The Brasserie/The Menzies Glasgow Hotel

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• What are these?

• Average price 2 courses:
   £18 (lunch)
   £18 (evening meal)
• House wine: £14.75 per bottle

• High point: High-quality ingredients
• Low point: Slightly inattentive service
• Food served: Mon-Fri 7-9.30am, noon-2.30pm, 6-10pm; Sat 7.30-9.30am, 12.30-2.30pm, 7-10pm; Sun 7.30-10.30am, 12.30-2.30pm, 7-10pm
• Bar open: Mon-Sun 11am-11pm
• Private dining: Up to 150 covers
• No. overnight rooms: 140
• Open since: 2005
• Also offers: Childrens portions, Childrens high chairs, Wheelchair access

The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2008 is now in the shops.

This review is from the 2007 edition.

The corporate, hospitality-style surroundings of the Menzies Hotel's brasserie might lack personality, but it offers an inoffensive, polished comfort. A good menu selection concentrating on Scottish produce is lent a contemporary flavour by some French and Asian components, while all meals make a good start with hot, buttery, flaky bread rolls. Seared, meaty tiger prawns come with a crunchy, mixed Oriental salad, with vibrant flavours of ginger, lemon-grass and fresh green herbs from a tongue-tingling dressing making for a memorable starter. Meanwhile, fleshy slices of smoked duck arrive garnished with a contrasting mix of sweet raspberries, tart orange and crunchy flakes of pancetta. A main course of venison loin with celeriac mousse is outshined by a Castle Mey grilled sirloin steak - impressively juicy, tender and so full of flavour it barely needs the accompanying peppercorn jus. With grilled tomato, mushroom and chunky chips, it just about earns the £18.50 price tag. Two scoops of white chocolate sorbet take 20 minutes to arrive, but every snowy mouthful is true decadence, and worth the wait.