Eating Out: Botanics Tea Room

Jul 11 2012 By Joe McGuire

Botanic Gardens Tea Room Image 4

GLASWEGIANS love their parks – the clue’s in the name, Dear Green Place.

For me, the Botanics has always been the most regal of our green spaces, the nearly 200-year-old park exuding a Victorian elegance.

It seems the perfect place then for the new Tea Room at the Botanics, a genteel establishment that caters for all park users – whether that’s mums and babies, ladies who lunch, pensioners looking for a cuppa or office workers like ourselves.

Optimistically, we took a seat outside in the fetching patio area but the typical Glasgow weather drove us inside .

This let me scope out the interior, a cosy two-room set-up that kept the classy feel, with works from local artists adorning the walls.

I kicked things off with soup of the day, minestrone (£3.25).

Served with the obligatory roll, it wasn’t the most authentic taste of Italy I’ve ever sampled.

Luckily my colleagues’ starter seemed more interesting.

Two of them chose to share the Scottish Seafood Tapas (£5.50), a combination of hot smoked salmon and sour cream, pickled herring and prawns Marie Rose served with rye bread.

I looked on enviously as they scoffed it down, and they assured me it was fabulous. Unfortunately our starters arrived at staggered intervals, which continued into the main, meaning I was well into my sandwich as my companions received theirs. I’d put this down to the friendly staff still getting to grips with their new environs.

In any event, my lemon and coriander chicken sandwich (£5.45) proved delicious.

Served with fancy crisps on your choice of bread, light rye for me, and with a tangy chilli mayo, it was a top class lunch.

My colleagues also had sandwiches, roast ham with Arran Mustard (£5.25), a smoked salmon with cream cheese effort (£5.75) and the panini version of my sandwich (£5.95), all of them being praised.

We rounded off with a good coffee (£1.95) and a fresh fruit scone (£2.50).

The Tea Room has a lot going for it with decent prices and a first-class location - it’s well worth dropping in.