Award-winning chain opens first Glasgow restaurant

We were invited along to the “get the staff ready before being unleashed to the public” night at the new Giraffe at Tesco Silverburn.

We have been to one of their london venues for breakfast so were looking forward to this.  A  bit strange being located right next to Tesco rather than being inside Silverburn like the other restaurants (and you can enter/exit from Tesco too – but then Tesco do own the Giraffe chain now).  Once inside, it’s pretty cosy and not like the brightly lit Tesco cafe of old.  With wine crates on the ceiling, recessed lighting  and a cosy vibe you would never think you were at a shopping mall.

The bar area looked inviting, a place to sit whilst the kids get their school uniforms purchased perhaps? 😉 Unfortunately it was just smoothies and soft drinks tonight as the licence application was still in progress.

Talking of smoothies….

Hippy Hippy Shake £3.85 – pineapple, passion fruit, mango, banana, pomegranate juice
Ginger Blast £3.85 – fresh ginger, pineapple, red apple, elderflower cordial, banana
Mango Mama £3.85 – mango, strawberry, banana, orange, apple juice

Cool and not too thick but with the right amount of gloopy, fibrey goodness of a smoothie.

The food

Penne Margherita

£8.25 or £9.95 with meatballs. – roasted cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, basil & rocket. Mr C loved the perfectly cooked pasta, none of that overcooked limp stuff. The meatballs were chunky and full of flavour too – for a man of Italian stock I think a thumbs up!

“Kiev” Chicken Schnitzel

£11.25 buttermilk & tarragon marinated breast, garlic herb butter, mash, roasted lemon & green salad

Garlic and Tarragon – a great combination with chicken. An inside out Chicken Kiev with smooth buttery mash. Tender chicken as well. Mr Foodie said Nom.

 BBQ Ribs & Chicken Combo

£13.95 1/2 rack of glazed ribs, piri-piri grilled 1/4 chicken, corn on the cob, creamy slaw & skin on fries

Woah, the piri piri sauce on the side was mind blowing for me, the BBQ sauce not too sweet and the ribs ….well they just fell apart they were that juicy and tender – perfect. The minty slaw was a pleasant surprise from the usual. Two thumbs up from Mrs Foodie.

Fresh Lemonade With Mint

£2.25 cloudy & refreshing and very minty – was very handy in these humid days.

“Moroccan” Fresh Mint Tea

£1.95 very minty and served in a cast iron style tea pot.  Good amount of tea for the money.

Sunshine Coast Iced Tea

£2.95 ice cold chamomile & green tea with mango, lime & fresh mint.  A lovely mix of Chamomile and Green tea.   Could almost imagine sitting out on a deck swaying on a rocking chair.

Tiramisu Sundae

£5.50 espresso, vanilla mascarpone & double chocolate ice cream with a dusting of cocoa & a chocolate flake – not as watery as your average Tiramisu – watch out the coffee pools at the bottom giving you a quick shot!

Rocky Road Sundae

£5.95 double chocolate & very vanilla ice cream, marshmallows, chocolate brownie & warm chocolate sauce – seemingly great to share or just eat yourself into a sugar coma.  Mmmmm…

Baked White Chocolate, Mascarpone & Passion Fruit Cheesecake

£5.25 topped with fresh passion fruit – we didn’t get much white chocolate taste but it was full on with the passion fruit zing! The base was good as well, more of a cake base than biscuit.

Espresso

£1.85 had a good crema on it, and was thrown down the hatch quickly by Mr C.

 Soya Capp

£2.35 soya milk cappuccino Didn’t taste too  much of soya milk, so a pleasant vegan-friendly change.

Super Mocha Crunch

£2.95 creamy mocha with chocolate sauce & amaretti biscuit topping – like a dessert and coffee at the one time.  I could feel the calories jumping.  Creamy, crunchy and very moreish.

We had fun putting the team through their paces and enjoyed the friendliness of the staff, decor and of course the food.  Our only minus was sharing the toilets with the main Tesco store.

Otherwise, we’ll be back again once they have settled down.

Opening Hours:
Monday – Saturday: 7am – 11pm
Sunday: 7am – 9pm
Bank Holidays: 7am – 9pm

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post, however I did receive the meals as free in order for staff training.  It was not in exchange for a blog post. All opinions are my own and not influenced in any way.

EDIT: Giraffe Silverburn has now closed and become a Tesco cafe but a new Giraffe restaurant has opened in the city centre here.