Cup Tea Room

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.

Taking afternoon tea at this smart café on bustling Byres Road is a hugely enjoyable experience, even more so if you bring a bottle of fizz which they’ll pop for a fiver. A computerised ordering system is as slick as the staff who enquire about dietary requirements and talk you through your visit, which sounds overkill until you're handed a page-turning tea menu and spot six varieties of hot chocolate from around the globe. Expect other diners to gawp as your three-tiered lunch arrives packed with brioche rolls, rosemary foccacia and cakes. Once the sandwiches are dispatched, warm scones, with a delicious spiced cream, are delivered direct from the oven. Four cakes still to go – a sharp apple meringue pie, sticky chocolate brownie and dense fruitcake. There’s no shame in admitting defeat as staff will happily wrap up the final sparking cupcake you can’t manage – but most do.

• High point: Sugar high
• Low point: Sugar comedown