8th November 2007
Uninspiring
The Willow Tea Rooms are a 'must visit' venue in Glasgow, because they were designed by none other than Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and then restored.
Mackintosh was Scotland's principle advocate of the Art Nouveau style, however he made it his own with the use of floral motifs and sharp right angled furniture.
The Willow Tea Rooms do use Mackintosh furniture, but I fear that it is trading on it's reputation only. Certainly, the food was nothing special, although the service was friendly enough. I think I was expecting something a little bit special, given the surroundings.
The cafe itself is upstairs from a jewellers shop, and the level we were on was actually a kind of mezzzanine, as you could look down at the shop below. The walls were covered in Mackintosh memorabilia (most of which was for sale). And the dining? The options include a nice variety of teas, although I decided on hot chocolate, which was really lovely. The food was traditional cafe fare, which I suppose was surprising - again, it goes back to the surroundings. In a way, it felt like going to Claridge's and ordering beans on toast. My friend again ordered a smoked salmon dish, which was one really thin, insipid slice, with fairly good scrambled eggs. I had a chicken, mayo and basil toasted sandwich - and it took me ages to decide because everything on the menu seemed so dull. I had a pudding - which was cloutie dumping with custard. Cloutie dumping is a spiced loaf full of raisins and sultanas, and the custard was... from a tin.
The Willow Tea Rooms are listed as a must-visit venue in most Glasgow guidebooks, and I would love to agree - if the food was more adventurous.
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