagel, Croissant or Ciabatta and they are all huge and there are various combinations available.
Tribeca's brunch speciality is eggs, they do eggs every which way and however you want them you get loads, the breakfast comes with 3 eggs, 3 fricking eggs! The omelets are made with 5 and they're served with toast, you are not leaving this place hungry.
The food arrived and my sausages were great, meaty and nicely herbed, the ciabatta was also great - not too crunchy and nice and airy and the hash browns were certainly not the kind you get in McDonalds. My sis's veggie breakfast consisted of 2 veggie sausages, mushrooms, a huge mountain of scrambled eggs, 2 hash browns, tomato and 2 slices of thick toast (no beans though, I suppose that is authentically New York but I love beans!). She wolfed down the mushrooms in about 5 seconds so I guess that they were good. She gave a positive review of everything else but ended up leaving a sausage and quite a lot eggs, so much food that she was beaten - this doesnt happen very often.
I've been to Tribeca many times and between me and my friends we have had most of the brunch menu, we've never been disappointed but my sis give particular mention to the eggs florentine. My advice is take the Sunday paper with you and enjoy the wait.
(I also have to mention the toilet, in itself nothing special but the decor is fantastic, a graffiti style mural of yellow cabs and various new york landmarks with a quote at the top - awesome)
Website: none but you can see the menu at http://www.glasgowwestend.co.uk/show.php?contentid=569 or phone 0141 576 0122
The name comes from Tribeca an area in downtown Manhattan, and I love brunch in New York so expectations were high when I first came here. Tribeca is styled on the New York cafes that I love and is one of my favourite places for brunch, when I think brunch Tribeca is the first place that I think of.
Me and my sis arrived at about half 10 this morning and were told that it was going to be about a 40min wait for food as 2 big groups had just arrived, this was fine by us as we were in no rush but if you want a quick brunch (surely a cardinal sin) this might not be the venue for you.
I ordered a chai latte and my sis ordered a pineapple juice and a soy cappuccino. The latte was huge and had a drizzle of honey on top, I consider myself something of a chai connoisseur and the ones in Tribeca are for my money the best you can get in Glasgow (and better than any i've ever had in London). The cappuccino and pineapple juice were also well received.
My sis ordered the veg breakfast (£6.90) and I ordered the ciabatta with 2 sausages (£2.50) with a side of hash browns (cheeky). What I love about Tribeca is that you can get a really nice brunch for not much money. I could have had my sausages on either Bagel, Croissant or Ciabatta and they are all huge and there are various combinations available.
Tribeca's brunch speciality is eggs, they do eggs every which way and however you want them you get loads, the breakfast comes with 3 eggs, 3 fricking eggs! The omelets are made with 5 and they're served with toast, you are not leaving this place hungry.
The food arrived and my sausages were great, meaty and nicely herbed, the ciabatta was also great - not too crunchy and nice and airy and the hash browns were certainly not the kind you get in McDonalds. My sis's veggie breakfast consisted of 2 veggie sausages, mushrooms, a huge mountain of scrambled eggs, 2 hash browns, tomato and 2 slices of thick toast (no beans though, I suppose that is authentically New York but I love beans!). She wolfed down the mushrooms in about 5 seconds so I guess that they were good. She gave a positive review of everything else but ended up leaving a sausage and quite a lot eggs, so much food that she was beaten - this doesnt happen very often.
I've been to Tribeca many times and between me and my friends we have had most of the brunch menu, we've never been disappointed but my sis give particular mention to the eggs florentine. My advice is take the Sunday paper with you and enjoy the wait.
(I also have to mention the toilet, in itself nothing special but the decor is fantastic, a graffiti style mural of yellow cabs and various new york landmarks with a quote at the top - awesome)
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Sun 20/1 Pop Deli and Cafe
Address: 657 Great Western Road
Website: Doesn't have one but call 0141 339 3400
The day started with indecision, to try out brunch at this new Pop place my sister told me about or to go to Tribeca cos I need to get it on here? We decided on Tribeca cos it is closer and we are lazy. We got there and it was packed, me and my sis got a seat at the window but were told that it might be up to half an hour for food. We decided to get a drink there and then go to Pop - the Gods had spoken.
We picked up k and v en route but we arrived at Pop and it was full, it does only have 3 tables so not a great shock. My sister wasnt very happy but we spotted some people were leaving so we went to Lupe Go Lightly a few doors down and had a poke about then returned to a table.
The first thing you notice about pop is that it is teeny, but it is perfectly formed. It has amazing paintings on the wall (see pic) and an abundance of cakes sitting out. Anyway, we took our seats which were very nice and perused the menu. I decided pretty quickly on cheesey beanos (£3), V went for the porridge, fresh berries and honey without the honey (£2.10), K went for the breakfast but only had bacon, eggs and beans (full breakfast includes sausage and toast too and is £4.50) and my sis went for poached eggs on a bagel (not on the menu but poached eggs on toast is £2.90). We were told just to take any cold drinks from the fridge so I had a Capri Sun, V had Diet Coke and my sis and K both had water. There is an extensive hot drinks menu and it is reasonably priced, they also do things like a virgin mary and smoothies.
As we waited for our food we discussed our surroundings and all agreed that we loved the look of the place, lots of nice touches like a Glo Gnome (from nearby lupe go lightly i assume) as the lamp on the table. And as I said we were literally surrounded by baked goods.
I noticed that it said on the menu that all breads are organic and that the teas and coffees are fairtrade/organic, happy days indeed.
The food arrived and we were all happy, the yolks were hard on the poached eggs which my sister wasnt overjoyed about, but then K was happier that way, I wondered if they were microwaved poached eggs (they only offer poached or scrambled eggs). My cheesy beanos were great, nothing fancy about them just toast, heinz style beans and a good amount of cheese, it was a good time. V was very happy with her porridge which came heaped with fresh fruit, blueberries being a particular hit. K even ate her beans which she rarely does. My sis said that her bagel was lovely so 4 happy faces and 4 clean plates.
We decided that we had to sample the cakes as that was clearly where the passion was. My sister had had the chocytastic homemade raspberry brownie (£3) the day before and gave it 2 thumbs but decided on the homemade empire biscuit (£1.50) this time, K and V were stuffed but decided to half an empire biscuit and I went for the apple pie (i cannot resist an apple based snack), with cream (£2.50, or with ice cream £3). They had run out of cream but gave me it with ice cream for the with cream price, great service. My pie was delish and the portion was huge, I spent the rest of the afternoon regretting stuffing it all in but it was so good. The empire biscuit went down very well, I suspect that K and V regretted halfing one.
So all in all very good brunch, we will most definitely be back.
Website: Doesn't have one but call 0141 339 3400
The day started with indecision, to try out brunch at this new Pop place my sister told me about or to go to Tribeca cos I need to get it on here? We decided on Tribeca cos it is closer and we are lazy. We got there and it was packed, me and my sis got a seat at the window but were told that it might be up to half an hour for food. We decided to get a drink there and then go to Pop - the Gods had spoken.
We picked up k and v en route but we arrived at Pop and it was full, it does only have 3 tables so not a great shock. My sister wasnt very happy but we spotted some people were leaving so we went to Lupe Go Lightly a few doors down and had a poke about then returned to a table.
The first thing you notice about pop is that it is teeny, but it is perfectly formed. It has amazing paintings on the wall (see pic) and an abundance of cakes sitting out. Anyway, we took our seats which were very nice and perused the menu. I decided pretty quickly on cheesey beanos (£3), V went for the porridge, fresh berries and honey without the honey (£2.10), K went for the breakfast but only had bacon, eggs and beans (full breakfast includes sausage and toast too and is £4.50) and my sis went for poached eggs on a bagel (not on the menu but poached eggs on toast is £2.90). We were told just to take any cold drinks from the fridge so I had a Capri Sun, V had Diet Coke and my sis and K both had water. There is an extensive hot drinks menu and it is reasonably priced, they also do things like a virgin mary and smoothies.
As we waited for our food we discussed our surroundings and all agreed that we loved the look of the place, lots of nice touches like a Glo Gnome (from nearby lupe go lightly i assume) as the lamp on the table. And as I said we were literally surrounded by baked goods.
I noticed that it said on the menu that all breads are organic and that the teas and coffees are fairtrade/organic, happy days indeed.
The food arrived and we were all happy, the yolks were hard on the poached eggs which my sister wasnt overjoyed about, but then K was happier that way, I wondered if they were microwaved poached eggs (they only offer poached or scrambled eggs). My cheesy beanos were great, nothing fancy about them just toast, heinz style beans and a good amount of cheese, it was a good time. V was very happy with her porridge which came heaped with fresh fruit, blueberries being a particular hit. K even ate her beans which she rarely does. My sis said that her bagel was lovely so 4 happy faces and 4 clean plates.
We decided that we had to sample the cakes as that was clearly where the passion was. My sister had had the chocytastic homemade raspberry brownie (£3) the day before and gave it 2 thumbs but decided on the homemade empire biscuit (£1.50) this time, K and V were stuffed but decided to half an empire biscuit and I went for the apple pie (i cannot resist an apple based snack), with cream (£2.50, or with ice cream £3). They had run out of cream but gave me it with ice cream for the with cream price, great service. My pie was delish and the portion was huge, I spent the rest of the afternoon regretting stuffing it all in but it was so good. The empire biscuit went down very well, I suspect that K and V regretted halfing one.
So all in all very good brunch, we will most definitely be back.
Monday, 31 December 2007
Sun 30/12 - Mr Singh's
Address - 149 Elderslie Street
Website - www.harlequinrestaurants.com/restaurants/mister_singhs.php
Something a bit different, not your traditional brunch but they do have a weekend brunch menu and i'm not one for restricting myself in terms of food types.
Again this was a late one, we arrived about 330 but according to their website weekend brunch runs from 2.30-5pm on a Sunday (from 12pm on a Sat) so we were in pretty good time for it. The reason for our visit was that K had been craving Chicken Malaidar for about a week and was beginning to annoy me by talking about it all the time.
So we arrived and the kilted waiters (their trademark) took us to a table away from the door, a good start. They also took our drink order pretty quickly and were generally really friendly. As I said on the website there is a brunch menu at £6.95 which we had perused before coming and which included the previously mentioned Chicken Tikka Malaidar. However, when we arrived we were given the a la carte menu with a lunch menu at the back, we asked about the brunch menu and the waiter said that this is what they were doing that day (it was cheaper than the brunch menu and a super cheap £5.95 for 2 courses). This menu had lamb malaidar on it but no chicken option, K asked if she could have the 2 courses substituting the lamb for chicken but was told that she couldn't and that she would have to get a la carte if she wanted this, she did that but chicken tikka malidar and boiled rice came to £10.70 pretty much double what i paid for 2 courses. I ordered the Lamb Seekh Kebab followed by chicken tikka chasni with naan.
My starter came pretty quickly and K and I both agreed that it was delicious! The accompanying yogurt sauce set off the nicely spiced lamb wonderfully. K was starting to regret her decision. The main courses arrived (both portions were the same size despite the difference in price) and my chasni was great, the chicken wasn't fatty and tasted wonderful and the naan was fluffy and just the way I like it. Top Marks for the food that I had, especially at such low prices. K had obviously a lot of expectation for her Malaidar seeing as she was paying top whack for it, she said that it was good but not as good as the one from our local take away Alis on Hyndland Street and not as good as the Ashoka Ashton Lane's, she was a little disappointed to say the least, but that is the pressure of expectation. She said she wishes she had just got the lamb in the 2 course lunch.
So from my side a good meal but the experience was definitely affected by the bad customer service of not substituting lamb for chicken. No doubt i'll be back though.
Website - www.harlequinrestaurants.com/restaurants/mister_singhs.php
Something a bit different, not your traditional brunch but they do have a weekend brunch menu and i'm not one for restricting myself in terms of food types.
Again this was a late one, we arrived about 330 but according to their website weekend brunch runs from 2.30-5pm on a Sunday (from 12pm on a Sat) so we were in pretty good time for it. The reason for our visit was that K had been craving Chicken Malaidar for about a week and was beginning to annoy me by talking about it all the time.
So we arrived and the kilted waiters (their trademark) took us to a table away from the door, a good start. They also took our drink order pretty quickly and were generally really friendly. As I said on the website there is a brunch menu at £6.95 which we had perused before coming and which included the previously mentioned Chicken Tikka Malaidar. However, when we arrived we were given the a la carte menu with a lunch menu at the back, we asked about the brunch menu and the waiter said that this is what they were doing that day (it was cheaper than the brunch menu and a super cheap £5.95 for 2 courses). This menu had lamb malaidar on it but no chicken option, K asked if she could have the 2 courses substituting the lamb for chicken but was told that she couldn't and that she would have to get a la carte if she wanted this, she did that but chicken tikka malidar and boiled rice came to £10.70 pretty much double what i paid for 2 courses. I ordered the Lamb Seekh Kebab followed by chicken tikka chasni with naan.
My starter came pretty quickly and K and I both agreed that it was delicious! The accompanying yogurt sauce set off the nicely spiced lamb wonderfully. K was starting to regret her decision. The main courses arrived (both portions were the same size despite the difference in price) and my chasni was great, the chicken wasn't fatty and tasted wonderful and the naan was fluffy and just the way I like it. Top Marks for the food that I had, especially at such low prices. K had obviously a lot of expectation for her Malaidar seeing as she was paying top whack for it, she said that it was good but not as good as the one from our local take away Alis on Hyndland Street and not as good as the Ashoka Ashton Lane's, she was a little disappointed to say the least, but that is the pressure of expectation. She said she wishes she had just got the lamb in the 2 course lunch.
So from my side a good meal but the experience was definitely affected by the bad customer service of not substituting lamb for chicken. No doubt i'll be back though.
Sat 29/12 - The Left Bank
Address - Gibson Street, Glasgow
Website - http://www.theleftbank.co.uk/
The Left Bank seemed like a good place to start this as it is a) yummy and b) has won an Observer Food Monthly award for best cheap eats. It is also pretty handy cos the menu is very varied so can accommodate all sorts of fussiness.
The three of us arrived about 3, so it was pushing the definition of brunch but I hadn't had breakfast and I did have dinner later so I think that it fits.
The decor in the Left Bank is cosy and features some nice Timerous Beastie wallpaper. We settled ourselves and almost immediately had our drinks order taken, 1 bottled water, 1 diet coke and 1 soy latte (bonus points for fairtrade coffee and having soya milk, there is also a fair vegan selection as well as vegitarian). We then spent a while on the menu, k and c decided on the breakfasts pretty quickly, k meat (£6.95) and c meat-free (£6.75). I, however, couldn't decide. I was very tempted by the Bombay Breakfast (should it be the Mumbai breakfast? pondered C) but went with the homemade beans on toast with cheese (a paltry £3.45).
The food didn't take very long to arrive and i was very happy with my choice, thick homemade toast and the baked beans were a bit spicy and seemed to be cannellini beans with just the right amount of cheese. The others weren't too happy with their breakfasts - they had both fancied fried eggs but they arrived poached, I assume that had they asked for fried they would have got it. C found the veggie haggis sausage a bit spicy and K thought that the creamy sauce on the mushrooms didn't really go but said they were nice anyway - she certainly finished them all. The bacon was great and I tasted the sausage and have to say they were very nice, again it came with the same beans and toast which were well received.
Looking about to the other tables most people seemed to be going for the Mussels and seemed to be enjoying them.
Overall, I was pretty happy with the meal, I don't think that you could make beans on toast with cheese any nicer and the service was just the way I like it, attentive but not too in your face. We sat for ages after we'd finished and, even though it was pretty busy, I didn't feel pressurised to either order anything else or be on our way.
Website - http://www.theleftbank.co.uk/
The Left Bank seemed like a good place to start this as it is a) yummy and b) has won an Observer Food Monthly award for best cheap eats. It is also pretty handy cos the menu is very varied so can accommodate all sorts of fussiness.
The three of us arrived about 3, so it was pushing the definition of brunch but I hadn't had breakfast and I did have dinner later so I think that it fits.
The decor in the Left Bank is cosy and features some nice Timerous Beastie wallpaper. We settled ourselves and almost immediately had our drinks order taken, 1 bottled water, 1 diet coke and 1 soy latte (bonus points for fairtrade coffee and having soya milk, there is also a fair vegan selection as well as vegitarian). We then spent a while on the menu, k and c decided on the breakfasts pretty quickly, k meat (£6.95) and c meat-free (£6.75). I, however, couldn't decide. I was very tempted by the Bombay Breakfast (should it be the Mumbai breakfast? pondered C) but went with the homemade beans on toast with cheese (a paltry £3.45).
The food didn't take very long to arrive and i was very happy with my choice, thick homemade toast and the baked beans were a bit spicy and seemed to be cannellini beans with just the right amount of cheese. The others weren't too happy with their breakfasts - they had both fancied fried eggs but they arrived poached, I assume that had they asked for fried they would have got it. C found the veggie haggis sausage a bit spicy and K thought that the creamy sauce on the mushrooms didn't really go but said they were nice anyway - she certainly finished them all. The bacon was great and I tasted the sausage and have to say they were very nice, again it came with the same beans and toast which were well received.
Looking about to the other tables most people seemed to be going for the Mussels and seemed to be enjoying them.
Overall, I was pretty happy with the meal, I don't think that you could make beans on toast with cheese any nicer and the service was just the way I like it, attentive but not too in your face. We sat for ages after we'd finished and, even though it was pretty busy, I didn't feel pressurised to either order anything else or be on our way.
And so it begins...
This is something that i've been planning to do for a while seeing as Glasgow has a multitude of Brunch options but I was recently reminded and inspired by finding this blog: http://berlinbrunching.blogspot.com/ while planning a trip to Berlin.
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