Eating Out: Malmaison

Aug 2 2012 By Ben Spencer

Malmaison Image 1

THE restaurant at Malmaison is one of 
Glasgow’s dining institutions and is one I’m 
also a little embarrassed to say I had not visited before.

Grabbing the chance to correct that on 
a Saturday evening, I was immediately impressed by the beautiful décor and sense of occasion.

The Mal Brasserie is situated in a former church crypt and, despite catering for up to 80 people, has lots of nooks and discreetly lit booths for a more intimate feel.

The service was top drawer all evening with the staff making every effort to make 
us feel comfortable.

I started with a ceviche of 
yellowfin tuna which was seasoned with lime, mango and chilli (£7.95).

The dish was well presented but sadly was just too salty for me to taste 
the other 
ingredients, so I did not finish it.

However, my friend loved her salad of heritage tomato with buffalo mozzarella and 
basil (£6.95).
She praised the fresh ingredients and 
simple but effective flavours.

For our mains, we both ordered the 
Thai green king prawn curry, which was served with jasmine rice (£16.95).

Unfortunately, the dish was not really 
hot enough by the time it reached our table and this detracted from the interesting 
flavours in it.

It would also have been nice if the portion had been slightly larger – especially since my friend, who had not tried Thai curry before, was impressed by the taste of the dish and was keen to try more.

I enjoyed a couple of glasses of earthy Syrah from California (£4.15) with my 
food. And we ended the meal by sharing 
one of the classic desserts – vanilla crème brûlée (£5.95).

This was perfectly executed with the creamy, custardy taste underneath covered in a hard, sweet topping.

I suspect we might have caught the chef 
at the Malmaison on a bit of an off night 
but the ambiance and service were top notch throughout the evening.