Green Gates Sauchiehall Street — Restaurant in Scotland

How I wanted to give them a positive review. They are deserving of it if your only prerequisite is that the food is lovely. And it was. There was little to complain about the food. Or even the staff interaction. They were pleasant.

It was everything else that was the problem.

The restaurant was quiet with only a few other diners so we were the biggest party of 16. We expect that service might be slower. But not deathly slow.

5.45. We arrived for a family members birthday and drink orders are taken. At approximately 6pm they take the order for starters. An odd way of doing it. But we’ll see how that pans out.

6.20. The starters begin to arrive. Not in any great haste. By the time the last person, who was the birthday boy got his starter almost everyone else has finished eating theirs.

And then it unravels. Drink orders for the rest of the evening are chaotic. They get one drink at a time while others are waving to add theirs. At the same table.

7pm. I finally ask the question that my increasingly unsettled companions have been muttering for a while now. When are they going to take the mains order? He quickly whips out his notepad and starts writing them down. An hour passes.

They deliver some spiced onions, presumably to deflect from the fact that the mains are still in the making.

7.45pm I enquire politely about our food as it’s been two hours since we arrived. He tells me it’s ready to come out. 25 minutes pass.

A couple of my relatives have other places to be and trains to catch. They’re becoming nervous.

8.10pm. The mains begin to arrive. But with no coordination. Glasses are now empty. Cutlery has not been replaced. The mains come 2 at a time as if they’re coming off a conveyor belt. The naan and the rice are nowhere in sight. The mains continue to come over the course of another 15 minutes. Then a few rices arrive. Then 2 naans. Then some more rice. I’ve still not even had my main yet. Everybody else is now sharing their small rices and naans before some more arrive. By this point we don’t know if we’ve had everything else or not. But we’re past caring. I eat half a naan while waiting.

8.30. They ask me if I’m waiting on a curry. I’m waiting on a biryani. It is sent out five minutes later. On its own. I had also ordered some fries but they’re nowhere in sight. So I tuck into the biryani. Half way through it the biryani sauce arrives. Then when everyone else is finished and I’m on the last few mouthfuls the fries finally arrive.

You can imagine the fear when they offered us the desert menu. Other issues included promising my cousin European options for the three people who can’t or don’t eat spicy food. They failed to provide that.

The serving staff were patient because we were slowly becoming a bit tetchy and they never lost face with us. The food, erratic as it was is lovely but the service is the worst I’ve ever experienced. They refused to deduct anything for the poor service and even tried to conceal the previously paid £90 deposit from the bill so we were calculating it at a higher amount.

They used the large table as an excuse. We were split into 3 tables along the wall and would have been happy to be taken as such. There were few other diners in so it’s a poor excuse for a four hour dining experience of 2 courses. And yes it was 9.40 before we managed to escape after even the bill seemed to be getting drafter in via Amazon next day prime.

They didn’t seem to acknowledge the mess of the service. I did at one point ask if they were short staffed and was assured they were not. They gave two people a 20 percent off voucher for next time. Sorry guys. There won’t be a next time. As beautiful as your food was, it was massively distracted by how long we had to wait and how disjointed it was. I don’t know how you expected anyone to eat their main dish without the rice or cutlery. We’re...

We simply love Indian food! We've travelled all over the UK experiencing the good and the bad.

Glassy Central is simply the best we've experienced. My fiancee and I found it by chance and we're so glad we didn't walk past.

The entrance was uninspiring and the steps down to the basement had me asking if we were doing the right thing.

Once downstairs the sight of almost every table taken on a Thursday evening at 7pm filled me with confidence. This place was popular...

The 3 course evening meal had a good selection of what I call the basics with 3 starters and about 8 main courses and Ice-cream to finish.

We shared the vegetable and chicken pakora between us. The batter was light and crispy, both were very tasty and not over cooked like the norm in some places. The salad was also very fresh.

The chicken tikka masala and special Achari curry were both superb. We also shared them.

With most Indian restaurants the dishes all taste so similar because they simply have the same base and then just add extra ingredients. Both dishes were clearly prepared separately.

The variety and depth of flavours were incredible. I didn't want to swallow! Pillau rice was also perfect and the nan bread was light and tasty. We finished off with their only choice for dessert ice-cream.

For £11.95 it's really hard to see how they can make a profit!

The owner even came across to ask if we were happy with our meal. We both thought this was a nice touch. I told him it was the best curry we had ever tasted. So he explained his background in the industry working up from dish washer, through the cook/chef levels to eventual owner. His experience in the trade shows through the service in his restaurant.

He kindly explained why the food tasted so good and the effort made preparing the various dishes and why they've moved away from the buffet style.

He even took the time to explain why there was additional design work on their side seats for two where we sat, which was an interesting story. It's clear the owner and the staff have worked hard and they take a pride in the restaurant and it runs through everything i that they do. The staff were extremely attentative and polite.

We purchased a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc wine which was also very good.

All in our bill came to £43.90, the £5 tip was easy to hand over.

Whilst we live in Fife, Glassy Central exceeded our expectations and we will make the restaurant a regular trip through for us.

Congratulations to all the staff at Glassy Central and we would like to wish them continued...

Beware! We chose this restaurant because of its apparently "excellent" reviews on here and on TripAdvisor. We should have known when we walked in that we had been duped. It was dead empty, yet it's mothers day. Most good restaurants are very busy on mothers day so this wasn't a good sign. The decor is awful. Bad paintwork, shawdy woodwork, wallpaper on the ceiling with leaflets stuck on certain parts with black tape as if to cover something. The food was not good at all. I've been eating indian food since before I could talk and I'm 40 years old. I know good indian food. This food was just about edible. We were starving as we had been in a spa all afternoon around the corner at the Blythswood Square Hotel. I was treating my mother to a mothers day spa stay. Her favourite food is indian and we had high hopes for this restaurant but these were soon dashed when the starters arrived. Stodgy, plain, lifeless food. Our curries were all thick sauce and barely any meat. Resembled thick soup. Do not eat here. There are brilliant indian restaurants in this city and this isn't one of them. Upon closer inspection of the excellent reviews; I could see that most of them came from people who had only ever written 1 review. Alarm bells! I believe most of these reviews to be fake as no one in their right mind could rave about this place unless it's to rave about how bad it is! I am currently sitting on the toilet with stomach cramps. Got a feeling. I'll be on here...