Mise en Place

PS: The literal translation of "Mise en Place" is....."putting in place". I bet the delightful Suzanne thought of that one!

Wow - have never been moved to write a review of any of the cafes/ restaurants I've visited in Glasgow. But my experience at Mise en Place was truly appalling so needs to be aired.

I've been here a few times and have been peeved with the service before - but as it's my local I usually end up forgetting how bad it was (rather like giving birth) and go back for more after a while. The food is OK, rather overpriced, but it's just fancy paninnis at the end of the day - I just rather like it because it's got a nicer interior than the other cafes in the area. On this ocassion I went alone to 'treat' myself to lunch on my day off work (quiet Tuesday late lunchtime).

There were three waiting staff and very few customers and still the service was terrible. I waited 20 minutes to catch someone's eye to pay the bill. I eventually asked a woman who had been serving if she could give me the bill. She clearly heard as she made eye contact and nodded, but then went to clear the plates of the couple sitting next to me and went and got their bill (they had only just finished their meal) and only then prepared mine - adding another five mins to my wait. This was so clearly deliberate that for once I actually complained! After paying for my meal I simply stated that the service was not impressive, particularly the part where she deliberately ignored my request and served someone else before me, and had let down an otherwise enjoyable meal.

It turned out that I was speaking to the owner (Suzanne it says on the receipt) who, as others have mentioned, wouldn't acknowledge that things could be better and not a hint at an apology....Instead, she argued with me that it was actually my fault - I should have gone to counter as "this isn't a five star hotel it's a cafe". When I explained there hadn't been anyone around to ask she said (verbatim) "well I'm the owner and I think you're quite rude and I would hate to think that you would talk to my staff like this". I stated that expressing a legitimate complaint, might not be nice to hear, but I hadn't been rude to her in anyway. She was pretty confrontational and I just decided to leave straight away and as I walked past another staff member who said bye, she said in a very loud voice that I'd been rude to her and I wasn't allowed in again! It was quite extraordinary.

Give this one a miss - it speaks volumes when you would travel away from the area you live in to avoid being treated in this manner. There are few places in Pollokshields where you can grab a decent bite so this establishment has a rather captive audience. But would avoid this overpriced haven for the rude (!) at all costs and go to La Tea Doh for some decent food.

Salmon fish cakes are more 'cake' than fish - this was mentioned to the owner/manager when I was paying (I didn't ask for a reduction) and she became quite nasty - I didn't expect anything - just an acknowledgement that things were not quite as good as they could have been. I'm a local - but I will go further afield in future.

Not As good as I expected considering it is on the HitList. The food was OK although the portions were fairly small for the price. The sole goujons come with a tiny bit of salad and if my partner hadn't ordered a side order of wedges she would have gone hungry.
One big issue I had was the drinks prices. We were charged 3.50 for a glass (about 200ml) of water and 2.00 for a glass of coke.
I doubt we will be going back.

The service here is AWFUL. I have been 4 times in the hope that each time will be better than the last but although the food is good they really need to invest in some good waiting staff.