Where to Brunch in Glasgow's Southside

I love to treat myself to brunch in a wee café. I used to work from home pre-Covid, and would take myself out once a week with my laptop for a nice coffee and a bite to eat. That all stopped obviously during the pandemic, and I'm slowing getting back out there again! It's been a while since I've worked from a coffee shop, but I've been enjoying brunch with the kids every so often. 

This weekend we visited The Brunch Club in Giffnock for the first time (used to be BRGR), along with Dawn and her daughter. They don't take bookings, and so we did have a little bit of a wait (understandable as we needed a table for 5). I wasn't blown away by my choice of smashed avo (avocado, red onion, garlic, fresh cherry tomatoes, balsamic glaze, poached egg & sourdough toast; £9) although I did enjoy the halloumi that I added (£2.50). My son felt his waffles were a bit dry (waffles with Nutella and fruit; £9.50) but Dawn loved her plate (Alba which was veggie haggis, poached eggs, truffle hollandaise, crispy kale and sourdough toast; £9.50) and the girls enjoyed their pancakes and Nutella. I'll try something else next time... tacos perhaps! Dawn had a virgin Bloody Mary, and it looked ace (I sadly didn't photograph it!). 

It's been a while since I've written a review of a restaurant or café... when the kids were little they tended to love most things and a lot of the restaurants got 5 stars when they were asked to rate them!! Whereas now, my son at nearly 13 years old and my daughter at 11 have opinions! Their favourite meal is steak & chips (we had a fab dinner in York at the start of the summer holidays at Cut & Craft, I'd recommend it if you're in the area... as would they!!), and when we're brunching they're all about pancakes and Nutella.

Anyway, back to brunch...

Our hands down favourite is Bramble, opposite Queens Park at 924 Pollokshaws Road. Similar to The Brunch Club, they are walk in only. So if we're headed here of a weekend I try and go for them opening (Sat 9am, Sun 9.30am). When Bramble was in Giffnock we queued for an hour once to get a table, and that wasn't fun with two hungry kids in tow! Most items on the menu I love, the vegan flatbread (sweetcorn fritters, salsa, pineapple chutney and mayo on a soft flatbread; £9.50) is a favourite as well as the pulled pork tacos (which isn't on the menu anymore *sad face*). The kids tend to order pancakes with Nutella and strawberries (£9.50, or £6.50 for a small portion).

Last on my list, for now, is Café Strange Brew. Again, as with the others, this café is walk in only. I was here with Evie (they're dog friendly) for breakfast a few months ago and didn't have to wait too long for a table. I love the presentation of the dishes here, my yoghurt and granola came with little edible flowers... so pretty! 

If it's just coffee that I'm headed out for, then I do love Grain & Grind. (My son is obsessed with their sausage rolls and brownies!) I love their coffee, and even have a bag in Verity for my Moka Pot.

What's your favourite spot for brunch?

Review & a Recipe - Giraffe's Heid Cocktail

I popped back along to Giraffe on West Regent Street on Friday after work last week with my colleague to try out the new cocktail launch, Giraffe's Heid.

I do love cocktails, but to be honest I'm not normally one to try new ones all that often as I tend to stick to what I know and like. There have been too many times that I've been disappointed.

However I thought I would give it a whirl... who's going to pass up a cocktail review, am I right?



Giraffe's Heid is a Scottish Classic with a Giraffe twist of Bulleit Bourbon mixed with Rose Syrup for essence topped up with Ginger Ale to give it a kick and finished with a stylish Lemon Twist.

Recipe:

1. Add 10 mL of Rose Syrup and a dash of Lemon Juice (5 mL) to your rocks glass.

2. Add 2 ice cubes and 25 mL of Bourbon and stir for 5 seconds

3. Add 25 mL of Bourbon and stir for 5 seconds

4. Fill up with ice

5. Top up with Ginger Ale leaving a window

6. Add a long Lemon Twist and serve



I was pleasantly surprised as the cocktail was easy to drink and didn't taste too alcoholic. I normally prefer a longer cocktail you see! I do love Ginger Ale, so this was right up my street although Bourbon wouldn't be my spirit of choice.

We also tried Ja'makin' Me Merry (my favourite) and Chocolate Christmas Luxe. Both were tasty... although I'm not a huge coffee fan so I found the coffee chocolatey dessert one a bit overpowering for me.

I wouldn't immediately think of going to Giraffe for cocktails, but I certainly will go back. We had a bite to eat whilst we were there and the food was delicious. It would make a great location for a work night out or a get together with friends as it's such a large spacious venue.

Big thumbs up from us!

We received some free cocktails in exchange for this review. Opinions as always are honest and are my own.

Review - Our Clickstay villa

Last week we spent the October holidays at Villa Zenith in Portugal... our first family holiday abroad and we were super excited, especially the kids! We had won £1000 towards a villa with Clickstay in their Mummy Blogger Awards which made the holiday possible for us.

The whole process of booking the holiday was hassle free - we chose our villa on the Clickstay website, and we paid the difference easily with a secure online transaction into my Clickstay account. The correspondence from Clickstay was great and they kept us informed thoughout.

We travelled with EasyJet from Glasgow to Lisbon via London Luton and overall I'd say the journey with the kids was manageable. We had to wake the kids at 5am which wasn't ideal, but I took them to the airport in their PJs and we got dressed in London! I had planned ahead, buying a few new sticker books and blind bag toys for them to play with on the day of travel, and we managed to kill some time at Luton Airport at Frankie and Benny's having brunch. I had an amazing American brunch of fruit, pancakes, bacon, crispy potatoes and syrup!

Once we landed in Lisbon we collected our hire car (which took forever as there was a queue at the desk!). I had been dreading having to drive on the opposite side of the road and found this part of the trip rather stressful. I've never driven abroad before, so this was a first for me.

The villa is near Cascais and you definitely require a car to get you there and to get out and about - the house is in a residential area and there aren't any supermarkets or restaurants within walking distance. I was organised though and had brought some noodles, rice and brioche rolls with me in my suitcase! Despite this, we did have to go out to find a supermarket on our arrival (at around 8pm at night!) and that just added to my stress levels. Once we were back, the kids were tucked up in bed and we had unpacked the car I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the surroundings.

As you'll see from the photographs, the villa is absolutely stunning. There are the most amazing unobstructed views of the beach and the ocean and the large open plan kitchen, dining and living space is ideal for large groups. The villa can sleep up to 14 guests, and we were being joined by my sister, her partner and his two little ones the following day, making 8 of us in total.

The gorgeous open plan living space 

(with a few strategically placed sheets to protect the cream suede furniture!)

The interior design of the house is mixed... modern glass vases and candlesticks mixed with rustic wooden sculptures... concrete surfaces and lots of glass. I'm going to put together a separate inspiration post as it's given me lots of ideas for my own home.

We had a slight hiccup in that the pool heating was broken on our arrival but Clickstay liaised with the villa owner, a new system was installed successfully and we did get a couple of days use of the warm pool. The additional fee that we had paid for the pool heating has also been refunded and there was a mention of compensation too. This was one of the benefits of booking the villa through an agent, as they were able to do the running around in the background whilst we continued to enjoy the holiday.

The kids enjoyed splashing around in the pool, practicing their swimming and playing games with the floats that we had brought with us. There were also a few inflatable toys at the villa too that we used. There were plenty of options for outdoor lounging which we all enjoyed and there were also large parasols which were needed for the kids when the sun was out.

Enjoying ice lollies by the pool

We enjoyed a couple of BBQs using the outdoor kitchen, which was a great addition to the garden. The villa also had a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble drier - and I used all three!

The outdoor kitchen

Once the little ones were tucked up in bed, the grown ups were able to enjoy some down time. This is the benefit of having a villa as opposed to a hotel bedroom. We were able to relax in the living space, listen to music or watch TV without disturbing the kids.

A glass of fizz for the grown-ups 

There were a few other niggly little things that could have been improved. We were unable to get four of the five whirlpool baths to work and we could only get one of the DVD players to work (and it wasn't the one in the main living space) which wasn't ideal for trying to occupy the little ones. Some instructions as part of a welcome pack may have helped in this instance. The villa did however have wifi which was a extremely valuable as this meant we could view content on the tablet devices that we brought with us.

The website states that the villa is suitable for children, however I'm not sure that the villa is suitable for young children due to the lack of banisters or railings. There is netting to prevent falls, but in some parts this wasn't secure. I did spend a lot of the holiday on edge and keeping a watchful eye on everyone's movements! We had a few incidents of slips on the concrete floor as the kids had wet feet, and trips on the concrete stairs. My son also walked into the glass doors! He's a bit of a klutz sometimes like his mum (I trapped my hand in a door the other day at work!!).

As well as spending time at the villa, we enjoyed a few days out.... at the local beach watching the surfers and jumping the waves, the Oceanarium in Lisbon and a trip to Cascais.

The beach was just a 5 minute drive away

Rick enjoyed a spaghetti pizza!!

The oceanarium in Lisbon

Cascais

Overall the holiday was a huge success - the kids loved it and have been raving to everyone about their trip. It would be an amazing summer holiday for a group of friends or couples sans children!

Review - Nairns Oatcakes

I love oatcakes, and as a family we eat loads of them - more so me and the littlest. She loves a wee oatcake instead of a sandwich at lunch, as do I.

My desk drawer at work is always stocked with oatcakes of some form... this week I've been enjoying Nairns Super Seeded organic oatcakes with tuna - they are just really delicious. I find that at work I'm busy and will snack at my desk a lot, and if I forget to take something fresh, then oatcakes and a wee tin of tuna is ideal for me.

I also have the Nairns gluten-free biscuit breaks in my drawer - the oats and stem ginger ones are fab. My drawer is also stocked with peanut butter, and an oatcake topped with this is an ideal snack to keep me going in the afternoon as I try to steer clear of the sweetie tin!

The littlest loves her oatcakes served with a bowl of soup to dip in, or hummous. Funnily enough she isn't really a fan of cheese!? 

Nairns have some great serving suggestions for little ones, and I particularly love the idea of serving oatcakes with nut butter and apple slices... yummy! Or perhaps tuna and avocado... or for a sweeter suggestion you might like greek yoghurt and strawberries. They all sound delicious and I will definitely be trying these out soon.

Of course, you can't beat oatcakes and cheese. Rick and I love the Nairns black pepper oatcakes for this!

We were sent a selection of Nairns goodies to try, including some Astro Bites for the kids. The Astro Bites are Berry flavour oat mini biscuits and come in a box with five packets. They really are more-ish, and I ended up eating four of the packs before the kids even got near them!! Oops! Needless to say the littlest loved them just as much as I did!

How do you like your oatcakes?

Thank you Nairns for the oatcakes and Astro Bites. Opinions are always honest and are my own.

Review - Giraffe, West Regent Street, Glasgow

It's not that often that I eat out in Glasgow City Centre with the kids. We tend to frequent the obvious family friendly chains at the shopping centres like Braehead, St Enoch Centre, Glasgow Fort or Silverburn. The thought of eating out in town with the kids stresses me a little, as I'm not sure exactly which places are child friendly! It turns out I didn't need to fret... Giraffe is easily accessible in the centre of Glasgow.

Locals may know there is also a Giraffe at Silverburn shopping centre at Tesco, but I hadn't been to either so our visit to Giraffe was an adventure! (The kids have said they had been to Silverburn Giraffe with their dad, so they knew more than me!!). I was aware that Giraffe was taken over by Tesco a few years ago, and I had in my mind that it was a supermarket café rather than a destination in itself.

My previous conceptions were wiped on arrival at the Giraffe restaurant in town. The venue, on West Regent Street, is lovely and spacious. The decor is fab and I loved the bright pops of colour in the chairs and lighting. Definitely surroundings that I'd be happy to hang out in.

We were seated in the window and ordered a few drinks - Mango Mama smoothie as recommended by our waitress for me (£3.85). The little plastic giraffes that came with our drinks were super cute and a unique touch that I haven't seen anywhere before. The kids loved them and they were kept amused playing giraffe families!

 

Orchard Pig, Ginger & Chilli, £2.65

It was like the restaurant had read some of my older restaurant reviews because the kids drinks were served in plastic cups with a lid, so I wasn't stressed about them spilling like a previous experience. We also were given activity/colouring sheets for the kids with crayons which was ideal. 

Food wise we ordered a mezze platter to start with mini pitta bread, halloumi skewers, falafel plus hummus, tzatziki, ratatouille, baba ghanoush and tabbouleh. The kids shared this with us, and it all was lovely.

Mezze Platter, £10.50

For mains, the kids had a salmon fillet with salad and potato wedges (£5.65). I personally loved that there was a choice for a 'grown-up' dinner for them rather than just chicken nuggets or fish fingers. The kids wolfed their meals (apart from the lettuce!) and gave their dinner a big thumbs up.

I had ordered a Thai Duck Stir Fry, and it was really delicious. Rick had Firecracker Chicken Katsu (£11.25) which he also loved. We shared some sweet potato fries too - the kids weren't keen on these but Rick & I enjoyed them very much. The dishes were presented well- I loved the grey bowl that my stir fry arrived in - right up my street!

Thai Duck Stir Fry, £10.95

Firecracker Chicken Katsu, £11.25

Sweet Potato Fries, £3.95

Grilled Salmon Fillet & Salad, £5.65

 

Of course we had to try dessert. The kids had the kids sundae, which of course they were delighted with! I had the Rocky Road Sundae (£5.95) and I didn't anticipate the size being so huge! It was immense, by this point I was pretty full but I managed to eat it all!! We washed down our pudding with a 'Moroccan' Fresh Mint Tea (£1.95), which along with some fresh mint it had a tea bag, so it wasn't the authentic experience I had expected, but it was still a nice end to the meal.

I was pleasantly surprised by my experience at Giraffe and thoroughly enjoyed our meal. The staff were attentive (although they knew we were reviewing the restaurant) and the food was lovely. I'd definitely go back.

The menu for breakfast/brunch looks great - Mon to Fri until noon you can have a Breakfast Burrito with a hot drink for £5! Warm tortilla filled with scrambled egg, chorizo, jalapenos, melted cheese, chipotle sauce, tomato & avocado salsa - yum!! 

 

We left the restaurant, the kids with their balloons, and we walked back to the car

with happy, full tummies :-)

 

We received a complimentary dinner in exchange for this review. Opinions, as always, are our own and are honest.

 

 

Review - Count me in 1 2 3 number chums app

Clydesdale Bank have launched a Count Me In 123 numeracy programme, designed to help engage pre-schoolers with basic maths in preparation for their transition to school. The campaign, through parents, carers, nurseries and libraries, will give children access to a range of educational resources including worksheets an interactive website and tablet app.

The number chums are three cute, fun animals... a white bunny rabbit, a cheeky looking monkey and a crocodile (or maybe he's an alligator - I forget how to tell the difference). Anyway, the cartoons are brightly coloured and I love the clean & clear graphics. Very appealing to kids (& grown-ups too!).

I like that there are printable activity sheets, so this programme is not all computer based. My kids do love their tech, but equally we love to draw and colour so the worksheets are ideal.

Screenshot of Big and Small activity sheet

As well as the activity sheets to print out, there is an online story book about Monkey's birthday party to read. For a long while we didn't own a tablet device, so it's also great that the game is accessible on a computer. Plus if you use the computer version there is a printable certificate!

Page from the Story

We downloaded the Count Me In 123 Number Chums tablet app and tested it out. 

The app is really easy to use and the kids could use the game and follow the instructions without any input from myself. The characters take you on a journey of numbers, shapes and sizes. Every time my daughter got an answer correct, there was some positive reinforcement... "yes, well done!" or "that's right".

I personally loved that it was a Scottish accent doing the talking. In the past I've downloaded a few educational apps on my phone and the accent was rather confusing, especially when trying to learn the alphabet.
 

My daughter in particular loved the game. She was able to answer every question correctly. However she eventually commented that it was  "a bit too baby-ish". Yes, my daughter is four (and an all important half), going on fourteen! She's definitely ready for school!!

What's missing for me is being able to advance through levels of difficulty as my two were able to whizz through the questions and did eventually get bored. Hopefully more levels will be introduced with the next upgrade.

 Overall I'd give the app a big thumbs up. I think the Count Me In Number Chums are perfect for children just starting out with numbers and for those looking to practice their skills.

We received an iPad mini from Clydesdale Bank in exchange for an honest review. As always, opinions are our own.

Review - Cote Brasserie, Glasgow

We were thrilled to be invited along to Scotland's first Cote Brasserie which opened it's doors in Glasgow last month. The restaurant is situated on West Nile Street and serves relaxed French breakfasts (French toast, crepes and pastries amongst others) from 8am mid-week through to the evening dinner service which stops at 11pm (Sunday at 10.30pm).

"Our inspiration for the food and design of Cote is a modern interpretation of the many famous bistros of Paris. Inspired by new trends, we are dedicated to serving authentic classic brasserie dishes with a modern twist, using high quality produce at great prices"

We were welcomed by the maitre d' who took us to our table. He was very friendly and I immediately felt relaxed. The staff knew we were there to review the restaurant, and we were given special treatment such as the Kir Royales that were brought to our table as we perused the menu. However, I would like to think that the customer service we experienced would be the same if we had just walked in off the street, just without the free fizz! After an 11 hour shift at work, it was so lovely to sit back and enjoy a dinner date with my man!

Cheers!

It took us a while to decide what to order - there really is so much choice and it all sounds fantastic.

We ended up ordering starters of French Onion Soup (£5.25) and Baked Crottin, a traditional Goat's Cheese from the Loire Valley, served warm with lamb's lettuce and apple salad, walnuts, croutons and golden raisins (£5.95). Rick was amazed at the size of his soup with a giant cheesy crouton on top, and the waitress said that it wasn't a starter for a first date as it was a bit tricky to eat! Just as well we've been together a while now! My Goat's Cheese was delicious. The variety of textures and flavours in the salad was just beautiful and the warm cheese was oh so perfect. Yum! I should also mention the complimentary filtered water which we had on our table throughout the meal - the Cote branded bottle was a really nice touch.

French Onion Soup

Baked Crottin

For mains I ordered the fillet steak (medium) with Bernaise Sauce (£18.95 plus £1.95 for the sauce); the steak was served with frites. Rick opted for the Poulet Grille (£11.50) - chargrilled butterflied chicken breast with wild mushroomm, creme fraiche and thyme sauce served with gratin potato. Oh and of course I had to try some French beans too (£2.95). The steak was possibly medium-rare but it was really tasty and the sauce was just delicious. I had a forkful of Rick's chicken and it was equally good, and such great value for money.

Despite demolishing my starter and main, I was still keen to try the puds. I ordered the Tarte Fine aux Pommes (£5.50) and Rick chose the Creme Brulee (£5.35). I have such a sweet tooth, and this apple tart was a highlight for me. The crisp, flaky pastry and the warm, soft apples topped with vanilla ice cream were just to die for. I could have easily had more than one portion! Again, I snuck a spoon of the Creme Brulee (for review purposes of course!) and it was a gorgeous consistency. I think sometimes it can be tricky to get it right, but this was spot on. 

The surroundings are just beautiful. I love the art deco style, the unique light fittings and the tiled flooring. It's a lovely venue. I could quite easily have been in France somewhere for the night! I checked out the toilets, as you do, and they were equally lovely. My only comment would be the wooden toilet seats which didn't fit very well and personally weren't to my taste.

Bathroom selfie!

So my overall thoughts? A definite thumbs up from us - fantastic food and service at great prices. We will most certainly be back. We've already picked up our Breakfast Club keyrings - join the club and you can have a complimentary hot drink with each breakfast for you and your guests every weekday.

We received a complimentary meal in exchange for this review - as always opinions are honest and are my own.