The Left Bank

Food of the Worst Kind:

I've visited the Left Bank a number of times over the years and in the early days the food and service was pretty good. The restaurant occupies a prime spot in Glasgow's West End and it's conveniently situated if you're spending an afternoon in the park or at the Kelvingrove Museum... so it's a real shame that it has gone so downhill. In my experience, the food has gradually got worse and worse over the last year to the point now where it is pretty unacceptable.

I decided to give the place one last try last weekend (mostly out of convenience as I knew they had a baby-change on the ground floor and I was with my 9 month old). Biggest problem overall was the food....terrible. I ordered a veggie haggis sausage ciabatta as my main and at around £6 I thought this would come with good quality bread and a small salad of some kind or at least some sort of flourish to make it pretty. Instead I was served a terrible piece of slightly toasted bread (which was no by no description a ciabatta) filled with two miserable, dry veggie sausages and no salad. The chips were hand-cut but very nearly raw, drenched in oil and covered with teeth-shattering pieces of sea salt. The whole thing was a very sad affair, which kind of brought back memories of the very worst kind of school dinner - pallid, poorly cooked, poorly presented and flavourless. Something tells me the chef is starting to lose their passion for cooking.

Other negatives - well, service is hit and miss. In my experience of eating here (maybe 10 times over the last couple of years) service is often on the brusk side. Not your usual friendly Glasgow service by any means. You don't get a sense of people enjoying their jobs here.

Another small thing - there was a couple sat across from me with a horrible little dog, which they were allowed to place upon a chair next to them and feed biscuits and water to. No problem with dogs personally but allowing them to sit on chairs in a food environment...not acceptable. Keep them on the floor - they're dirty. This leads to another point which is that the place is generally looking a bit frayed around the edges, even a little grubby in some places. It doesn't imspire the greatest confidence on the state of the kitchen when the restaurant itself is a bit mucky.

I'm loathed to say it, but that'll probably be my last visit to the Left Bank until I hear they've got a new chef and given the place a once-over.

I have to admit also, I stopped going to the sister restuarant Two Figs months ago as I have not experienced ruder service anywhere.