While Aberdeen is now most definitely my adopted home, and Edinburgh my favourite place in the UK, I have never felt much attraction for Glasgow – even though lots of my friends and colleagues would argue it’s a fantastic place to stay or visit. Although I had made quite a few day trips to Scotland’s biggest city, it never truly appealed to me – maybe because every time I visited, it rained.
Then, one September weekend it so happened that I was to stay a night at a friend’s; I still wasn’t looking forward to it… until I saw the city basking in the late summer sun, bursting with people of all ages, nationalities and styles.
After a quiet night over a good meal and a few cocktails, the following (equally glorious) morning we were planning to go walking around Loch Lomond, so we decided to treat ourselves to a breakfast in town first. With plenty of options to choose from, according to Google Maps (and certainly offering more variety than Aberdeen), we decided to try the intriguingly-sounding The Butterfly and The Pig on Bath Street.
Occupying a good chunk of the building (including the basement), the place to get breakfast from was the Tea Rooms; the door opened to a darkish corridor with a few tables along one side and another door to the right, leading to the said tearoom. This place reminded me of the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, crossed with Antiques Roadshow – the rather small and tightly packed venue, furnished with wooden tables and chairs and featuring a striking oldschool bar as a centrepiece, was opulently decorated with a mismatched collection of teapots, china, porcelain vases and plastic flowers – not particularly my kind of place, but definitely standing up to its name.
For convenience, we took one of the tables in the centre, and were instantly approached by the single present barista. We quickly made our coffee choices, and soon followed up with a food order out of the straightforward, but smile-invoking, day menu.
As expected, to coffees arrived first – and the only comment my friend passed looking at my mocha was: “I can tell this one won’t score highly… will it?”.
“You know me too well,” I replied. Indeed, the look of my drink did not fill me with confidence regarding its contents. Served in a latte glass (on a randomly-chosen saucer, naturally), the brew had a fluffy layer of frothed milk on top, which usually meant a badly blended concoction. With that in mind I took my first sip… and was pleasantly surprised!
The coffee was, in fact, of a smooth texture and had a punchy but not overwhelming taste. It was just of the right temperature but cooling quickly, so I decided to drink it up – and overall, actually enjoyed it!
The food that followed (a selection of breakfast items for myself) was OK, but nothing spectacular, so once we ate enough to feel full, we paid the bill and set off on our little walking adventure.
Would I return to The Pig? If I was in the area – why not; having said that, now that I saw Glasgow from a different (more sunny) perspective, I’d be more inclined to explore it’s cafe scene further instead. Suggestions welcome!
Mocha: £2.50
Verdict justification: A quaint place with a varied menu and good coffee – definitely worth a visit
A Black Spot 