The Salon

Comments for The Salon (17 Vinicombe Street, Glasgow)

1. Gemma, Glasgow – 19 January 2009, 6:53pmReport

When The Salon first opened I really liked it, it was cosy with candles and the layout was good. Now every time I go in, maybe once a month over the last 3 months, the layout is different. It has lost all the charm I first liked about it - although even from the start the service was bad - it is now incredibly bad. I went in at the weekend and ordered a cappuccino to see what changes had been put in place since my last visit - this time wooden walls at the back and no sense of atmosphere. The cappuccino was awful - luke warm and I would say the waitress did not know the difference between a latte and cappuccino as it was very milky. So I was decidedly unimpressed and then it got so much worse - I went to the toilet and there was a girl in the toilets looking in each cubicle - she explained that she was looking for toilet paper. Fine I thought, she went into the last cubicle - "Hold on its ok, there is kitchen roll here...." The nice girl gave me some. I was appalled - no toilet roll so what do the staff do - put kitchen roll into the toilet, I’m thinking maybe they could have gone across the road to Somerfield and bought some????? I have never been in a place where this has happened before. Fair enough places run out of toilet roll but the most appalling fact was that the staff must have been aware of this and decided to put kitchen roll in!!!!
On the way out, the kitchen door was open and from what I can see from the food on the floor and general lack of cleanliness I definitely would not want to eat there. So I have resigned to the fact that I will definitely not be back. Terrible experience.

2. Comment removed

This comment has been removed by a moderator.

3. Donald the cook, Glasgow – 9 March 2009, 12:09pmReport

wow wow wow what great place to go for a meal. Recently went to the salon after it had been recommended by one of my friends and may i say, it will not be the last time i go there for a meal.

When we arrived we felt very welcome as the staff were very polite and attended to everything we needed. The menu looked great and there was a good selection of foods to choose from. For starters i was tempted to go for the Cullen skink but the nachos were just calling my name and trust me i made the right choice but after trying my partners cullen skink i could easily of had both because they were both delecious. After having the starter i couldnt wait for my main course. For mains i had the sirlion steak and it was very nice and the chunky chips and tomatoes just made it amazingly good. My partner opted to go for the mediterranean chicken which looked really good also and by the look on her face she made it look as though i was missing out but mine was equally as good.

Desert i had my favourite sticky toffee pudding and my partner had hot chocolate fondue and like the 2 previous courses we were left with a big smile on our face.

Looking forward to going back and after reading the mothers day menus on the socialanimal website (socialanimal.co.uk) i think ill treat my mother to a great meal that my partner and i had at the salon.

4. Irene71, Glasgow – 9 March 2009, 12:19pmReport

The Salon, after being there several times. has to be one of my favourite restaurants in Glasgow.

The food is always perfectly cooked and presented with great quality and you are never waiting to long for your food to be served after making an order. The menus have alot to choose from and when i am there i always have trouble picking as i have more than one that i really like cause i have been there so many times. However, if i had to choose one it would have to be the mediterranean chicken.

Looking for a restaurant that can give you great food and service and have a good time, then the salon will certainly satisfy all that you are looking for when going out for a meal.

5. Gail71, West End – 9 March 2009, 12:26pmReport

I am extremely satisfied to see that other people have really enjoyed the Salon, I have been there several times and thought that it has always been a great dining experience! I look forward to it every time! We booked online and was a very simple process! Having taken the kids aswell the staff were very welcoming! Having looked at the comments the next time I go I will order the mediterranean chicken!

6. fussyeater, West End – 12 April 2009, 1:23amReport

Call me a suspicious old trout - but it seems strange that after a bad review, four extolling reviews arrive on the very same day a month later - quelle chance!!

Anyhoo, I was in The Salon tonight with a few friends and can confirm as per the first review that the service is indeed slow. The starter was delivered fairly quickly, but the main course arrived some 40 minutes later.

Complaints around the table included 'this is luke-warm', 'this tastes like it's a cook-in-sauce' and 'Why is there a bottle of Heinz tomato ketchup and a bottle of Heinz Mayo on the table'

Summarily, no-one was very happy with their meal - it was very substandard.

Unlike the first poster in this thread, I had no opportunity to see into the kitchen, so can't comment there..... (hopefully they are subject to frequent inspections however)

7. Monkey123, Glasgow – 10 May 2009, 5:47pmReport

I agree with the above poster...very suspicious indeed.

We went in today, food was terrible. A hard and dry (stale in fact) roll plus dry, microwaved cold chicken without any of the dressings or sauces advertised does not a 'Key Chicken sandwich with lime etc' make. There was no attempt what so ever to even prepare what the menu had prescribed. The accompanying soup with the sandwich was also tepid- microwave must be broken. It was all sent back and replaced (20mins later i may add) by a simple chicken burger which was equally bad. The chicken burger comprised of a plain chicken breast in a bap with none of the dressings or garnishes. The quality of the chicken wasn't great either and the meat was very fatty. The only saving grace was the service of the waitress.

Avoid if possible!

8. cjack, glasgow – 27 August 2009, 10:58amReport

Boring unoriginal menu - the usual G1 fare. Unimpressed by service. Fish and chips not bad however there is better available within close proximity. After a few visits I have decided it's best to try elsewhere.

9. Lisa O, Glasgow – 24 September 2009, 6:36pmReport

I have to say that I am very surprised by the bad reviews. I have been twice for food in the last couple of months & enjoyed it. In fact I booked 31 people in the Salon for my wedding "reception". Everyone greatly enjoyed the food and although there were only 3 people dealing with the food & the bar, the service was fabulous. We had a great night & Colin, the assistant manager, was fantastic. He was very friendly and the Salon generally went out of their way to accomodate and look after us. It may not be as posh as eatieries nearby but neither is it as expensive!

10. Lisa O, Glasgow – 24 September 2009, 6:37pmReport

I forgot to add this!! I might add that I had the haggis, fish & then pecan pie. All great!!

11. Snudge, Largs – 28 September 2009, 1:28pmReport

I registered for this site today, specifically following a trip to The Salon over the weekend. My partner and I were both so dissapointed with the place (following a far, far better experience there last year, as per comment 1 from Gemma), I wanted to find somewhere to express my views. Literally from the moment we entered, to the moment we left (which would have been much sooner had the food not taken ludicrously long to arrive), things went wrong. It was 2pm, the place wasn't too busy; the waitress approached us, asked if we were in for food. I resisted the temptation to say no, I'd rather been hoping to catch some naked mud wrestling, and confirmed politely that I was indeed there to eat. The girl looked around...... taking in the numerous empty tables beside us; I could see her thinking.... clearly going through some complex seating plan algorithm. I pictured tumbleweeds rolling slowly past..... Fortunately, help appeared in the form of a second waitress; she was grabbed by waitress A, and asked to get us some menus. Clearly according to the unwritten rules of restaurant management, this meant Waitress B was now "het", allowing Waitress A to scuttle off to not attend to someone else. So, again, we were left standing like a couple of spare parts. To be fair, Waitress B didn't keep us waiting long; she re-appeared (albeit without menus), and proceeded to guide us past the all the empty tables, up to the raised area at the back, where we were offer the "comfy sofa". This would have been great had I wanted to lie back, feet up with a can of Tennents to watch season 3 of Dexter, but not for a sit-down meal. We ordered drinks; no problem there, except for there being no draft Tennents.... again, I can live with this. So, the drinks came, pretty quickly in fact, along with menus. Hmmmm!! I was impressed..... menu choice looked pretty good. Like another "commenter", I opted for the Key Lime Po Boy, or whatever it was called, and my partner took the veggie-burger. Now we come to the crux of the problem, and the main common theme in all these comments; despite the place not being busy, and the other diners looking like they'd finished their meals, we didn't receive our food for approx 40 mins. By this time I'd gnawed a fair-sized chunk from my own shin, and eaten 3 of the over-sized candles from the faux-fireplace. In summary; the po boy roll was so stale it really was fit only for breadcrumbs, birdfood or maybe filling in the gap I have in my front porch, rather than buying more Polyfilla (other brands also available). The meat - which I'm sure was originally born as a chicken - had mutated into some kind of super dense compound; probably the stuff the army use to make those rubber bullets. Oops... run out of my word allowance!

12. Snudge, Largs – 28 September 2009, 1:49pmReport

OK.... where was I...... right. Next..... the salad. The feeble bits of ex-greenery dumped alongside the poultry was fresh. Not the usage of the past tense there. It was fresh. Once. Upon a time. By the time it had worked its miserable way into my sandwich, it had become more of a soggy mush than crisp, juicy lettuce etc..... on the plus side, its viscous nature did have the side effect of leaking into the roll, rendering its once impenetrable hull into something that, were I an OAP with a fine pair of false gnashers, I could probably have masticated sufficiently (yes.... "masticated"... I wasn't THAT excited) to extract perhaps a small teaspoon of carbohydrate. Yep.... I think I can safely say it was the best Key Chicken Po Boy sandwich I'd attempted to eat in ..... oh.... hours. The veggie burger? It was adequate. The tip? At about 5%, I'd say more than adequate.... and for those of you aghast that I left a tip at all, the meal was almost £19.... I considered that the time it would save me simply leaving a £20, rather than waiting for change etc was more than worth it.

Overall, I've had worse, but given that The Salon is slap bang in the middle of the West End, a stone's throw from Ashton Lane etc, it can't even afford to be mediocre..... never mind complete and utter faff. I only hope the friends of the owner/staff who posted the childishly blatant positive posts above let the management see all of these comments, so they can take remedial action before its too late.

13. Scrote – 28 September 2009, 2:16pmReport

I liked it.

14. BigMc, Glasgow – 12 December 2009, 2:42amReport

I have just finished a Xmas night out with my workmates at the Salon. Well where do I start. Table booked for 8pm. Not seated by 9pm. Free bottles of sparkling wine put on the table, cheapest of the cheap. Starter was ok, prawn cocktail, main course, mine, was salmon, potato mash and runner beans (I think) was scarce and cold. Others who had the beef or was it lamb ? who knows, was returned vitually untouched. One never got his main course because the turkey was finished ! Dessert ? enough said I think!

This is without doubt, in my opinion, the worst restaurant I have been in, in Glasgow. The kitchen staff, I dare not use the words chef or cooks as I do not wsh to offend chefs or cooks, should be cleared out with immediate effect.

We got a £200 discount on the evening I think that says more than my comments.

In favour, the staff were great and attentive, such a shame they are the front line and in line for the slaughter of complaints.

To the owners G1, if this is your idea of running a restaurant, get a life, I would not buy a hotdog if you had a stall in Ashton Lane !

The guy who does the hotdogs in Ashton is great in comparison to this and may I suggest anyone considering a night out gathers around his stall rather than book the Salon!

To complete this review / comment, Gordon Ramsey would be struggling to save this place and Jungle celebs would probably prefer to starve rather than eat here.

Now where is the nearest Chippie !

To post a comment you'll first need to log in: Forgotten your password?

Log in

Email
Password
Remember

Not registered? Sign up – it only takes a minute.

RSS feed of these comments