Brunch at The Glad Cafe, Glasgow

I never visited Something back in the day, but I’d heard good things, so when we were deciding where to go for our “Boozy Bookclub Brunch” I was excited to hear that Something had moved to The Glad Cafe. Sure, it’s in Glasgow’s South Side, which always seems like a faff to get to when you’re used to the City Centre and the West End, but the Glad Cafe is cool and I felt like Something would be worth the trip.

Only problem? We were going to be eight people strong, and when I emailed to book, I was told that the Glad Cafe doesn’t take bookings at the weekend, only through the week. Still, they promised to be expecting us and ready to push a couple of tables together when we arrived. They weren’t, but it was a very busy Sunday lunchtime and in the end, we figured it out.

 

The Glad and The Glad Cafe

 

Once settled, drinks we ordered and we fell upon the menu. Debs had already commented that the menu online looked amazing and that she was unable to choose what to have. Having a paper copy in my hands didn’t help at all because everything sounded amazing but eventually, after much soul searching, I settled on the Shakshouka because I love the stuff but it doesn’t often appear on menus.

The Something philosophy is that a good breakfast (or brunch) usually involves eggs. Sure, they have veggie and vegan friendly options and even some non-veggie and non-vegan options that still don’t involve eggs, but eggs are the main event. I’m on their side on this one; scrambled, fried, boild poached, baked or soaked into bread to make French toast – eggs are amazing. I had absolutely no regrets about ordering my Shakshouka except that it meant I couldn’t try everything else.

 

shakshouka

 

When it arrived it came in the frying pan it had been cooked in. The two free range eggs baked to perfection, sprinkled with a good pinch of dill and hiding a rich and just slightly sweet tomato ragu. They even gave me a couple of chunky slices of sourdough toast to dip in it. Brunch heaven!

We devoured our food, discussed the book (Life of Pi, which was pretty popular on the whole apart from some pacing issues) and a few of us managed to find some space for the cakes we’d been eyeing up on the bar since we’d arrived. I got a slice of the pistachio loaf cake because I am totally incapable of resisting anything that includes pistachio. It was not a mistake.

 

Pistachio loaf cake

 

So I’m delighted that Something has found a home at The Glad Cafe. It’s a cool, comfy, cozy place with good beer and a chilled vibe and it’s exactly the right place to have a lazy and delicious brunch. Sure, it’s a short wander out of the comfort zones that the city centre and the West End can too easily become, but it’s well worth taking that wander.