Francesca R.
Yelp
Very disappointing. For a while this restaurant was the only fine dining experience to be had in Glasgow, but in the past 5 years there's been a dining renaissance in Glasgow and Brian Maule has not kept up. The menu is tired and the service is extremely, overbearingly formal. Not good formal, where you barely are aware of the change of courses and refilling of your wine glass, but disruptive and stiff, as if being served by robots.
To start I had the duck rillette which was wet and bland. There was a slight bit of texture and pop from the green peppercorn but mostly it was like eating tuna salad where someone had gone hog wild with the mayonaisse. My husband had the grilled chorizo salad. The chorizo was lovely but overall it wasn't anything to write home about.
The main for me was the roast coley fillet over the gratin of macaroni with buttered kale. Sigh. More mush. The cheese over the macaroni tasted like it was from a box and clanged against my palate. Too much smoky/salty. My husband had the pot roast shoulder and that was the one solid dish of the night.
The wine list was really good -- big range of interesting choices and prices.
Overall it added up to a lot of disappointment. We ordered off the pre-theatre menu which in a fine dining establishment should be simple ingredients done with panache, instead of a lot of style and no substance (or, nearly entirely mushy substance). The atmosphere was too stuffy literally (I was sweating like a bull by the end) and figuratively. It felt like a place that was exciting and glamorous when it first started out, but has stiffened into something pompous and staid. Try Ian Brown, Ox and Finch, Two Fat Ladies, Rum Shack, The Bungo and Gandolfi for Glasgow's true fine dining. They are not beholden to the rituals and trappings--just serving up exciting, delicious food in charming environments.