The Counting House

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops. This review is taken from the 2007 edition.

This grandiose building in the very heart of the city centre is vast and ornate, even by JD Wetherspoon standards. What was once a Bank of Scotland now feels like the living room of a stately home. An impressive domed ceiling rises above the central bar, where busy staff rise admirably to the challenge of serving a constant stream of drinkers (but locating a vacant table in this popular post-work haunt can be difficult). Finding something to eat is not so problematic: the menu covers just about every conceivable pub dish. The quality of food presumably matches most expectations when pitched at such relatively low prices. The salmon and lime fish-cake starter has much in common with an oversized fish finger, but a mushroom dopiaza main course is choc-full of whole button mushrooms in a tangy sauce - served with a naan, poppadums and a sealed pot of mango chutney. The Belgian waffle dessert, topped with freshly sliced banana and vanilla ice-cream, is enough for two. The themed curry and grill nights offer more bargains.

• High point: Thursday curry night
• Low point: Such a busy place can prove noisy