Ikafe

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

Pollokshields' Ikafe has remained a popular local eatery since it first opened in 1999. Wooden floors, exposed brickwork and white walls dotted with bold prints combine to create a simple and stylish venue. Lunchtimes are busy, so booking is advisable, and if a leisurely meal is what you're after, the food at Ikafe is worth the wait. The lunch menu offers a mind-boggling array of soups, salads, jacket potatoes and sandwiches, as well as more substantial main dishes. The food is elegantly presented on pristine white tableware. The seafood salad – in a large, shapely bowl – offers a generous mixture of salmon, crayfish, prawns, anchovies and capers, while the chicken Caesar is equally large and coated in a good slick of creamy dressing. Cakes are home-made and displayed handsomely in a glass counter. The coffee and walnut in particular is a real treat – the smooth sponge is studded with walnuts and topped with rich coffee butter icing. At night, Ikafe offers an inventive and eclectic menu of very reasonably priced dishes with Scottish, Mediterranean and Asian influences.

• High point: Relaxed atmosphere
• Low point: Very busy at lunchtimes