The Green Room

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.

The Green Room is a bit of an exotic flower that blooms periodically, as it is only open on concert nights at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Traditionally, a green room is a smoke-stained hangout for artists prior to a performance, but this one is an elegant contemporary dining space for the public. The room, found on the second floor, is open and impressive with a fabulous view down Buchanan Street, giving it an atmosphere of a dining room in a modern cruise ship pointing down Glasgow’s main shopping street. The style of dining is formal, with crisp white tablecloths, impressive cutlery and fine china, but it’s not at all stuffy. For starters there are seared fillets of grey mullet on a bed of soused vegetables which prove to be an elegant blend of pickled flavours making a surprisingly fresh-tasting but preserved starter. For mains there is roast salmon, flaky soft pink flesh with a crunchy top, strong shallots and a sharp red wine sauce. To finish, the warm banana sponge – chunks of fruit mixed with sweet cake, topped with melting honeycomb ice-cream – is a delight. Diners can slip into the concert and return for interval dessert and coffee – very civilised.

• High point: Being close to my concert seat
• Low point: Only open on concert days