Eating out: hotel fails to live up to the hype

A three course meal at the restaurant’s discount market menu comes in at £22.50, with supplements slapped on.

The Blythswood should be an experience, an enjoyable excuse to splurge at a restaurant which is worth the price tag.

However, I can’t say it met those expectations for me.

Blythswood falls in line with every other restaurant in Glasgow and offers scallops and black pudding as a starter (but with a £3 supplement), which is fine, but no better than you would get anywhere else.

But it was the main meals where I was felt expectations exceeded what I received; overcooked coley with chicory — which in my opinion overpowered the dish.

I also sampled duck breast (with a £5 supplement) which failed to overcome my disappointment.

To add insult to injury, my side of green beans were fairly tasteless.

If my granny was still alive, the black forrest gateau with cherry sorbet is something she would have ousted from her repertoire by around 1990.

With a room too brightly lit for dinner, I had some objections about the decor too, and was struggling with this restaurant. Clutching at straws at the end of the meal, I hoped the saving grace would be a simple cup of tea — but sadly that was unremarkable and cost £3.50.

It may well have been an off night for The Blythswood — on another, perhaps, the duck would be perfect, the lights dimmed and the service slightly more prompt.

Maybe I was hoping for too much, however, on a rainy Monday, the experience was simply not up to what I expected from one of Glasgow’s higher end establishments.

Rating: 5/10

Blythswood Square

11 Blythswood Square

Glasgow

G2 4AD

Tel: 0141 248 8888