City Cafe, Glasgow - Restaurants in Glasgow | s1play.com

City Slicker

Review published on 30/03/2005 © Sunday Herald

A number favourable reports of the City Café in Glasgow have drifted my way. On paper, it's not the sort of outfit I would expect to find thrilling. As a general rule, restaurants in hotels are not up to much and those in chain hotels are usually even worse. The City Café is in the eponymous City Inn, right on the Clyde at Finnieston Quay, Glasgow's docklands - an eerie, post-industrial terrain punctuated by cranes, aspirational new housing and striking landmarks like the SECC.

By coincidence, I stayed recently at the City Inn in London. City Inns are being branded as contemporary, urban accommodation and my experience, given that the hotel had a somewhat charmless outlook back and front, was very positive.

Glasgow's City Inn is a rather plain, boxy, modern hotel. Its strengths lie to the back where the restaurant looks out over a deck (for dining alfresco) and on to the river. When we visited it was too fresh to eat out, but with a table at the window and early spring sunlight flooding in, it was a warming and cheering experience to be there.

And although the prevailing aesthetic is modern and minimalist, this is a restaurant that is nicely kitted out with good glasses, cutlery and linen, so the effect is not utilitarian. Price-wise, starters and desserts are on a par with serious restaurants elsewhere, but few of the main courses break the £12 barrier.

On the savoury front, this is a kitchen on fine form. We got off to a good start with home-made rolls with doughy innards and a rewarding crust. The starters consisted of a rustic ham hough terrine, well-flavoured and seasoned, sitting on warm, toasted brioche and a nice little salad of crunchy artichoke hearts and poached chicken.

The terrine was flanked by a dollop of fresh red plum chutney and a first-rate, slightly runny mayonnaise, definitely home-made, perfumed with a hint of truffle oil. The salad had also been boldly dressed with Bois Boudran, a lively mixture of fresh herbs, shallots, vinegar and oil that goes particularly well with chicken.

It is surprising to see any affordable hotel chain really go that extra mile to source good ingredients, but I was most impressed by the quality of the beef. A massive rib eye steak (from Buccleuch Estates) was exquisite. The beef itself had a fantastic flavour and had been well hung so it was marvellously tender. It had been cooked impeccably too, with a seared crusty surface enveloping pink, juicy depths. It came with a good natural gravy, very fine runner beans cut on the diagonal then tastily sautéed and a block of fat, floury chips with blissfully crisp exteriors.

The more economic, slow-cooked brisket with its sauce made from ale had achieved the sticky, glossy patina of patiently cooked meat. It fell apart in the mouth but remained moist. Luxuriously buttery parsley mash suited it well and it was only let down by wizened, old-looking green beans.

Our desserts were a bit of a fiasco. The first ones that arrived were not what we had ordered, but they were taken away again with good humour and replaced by two more. The first, a raspberry and chocolate doodah, a bit like a firm mousse was okay. The gingerbread parfait reminded me of that fashion, happily passed, for brown bread ice cream. They both make me think of cold porridge.

Presentation of desserts is very Eighties with lots of feathering of sauces and redundant garnishes of physalis and mint. The City Inn's style police need to turn their attention to the plates they are served on too, ideal for hiding in an unwanted-wedding-presents cupboard.

© Sunday Herald