Panang — Restaurant in Scotland

It's one of those trendy place to be type of joints. Hyped as authentic Thai cuisine, sadly that facade rapidly dissolves as soon as the first course arrives.

Sides were cold, which is your classic telltale sign of reheating. When a place not only resorts to reheating precooked food, but when they struggle with that... You know you've made an error in judgement by visiting.

Drinks were horrific, ice in a piña colada? One draught lager to choose from and it was so obscure, I've forgotten the name. The complimentary tap water was the best tasting drink on the table.

The staff deserve better. It seemed obvious they knew they were slinging reheated frozen shyte at you. Most of the staff were very helpful, polite and professional.

If you want decent Thai food, try Chaophraya. If you want an inexpensive immitation, try Iceland's ready meals. If however you fancy an overwhelming feeling of regret that you shouldn't have walked past Topolobamba to eat a lukewarm spring roll... This is your place!

Follow up to Jack's response:

You have to admire when managers get tetchy and lob sarcastic loaded questions your way. If anything it shows they care, which is always a good thing. However, your efforts should be firmly focused on ensuring your microwaves are in working order so as to avoid the influx of cold food reviews.

Regarding the piña colada, perhaps I was ambiguous. The drink was loaded with large ice cubes. Piña coladas should be blended. It's traditionally a blended cocktail (with enough ice to chill the drink, not enough to sink an Arran ferry). As you're an inauthentic Thai restaurant, it's acceptable you wouldn't know this.

I've never tried Topalabamba, however now I know it's the same owners... I won't be. If I bump into you, I'll be sure to buy you a pint of your own world renowned lager for the heads up. The very same lager that's brewed locally...

My husband and I had to go to the city centre so he promised me lunch. After turning down an Indian meal further outwith Glasgow I remembered that a friend had mentioned Mezzedakia, which is a greek/eastern Mediterranean restaurant. We went in around 1.30pm and missed the lunch time rush. Immediately I felt that the vibe was laid back and relaxed (just like greek restaurants) but amused to hear 60's soul music instead of Greek/Mediterranean music. We were pleasantly surprised to find an inexpensive lunch deal of 2 "mezze dishes" and one side dish with one mini pitta each for £9.95pp. We ordered a diet soft drink each and perused the menu. There was plenty to choose from on the mains/sides but there is also a kebab or gyro menu for the same price. We chose tzatziki/spicy red pepper dips to start with the pitta bread but I think that just one basket of bread between 2 is more than enough when you see the portions of the other dishes. I opted for the grilled Halloumi salad and the spanokopita (spinach/feta cheese filled filo pastries) for my dishes while my husband opted for the spiced minced chicken mini kebabs and the meatballs (3 fair sized) in tomato sauce. Everything tasted absolutely lovely although I did have one comment on the spanokopita, which had been deep fried instead of baked which made it a little greasy. Not that I minded as we both polished everything off. We opted for a coffee each to finish and because I had mentioned the pastries these were taken off the final bill. One final thing the service was excellent and friendly and speedy. We will return to try other items off the menu.👍 Note; This is no longer middle eastern restaurant, has turned into oriental restaurant since...

I was here on Saturday night with some work mates. We had booked a table for 6:45pm and when we arrived (slightly early for our reservation) the restaurant was absolutely jumpin'! We had a drink at the bar but it was difficult to stand in a spot that didn't obstruct the waiting staff who were buzzing about to and from the pass. The restaurant was roasting hot - although the air con was on, the temperature was unreal! We were glad when we finally got seated - up the stairs at a cosy booth in the corner. This was perfect for us because the lively, super busy, almost frantic atmosphere was a little bit overwhelming. The servers were absolutely top of pops! We received fantastic customer service from start to finish. The staff were rushed off their feet but nothing was too much trouble.

The food arrived pretty quickly and although I only had a couple of small plates, I enjoyed my food. The veggie spring rolls were sublime! Super tasty, light, flavoursome and not too oily. I didn't rate the coconut rice - the flavour was just far too overpowering. It was more like a desserr than a side for your savoury main dish.

The cocktails were great and you fair got your monies worth - the mojito was a bit too 'boosy' for my liking but the barman was happy to top my glass up with some extra mixers.

We spent just under £200 - that was for 5 people. We had just the right amount of food and that included three rounds of drinks.

I would definitely return but I'd try the lunchtime service or a midweek evening when perhaps the restaurant wasn't quite so busy.

The decor is lovely! The hanging lanterns are...