Café Cosmo

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 – in the shops now or buy online.

The Glasgow Film Theatre's open-minded programming has broadened over the years to include almost every genre that a family film theatre might reasonably be expected to cater for. European cinema is well represented, and numerous retrospectives and festivals throughout the year put the spotlight on more specialised forms. There's even a useful strand of re-runs of the best mainstream films that have recently gone out of circulation. But while the movies may come from every corner of the globe where humans have managed to send a film crew, it's reassuring to learn that Café Cosmo's menu has no ambitions to follow them. The home-grown and local ethos comes across in everything from the music – supplied by Merchant City musos Monorail – to the draught beer – made by East End brewers WEST – and in the chunky, nourishing home-made soups. The neatly chalked up menu of baked potatoes, toasties and salads hasn't changed for a while, but it's clearly one that works for Cosmo's huge diaspora of regulars. And the whole venue is blissfully free of any of the sensory wrap-around corporate boogaloo that a visit to the local multiplex entails. Food service stops around teatime with snacks and drinks available into the evening.

• High point: Cosy and relaxed
• Low point: Can be difficult to get a seat shortly before a film starts