Food&Drink News&Reviews
Cup, cup and away Now with a second branch opening in the city centre, can Cup’s tiered offerings match their new opulent setting? Andrea Pearson takes tea and cake
+ Fine setting for
- Some food choices not yet at the same level
fine teas
E ntering the Cup Tea Lounge is magnifi cent. Right in the heart of city-centre Glasgow, it is a glorious, Category B-listed, Victorian Gothic building designed by Alfred Waterhouse of Natural History Museum fame. Once a branch of the Prudential, the venue has served time as De Quincey’s Pub, named after the writer and opium addict who lived at the same address, and later still as Bouzy Rouge. Still on show are the original coloured wall tiles and ceiling panels. If Cup, already packing in tea-lovers in Byres Road, can recreate the feeling of a Victorian tearoom anywhere in the city centre, then surely this is the place.
Tea is taken very seriously at Cup. The tea list is longer than most restaurants’ wine lists. Each of the teas on the menu has its provenance detailed and brewing instructions spelt out. Cup sources many teas from Blends for Friends, a company that invites suggestions for new blends . . . something nutty perhaps? Or something to drink while shopping for a loved one? (BfF also offer a personalised blend of tea at £27 per tin – it’s clearly a double dunk recession for some.) The Cup Tea Lounge is all very charming, with courteous staff, a welcome range of gluten-free
36 THE LIST 17 Nov–15 Dec 2011
options and children’s plates of Nutella pancakes that are always a hit. But after such a build-up it’s hard not to be a little underwhelmed by the food on offer. Venturing off the afternoon tea menu brings a dull panini and a soup that promises pea and mint flavour but delivers little of either. The afternoon tea includes three tiers of mini rolls, cakes and two teeny scones. The scones, made to order, are tip-top, but carrying a £14 price tag it is hard not to start breaking down the price per layer, per cake, per bite.
There should be a little more to it, and the promise provided by the original Byres Road café, the attractive venue and an imminent alcohol licence, which will allow for late-night cocktails alongside the cakes, all point to a Cup that’s still to be brewed to perfection.
CUP TEA LOUNGE
71 Renfield Street, Glasgow, G2 1LP 0141 353 2959, cupglasgow.co.uk
Food served: Mon–Sat 9am–6pm; Sun noon–6pm Ave. price two-course meal: £9.50 (lunch)
SIDE DISHES NEWS TO NIBBLE ON
EDINBURGH MEMBERS of Slow Food’s Chef Alliance are celebrating Slow Food Week
from 18 to 24 June with special menus displaying their enthusiasm for local, sustainable ingredients. Among the venues on a tasty go-slow are the Stockbridge Restaurant, the new Edinburgh Larder Bistro on Alva Street, Oloroso, Café St Honoré and the Scottish Café and Restaurant. slowfood.org.uk
MALAYSIAN RESTAURANT
Nanyang has set up in Quartermile in Edinburgh, while Glasgow
wi will soon be boasting the largest Th Thai restaurant in the UK with a br branch of Chaophraya coming to Bu Buchanan Street.
ONE OF SCOTLAND’S bright young chefs, Michael Neave, has opened a self-
tit titled Kitchen and Whisky Bar on on Fishmarket Close off the Ro Royal Mile, while elsewhere ar around Edinburgh look out fo for Middle Eastern street food at at Pomegranate opposite the Pl Playhouse, and the reappearance of Seadogs beside the original Dogs on Hanover Street.
DEUCHARS RECOMMENDS WHISKI ROOMS 4-7 North Bank Street, Edinburgh EH1 2LP
Whiski Rooms specialises in all things Scottish. The restaurant serves breakfast, hearty lunchtime pick me ups and evening sustenance, all made with local produce in a contemporary style. We like the delectable Ardbeg themed menu served in the Ardbeg dining room, washed down of course with a pint of your favourite Deuchars IPA.