Ketchup

44 Ashton Lane, Glasgow, G12 8SJ

Telephone 0845 166 6011
Food served Sun–Thu 11am–midnight; Fri/Sat 11am–1am.
Average price £16 (lunch); £16 (evening meal)
Email
Website www.ketchupwestend.co.uk

The 2013 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

This review is taken from the current (2013) edition.

When it comes to knowing what students want, you’ve got to hand it to Ketchup. Set on the ground floor of a block of Ashton Lane venues, the American feel may not quite fit the cobbled lane, but inside, large booths and benches are crammed full of teens and twenty-somethings getting stuck into one of many original burger creations. And with indie anthems blasting out, it’s very much a place for groups of gathering mates. While there is fish and chips or chilli bowls, it really is all about the burgers – from the standard-bearers like the Bacon Cheeseburger, to eyebrow-raising creations like the Bollywood, featuring a huge, moist chicken breast, onion bhajis and a mango chutney, whose sweetness rather overpowers. The Incredible Hulk goes the other way; the peppercorn sauce not giving enough of a kick to the tender burger. With Simon Howie meats providing great consistency and '2 for 1' deals, there’s much to explore – and if you’re feeling flush, you can ‘posh up’ to Kobe beef for an extra tenner.

High point: A haven for hungry students
Low point: Only one beer on draught

Number of wines sold by the glass: 5
Provides: Children's portions, Children's high chairs, Wheelchair access, Free wi-fi
Music on stereo: Indie, rock, pop
Capacity: 60
Largest group: 75
Open since: 2008
House wine: £14.25 per bottle

Comments & ratings

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13. Kieron – 27 Jul 2011, 10:20am Ketchup Report: I had a 2 4 1 voucher so price was fine, but still not cheap for 2 of us to dine at lunch (2 burgers and 2 soft drinks was about 15 quid, service was poor with it taking 10 mins to get us our drinks with only 2 other people in the restaurant. Burger itself was good, but the chips that you get are huge wedges of potato that tasted under cooked. My main gripe is that they had no other sauces other than there homemade 'interesting' ketchup not even mayonaise or brown sauce, would not visit again on this point alone, get some Heinz Ketchup, HP sauce and Hellmans Mayonaise and I might re-visit, although it would have to be with a 2 4 1 voucher.

12. arrjimlad – 13 Feb 2011, 10:22pm Report: I went to Ketchup this evening having last eaten there a few years back, at which point I thought it seemed pretty good. Unfortunately, things really appear to have gone downhill since. The chicken burger I had was pretty flavourless. The fries and onion rings were greasy and soggy. The burger my friend had wasn't even hot when it arrived, and had a fairly unappetising look about it: think carefully moulded cat food. The buns were dead on arrival and my bottled beer was nice and warm. Generally the whole experience was a big disappointment and, at about £15 a head once you throw in a drink and having to pay extra for fries (doesn't that just sound like a rip off?), an expensive one, too. So, overall, I'd say the reviewer who thought the good posts were probably by employees is right on the money. By way of comparison, the burgers here are basically the same price (unless you've got a student card) as the ones round the corner at Stravaigin 2 in Ruthven Lane (fries included!) or Curlers in Byres Rd. Not going back again. Avoid avoid avoid.

11. LifeasMe – 9 Aug 2010, 2:53pm Ketchup Report

I love Ketchup!!! Perfect Sunday hangover hangout - we even started our own club lol Huge portions, haven't yet managed a pudding! I did notice a lot of the above posters ordered chicken burgers, which admittedly are not the best - but who the hell goes to a gourmet burger joint for a chicken burger anyways??? Currently working my way through the new menu, but favourites are Zorba, Crackerjack, Goodfella and Arriba Arriba. Chunky chips (no skinny french fries here) and homemade coleslaw (which I think is delish) are perfect sides. I love onion rings and if they would just cook them a little longer for crispier batter they would be perfect (order them every time regardless).

Service was a bit tedious when they first opened, but the past dozen or so times we've been, its been really efficient. Nephews (aged 11, 14 + 16) swear its the best place they've ever eaten (the eldest somehow manages to tuck way the Collosus every time!).

Ketchup is good fun, sociable and yummy - don't listen to all those grumpy michelin star food critics!

10. Romi – 18 Jan 2010, 1:58pm Report

I went to Ketchup on Friday night. I loved the atmosphere and the selection of burgers was brilliant - each burger having its own silly name made the task of picking more fun :)

I liked the music that was playing....although it did get slightly loud at one point which made conversations a little difficult.

2 burgers (around £9 each), portion of chips, portion of onion rings + a bottle of the cheapest white wine............approx £38 in total (including tip)

Only critisism would be that the batter used for the onion rings was a little too sweet....and the music was a little too loud.

Other than that, brilliant. Service was very quick - I would def go again to try out the rest of the amazing selection of burgers.

9. averydryfino – 3 Jan 2010, 6:34pm Report: No stars. My two friends and I had a very poor experience at Ketchup today. Part of this may well be due to the clearly over-stretched waiting staff, who struggled to clear tables, seat customers, collect orders and serve drinks. It wasn't, however, clear quite what they found such a stretch. The only positive was ee were immediately offered free drinks due to the wait. This does not excuse the appalling quality of the food. Everything, from the onion rings to the chili was soaked in oil. I was not expecting healthy food, but this was too much. The chili had no heat or flavour to it. My friend had ordered the venison burger, and said it tasted exactly the same as the beefburger. It was dreadful. The comment card left on the table was, at best, embarrassing.

8. cjack – 27 Aug 2009, 11:06am Ketchup Report: Awful service, poor burgers. At £9 I was expecting something decent. The buns fall apart as you try to eat them. Another sub-standard g1 venture, would be great if they could just leave the odd little venue alone for an independent owner to offer us something better. In no way value for money, would advise against.

7. cowboydan – 12 Apr 2009, 5:52pm Report: Ooops noticed those posts were written a month ago! The rest still stands.

6. cowboydan – 12 Apr 2009, 5:36pm Report: Slow service, awful food, little else to say really. Not too sure which restaurant the two posters above went to (surely it cant be the same one?!) but I'm pretty sure (as in 100%) that the universities are on holiday at the moment (its Easter), and I'm not in any way implying that they might work for the establishment in question.

5. Jenny tree – 9 Mar 2009, 11:53am Ketchup Report: If you love burgers like I do you need to go to ketchup! I went on Thursday night to kick start my weekend off! From when we arrived until we left the service was fantastic! Most importantly the food was the best! The peppercorn was fantastic and I had onion rings as my side I couldn' resist and had some extra toppings to go on my burger which made it 200%! I will need to refrain myself from going as I walk past it every day!

4. George of the Jungle – 9 Mar 2009, 11:29am Ketchup Report

My friends and I went to Ketchup to kick start our weekend after a long week at uni. Absolutley amazing this place is. Situated in Ashton Lane its the perfect place to for people of all ages.

With a great range of burgers to choose from i felt like i died and went to burger heaven and me and my friends had trouble choosing what we wanted to eat as the menu is packed with great burgers. I ended up choosing the italiano burger and it was awesome with its cheese and peppers and i was very satified.

Looking forward to going back again. Theres so many burgers i have still to try!

3. Graeme – 1 Feb 2009, 5:06pm Report

One to avoid I'm afraid, all style but no substance. Presentation of the food is good, but it goes downhill from there. Ordered the Cajun Chicken burger - did not taste of Cajun Spice at all, just a charcoal piece of chicken in a bun. Not impressed with the pricing (typically £7 - £10 for a burger but then you have to pay extra for fries - £1.95). Fries were a very small portion and the onion rings were drenched in grease.

Sevice very poor as well, our waitress was very slow, got our order wrong (only 2 people eating) and could've done with some happy pills.

2. Gemma – 19 Jan 2009, 6:39pm Ketchup Report: I went here at the weekend and although it was busy we managed to get a nice booth to ourselves so I thought we were off to a good start. After reading a couple of reviews in the paper of Ketchup, I was expecting to be impressed. I was impressed by the menu as it is very wide ranging. I ordered a Californian Chicken burger with fries and my other half had the original burger. Both were ok, looked amazing as presented very well but they were a bit disapointing. The chicken was very greasy and there was no real flavour to the whole meal. The fries were just average and I agree with the above comment that the coleslaw was disapointingly average. The roll the burger comes in is like one of the cardboard burger buns you get from a supermarket - ie falls apart by just touching it!! The service was ok, although they do seem like they are too busy to even deal with you a lot of time - big downside I always feel in restaurants. I would recommend going for a quick bite to eat although pricey for a burger that has nothing special about it. Ad Lib wins hands down for its burgers every time!

1. Burger Gal – 23 Nov 2008, 11:23am Report: I am rating this "restaurant"no stars. My friend and I were asked to come back in 45 minutes for a table, fair enough given it was a friday night. Upon being seated we then waited 15 minutes for our drink order to be taken. 10 minutes later our cokes were served warm and our order taken. The food arrived after another extended wait. Although visually appealing and of a generous size the burger was greasy, luke warm with a mushy texture. The fries resembled large under cooked potato bricks rather than classic fries and the onion rings were cold and greasy. Even the coleslaw was lousy.
The whole situation could be remedied if the burger patty was of good quality and the service faster and more attentive.
Perhaps the G1 management should take a trip to Bell's Diner in Edinburgh to see how it's really done! It ain't rocket science.

Average rating 3/5 from 6 reviews of Ketchup.

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