Willow Grove Coffee — Restaurant in Scotland

We visited Glasgow from Canada to attend a wedding and decided on walking around the university during Christmas time. As it happens, I really had to go #1, and wandered into this establishment. The place looked so busy. I went up to the counter and tried to order a coffee so I wouldn't feel so bad using their facilities. I was told they were closed, but I think the owner saw on my face that I needed to use the restroom, so he offered and off I went.

When I came out, they offered us cake. I declined because I wasn't sure it was vegan. They said it was, and handed us two to-go boxes. We asked how much it was; it was free.

Would you believe how shocked we were when we realised we crashed their staff party to use their toilet and they fed us? I so wanted to come back during operating hours,, but we were leaving for the highlands and didn't have time for a second visit on the way back to catch the plane the week after. Instead, I waited over 7 months (🤦‍♀️) to finally review this place.

If this is what they do for non-customers, I can only imagine what service this great...

Edit: I don’t know what happened since last year but the food is dropped so much in quality. I have had the avo toast before and although I am not a fan of coriander it used to be okay. Now there was so much coriander that I couldn’t taste anything else. It made the whole thing so bitter. The avocados were definitely not fresh as half of it was brown and I’m sure there was coriander mixed in with it because it was super bitter as well. There was also no hummus. We took it as a takeaway but we were not told they would not add it. Honestly l’m very disappointed and I regret making this one of our Valentine’s Day stops!!

Willow grove has become my go to local ground coffe - matcha latte - brownie - bread place. The matcha is so smooth, the bread has that wonderful happy sourdough tang, and the brownies are a magical treat. And if you are looking for more, the staff is...

A lovely and warm little cafe. It is a nice place to have a wee meal, coffee or cake. They do offer hot morning rolls as well. Baked goods looked tempting though I didn’t have any.

Unfortunately, what I have ordered wasn’t to my taste. A piccolo that I found too ‘milky’ and I could barely enjoy the taste of the coffee in it.

A shakshuka that I found it to be basically an Italian tomato sauce with the fried eggs (sunny-side up eggs) on it, then some touch ups and garnish. Yes, some people mix the eggs with sauce and some don’t and I don’t mind either. But for me the tomato base of a Shakshuka has its distinct spices and flavor, it just shouldn’t be tasting like a very basic Italian tomato sauce.

Still, it is a lovely place and...