Afternoon Tea at Browns, Glasgow

It was my elder daughter Emily's birthday last weekend. Time flies so fast that already one week has gone! No wonder why I am getting old and feeling older quickly.  Anyway, Happy Birthday again, Emily.

Our sort of ritual for birthday treat is that we go to Jo Malone for hand massage (with a fragrance used during the massage for a present) and then go for lunch. So, after the massage, we, Emily, Marian and myself met up with my husband at Browns (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/locations/glasgow/) for a relaxing afternoon tea for four.

Browns has afternoon tea menu (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/media/ugc/menus/2014/10/08/Browns_DN_Afternoon_Tea.pdf) for £16 for two people that consists of finger sandwiches, fruit scones and mini desserts with pots of tea. Sounds great and it was really great!

As it was Emily's birthday, I asked Lucy, who looked after our table if they could make up some nice cocktail for a birthday girl.  10 minutes later, she brought this lovely cranberry cocktail with some mint. I tried a little and it was very delicious and refreshing.

We chatted away for a while and finally our Afternoon Tea has arrived!

We started off with finger sandwiches which are smoked salmon & creme fraiche, egg & watercress and cucumber & cream cheese.  Breads were really nice and soft, fillings were really delicious.

We then moved onto scones. They were big, round scones which were lovely and warm that came with crotted cream and strawberry jam. 

We then moved to mini desserts which are rich chocolate mouse, Victoria sponge cakes and meringue with blue berry and cream.  Chocolate mouse was really lovely but also really really rich. I liked the Victoria sponge cake which was really delicious and moist. 

You would think there were not much portion to begin with but as always, once we got to the last tier of cakes, we were feeling too full to finish all.  I had both an audacity and cheekiness to ask for 'cake-away' which Lucy was happy to accommodate for us.

As I have said before in my previous blog, Afternoon Tea always tastes much better taken where it is served. Once you 'cake-away' to eat left-over at home, you can never re-create the same ambience and excitement of eating the delicious cream cakes and desserts and they never taste the same neither. 

I think my tactics next time would be to go straight to the cakes to start off and work the way backwards, i.e. eating the savoury sandwiches the last.  See if this works so that we can eat everything on cake stand, ha ha ha.  

We all however enjoyed our afternoon tea very much at Browns. I think it is reasonably priced (basically it is £8 per person!) with good quality sandwiches, scones and cakes, served with great customer service and we felt we were well looked after.  I hope Emily had a lovely birthday. I certainly had a relaxing day at both Jo Malone and Browns on her birthday!

Well, that's all forks!

Dinner at Browns in Glasgow

I have just gone to Glasgow for haircut yesterday. Every time, I explain how I want my hair done to a hairdresser.  Each time I ask for a different hair-style, specifically request that I DO NOT WANT A BOB. I even sometime produce a magazine clipping to show to make a point; I know you can't make my hair exactly look like this but you get the idea...? They all give me a nod of perfect understanding. Then every time I leave a salon, I end up with the same haircut - bob! Why is this happening to me?  What have I not explained properly? So I go home, wash my hair to style it in my own way. Somehow I manage to have my hair style look less like a Bob. At least my current hairdresser gives me a very good cut so I can fix it to my liking later... she is the best one I have ever found in Glasgow so far....

Never mind, the difference of bad and ok hair cut is only 2 weeks, after that no one cares including me. I can handle it.

Why am I talking about this whereas my blog is about food? No reason, other than that on my way to the salon I have passed by George Square and have noticed that Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games logo is still there, which reminded me that I have forgotten about talking about Browns Bar & Brasserie (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/locations/glasgow/) which is right on George Square as we went there before the Game started.

Glasgow's George Square.  Browns is at the corner of the building on the right.

I subscribe Browns e-newsletters and one day I got an email about 3 course dinner for two just less than £30!  So my husband and I decided to try this restaurant.

It was a lovely Tuesday evening with warm sunshine. Being during the week day, the restaurant was not too busy but there were some graduates celebrating their graduation day with their friends and families in the restaurant, so there was happy atmosphere.

They do live Jazz on Thursdays - we must try it!

We were seated without any problem and were also given a normal a la carte menu to peruse. The menu looks nice, with lots to choose from (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/media/ugc/menus/2014/05/01/Browns-Main-Menu-U.pdf). 

We first of all ordered a glass of wine each - Mamaku, New Zealand's Sauvignon Blanc, described on the wine menu as classic kiwi Sauvignon with gooseberry, passionfruit and a racy citrus finish. It's great with goat's cheese, it says. I don't like goat's cheese but apart from that, it sounds nice.  £6.2 per glass, it'd better be more than nice... and yes, it was a lovely wine.

For starters, I had Crab & Avocado Stack with mustard creme fraiche and a mildly spiced coriander and chilli salsa with an avocado and potato salad.  My husband had King Prawn Cocktail with fresh seeded wholemeal bread and butter. 

My crab & avocado was nice, refreshing.  For some reason my husband pictured king prawns to be decorated around the rim of a cocktail glass, instead they came in a bowl with endive leaves sticking out like a rabbit's ear. I think the taste was fine, and they were king prawns not wee shrimps, though funny how the perception or presentation of a dish could influence one's palate.

Next, for the main course, I had Lobster Tagliatelle with flaked lobster, parmesan, cream and white wine topped with grilled half lobster tail.

Your eyes are always bigger than your stomach - you think there was not much in it but actually the portion size was just right, especially the sauce was rather rich.  It was lovely, I actually enjoyed it and managed it all.

My husband had Roast Fillet of Fresh Cod with a brown shrimp, caper and parsley butter served with spinach and sautéed potatoes.  This one looked really nice and he said it was delicious. He finished all too with his stomach satisfied. We did not even need to order side dishes and just as well.



By this time I was full, but determined to go for a dessert since this is a 3-course meal deal and I am too greedy not to find out what they are offering.

I decided to try something simple and straight forward, so I ordered Dairy Ice Cream of choices of three scoops of strawberry, pistachio and chocolate with a home-baked cookie.

My husband had Peach and Cherry Crumble served with custard. Perhaps crumbles were too crumbly and dry but he said custard was nice.

Yes, I also did the toilet check. It's in downstairs. The toilet was very clean with lots of cubicles but each cubicle size is rather narrow. I thought I would become claustrophobic and nearly passed out as the toilet room was far too hot as if the heater were full on.  I had to go back upstairs quickly to get fresh air rather I powder my nose to refresh myself.

Over all, we enjoyed our dinner and the evening. Do we go back and try other dishes from the menu at full price?  Well, not sure yet but they are doing Afternoon Tea for two for £15 and its menu sounds nice (http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/media/ugc/files/afternoon-tea-menu.pdf). I am also interested in their Lobster Thursday, and all that Jazz!

We completed online survey once we came home and we got free desert voucher.... Ooops, I have just discovered that it expired on 4th August. Not to worry. I am sure I will receive further emails about other offers from Browns. I can wait. Just like I can wait for my hair to grow back a bit and settle down over the next 2 weeks. I am not looking forward to go back to their toilet though ...

That's all forks!