The Two Figs

Two figs is always a pleasant option for a nice night out on Byres Road. In the winter it is warmly lit with gas fire at the entrance and twinkle lights that give it a nice festive feel. Although we didn’t eat on this occasion the food in the past has been simple and good. This time we were in for drinks– I got fig Bloody Mary. It was lovely and a welcome change to a traditional Bloody Mary. My friend had a hot buttered rum. She vouches that it was delicious! The service was above average and we really appreciated the friendliness of the staff. Overall a big two thumbs up from us!

Well, at least the food was good.
We arrived at Two Figs at around 11.30 on Sunday morning, not in a particular rush but still fairly hungry. We waited at the door to be seated while the server chap took some stuff to a table nearby (twice) and were then taken through to our table (a large one right at the other end of the restaurant, set for four). No idea why he chose this table as there were other smaller tables unoccupied nearer the kitchen, but hey. We sat down and waited for about ten minutes before getting menus, at which point we ordered drinks (no drinks menus but we just wanted tea and OJ). Twenty minutes later, no drinks had appeared but another lass came to take our drinks order again and so we gave her our food order instead. Another few minutes and we had almost decided to leave as we couldn’t believe it would take this long to stick a teabag in a pot, but then the drinks did finally arrive at the table. No teaspoon or sugar were offered and the mugs/​glass weren’t exactly clean but we were just happy to have beverages. We waited around some more and eventually our food arrived; at this point it was a full hour after we had stepped in the door. Luckily the veggie breakfasts we had asked for were pretty good… As we were very hungry at this point we polished them off in a matter of minutes. Funnily enough we got our bill and paid with MUCH swifter service than earlier… Cynically I wonder whether this was a direct correlation to the fact that money was involved in the transaction!
However despite the disproportionate wait in a slightly more than half full restaurant at Sunday brunchtime and somewhat sloppy delivery, the staff could not have been more pleasant. They apologised for the wait more than once, they were friendly and happy to help when we asked for condiments to accompany our food.
The food itself was well tasty which is mainly what saved this review. The portion size was about right, the price was decent (7.95 for the plate which felt like good value; my pal had a similar dish at Cafezique the week before which was of lower quality and more expensive) and the veggie sausage was a lovely chickpea bhaji-​esque number we both deemed very tasty. I would’ve preferred a full mushroom rather than the half I was given, but that’s just nitpicking I suppose.
It’s a three star review because I wouldn’t rush back but at the same time the food was quite good and maybe they were just a bit understaffed. I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt as we can all have a bad day.

I admit I had not been here in awhile but I made a detour to go after my planned brunch location was unavailable. It ended up being a pleasant detour and I’ll need to go again soon.
I went on a mid afternoon on a Saturday and was able to quickly get a seat. Service was fast and the weekend brunch menu had a lot of choices.
The original plan was to get a bacon roll but I got the Lebanese Breakfast, which contained chickpeas and tomato with a baked egg, potatoes, and toasted pita. My friend ordered a bacon roll (well, ciabatta and bacon) and soup.
Food arrived and matched all of my expectations. It was good to get something just a little different from the usual brunch options and it was a dish is personally recommend.
Neither the tea nor coffee were especially standout but that’s what post-​war brunch time is for. The pricing, while not standout cheap, was very reasonable and worked out too about £18 for the two of us. I now just need to go to try their lunch or dinner menu.

Popped in for a spot of lunch after a wander through the West End. Staff are friendly and welcoming, although easily distracted it would seem (several mistakes made regarding our order, but all fixed immediately and without fuss so no real problems). We were disappointed that the delicious nachos are no longer on the menu– so disappointed in fact that we enquired and were told they are just off the menu during the festive season and will be back in January… The hummus is homemade and delicious, and the menu has lots of slightly unusual dishes as well as lots of standard favourites. Great value for money and the staff are lovely.

Went here with friends for food and beers after the West End Festival mardi gras parade on Sunday.
I had the halloumi shawarma which was nice but not amazing and at just under £11 for a small skewer of halloumi, peppers and onions, some rice and a flatbread it was overpriced. Others at the table had the sticky pork salad, veggie burger (huge patty!) and rib eye steak. I stole a chip and a mushroom from the steak plate and they were delish!

I’ve always wanted to try The Two Figs and looking for a place to escape the rain after a visit to Kelvingrove it was a great choice.
Initially I thought it was pretty small but then discovered there was a whole other section through the back.
We managed to bag a window booth seat which provided a good look out point for rainy Byres Road. The colour scheme and fig/​vine detailing on the walls are a nice touch and the place feels very homely.
The menu has a great selection of mains, small plates and brunch options ranging from ciabattas and breakfasts to burgers and salads.
As always my eyes are drawn to the dessert section and my dining companion and I opted for tea and cake in the form of the salted caramel chocolate torte with icecream with ginger and lemon tea. The tea for me was a bit too much like lemsip but that was just a bad choice and the sweet and fudgey torte more than made up for it.
We were under no pressure to order anything else and the staff were all very friendly. There were a good number of veggie options on the menu and its somewhere I look forward to trying again.

Confidently Good
Sometimes you want to hate a place, just because it’s the British thing to do when something is confidently good :-/​Well I just can’t bring myself to do that with The Two Figs, even though it goes against my every instinct — being British and all (well at least until 18 Sep 2014, or not?).
I visited with a couple of friends for an early bite of Dinner/​Tea (call it what you want) and even though we were the only ones there, this gastro/​bar had atmosphere and character oozing from it’s fig pattern wallpaper, stone walls and leather-​bound booths. We all ordered Haddock Suppers at £9-​ish and all were appropriately satisfied with the crisply battered fresh fish accompanied by flavoursome chips. I ordered a St Mungo’s at £3.70, my current favourite from tap at the mo and I have to say all were served with an honest smile which seems to be the norm at Pot & Kettle’s 3 establishments.
It’s probably time for another wee visit for one of their £5 lunch deals :-)

What a pleasant surprise.
On the hunt for a Tues night quiz and stumbled in here and had a great night.
Great table service with some of the best cocktails I’ve ever had in Glasgow, which is a bold statement. Unaware that we got free nachos with the quiz, we bought nachos… Then got free nachos. Lots of nachos! Didn’t skimp on the portion for the free ones I should note, which impressed me, and the food folks were chomping on looked amazing. The menu was a charmer and I will definitely be back to sample the food proper.
A lovely décor, with a roaring fire, I was very relaxed in here. No hassles.
A small wee place, there is a whole separate seated section next door to the bar area. I’m keen to see what it’s like on a busy night.

I once hired this place for a birthday party back when it was called the Living Room, and I hadn’t been in it since; but when I heard that it had been taken over by the Left Bank folk I was keen to try it out, and a visit from an out-​of-​town friend provided the perfect opportunity for lunch.
The ‘lunch for a fiver’ deal has now split — the burgers (both carnivorous and veggie) are now six pounds, although you can still get the noodles or the soup/​sandwich deal for a fiver. I opted for the veggie burger, and my friend went for a falafel and quinoa salad combination.
It was definitely one of the tastiest and interesting veggie burgers I’ve had — none of your ‘just out of the freezer’ generic soyburger here — this was a wonderful flavour combination of chick peas and sweet potato with a hint of coriander, served with rustic hand-​cut chips with peel still attached and flavoured with rosemary salt, plus a wee pot of garlic mayo for dipping. Just wonderful.
My friend’s falafel salad looked great too, and I made a mental note to sample that next time round — the falafels were huge! There was a moment of panic as she thought for a second that the topping was cous-​cous (she’s gluten intolerant), but the waitress quickly reassured her that it was quinoa.
I also sampled the St. Mungo ale, which although new to me was very quaffable I must say.
We finished with coffee, which I found ever so slightly disappointing and not up to my usual ‘rocket fuel’ strength. But I am a coffee snob, so maybe it’s just me.
The layout of the place is a bit strange, it straddles two units with a street-​entrance close in the middle, so there is an odd back-​passage connecting the two halves; the farthest room feels quite isolated at times as you have no direct visual link to the rest of it, making it hard to attract the attention of your server at times if they’re not constantly checking in on you. It’s definitely not good Feng-​Shui!
It makes for a good area for large groups, and sadly there was one in today creating rather more noise that was necessary.
I’m really tempted to give it the full 5 stars, but the lacklustre coffee, the noisy company and the laid-​back service doesn’t warrant it this time I’m afraid.

Great food and exceptional service make this one a 5 star for me!
I met up with lovely Kate M for lunch and was excited to finally try the food here — I’ve been lots of times for drinks but normally before dinner at Number 16 over the road. They have a lunch menu of dishes for £5 (burger, mee goreng noodles, soup & wrap) but I fancied something a little different. The waiter who was working was a gem — friendly, helpful, not overbearing. He said the nachos on the small dishes menu were a good sized portion for sharing so I ordered them for lunch. He was right — it’s a pretty big bowl but I managed to eat most of it myself!
These weren’t just bog-​standard nachos either — the tortilla chips had a spicy seasoning on them of paprika and possibly something else as well — which gave them a real fiery kick. The salsa topping was super fresh and tasty with a great amount of cheese and sour cream. For £5.95 I thought these were pretty good value and would indeed make for a good sharing meal with another dish from the small dishes menu.
There’s lots of lovely, unusual dishes on the main menu served from 12pm as well which I’d been keen to try for dinner — superfood salad shawarma lamb/​halloumi all take my fancy.

So, the last thing you want when entering a restaurant for brunch at 12 noon, after a party on a Saturday night, is to be told there will be a 20min wait, and with an attitude. But you think, well, Tribeca is full, its lashing rain, and at least there is a free table and maybe the food will make up for it,
How silly. We were handed the menus, and left to choose for an inordinately long time. After the 20 minute wait, we were still sitting in front of our menus, and the couple beside us who had been seated after we had, and who’s order had been taken already, my friend beckoned to the waitress and asked if we could order, she asked if we would like some drinks. Clearly the food order had to happen separately.
We finally got to order the food, and there was no second query as to our drink requirements, so at approx. 1.10pm, we got our food order served to us. And what a spectacular disappointment. How hard can it be to make decent french toast? I say one of the servers arrive in from Iceland/​Farmfoods across the road with a bag including their cheap and nasty white sliced loaf. which I strongly suspect became my sad little serving of tasteless breakfast. with two sad bits of bacon. I had no more coffee left after waiting the hour, and was not asked if i wanted another. My friends had the thali and veggie breakfasts. Neither looked worth the time or money, and tasted as such. The concentrate orange juice was a further insult.
We finally got out at 2.30pm, after sitting for two hours. And not enjoyably. Mostly in a hungry rage.
Save yourselves. In hindsight, we should have waited in the rain for Tribeca. or gone ANYWHERE ELSE.
What a frickin shambles.

Absolutely loved this place from the minute I walked in! The décor, the staff, the wonderful selection of alcohol… this place is just grand.
I came in here today for lunch because I’d heard great things, and so hopped on a tube to Kelvinhall and in I popped. It wasn’t busy at all, so I was given a nice big table right away. I was immediately drawn to the gin offer; The Best G&T they’ve called it. A double measure of Martin Miller’s gin with juniper berries, cucumber, citrus oils and topped up with tonic. For a fiver. Get inside my liver.
I ordered the Mee Goreng noodles, which were only a fiver with the lunch menu (and the portion was huuuuge!), and paid a wee bit more to get shredded duck on top. Absolutely gorgeous. The noodles were amazing with coriander, spring onions, peppers, and an endless list of other ingredients, and the tender shredded duck on top was to die for.
This place could easily be walked past, and it’s not on the more visited part of Byres Road, but I would definitely take a wander down to try it out. The staff make you feel right at home. Being the sister restaurant of The Left Bank, I wouldn’t have expected anything less from this place. Get here now!

I had such a great time drinking very potent cocktails here with very drunken company.
The bartenders happily made drinks off the menu and in fact welcomed the challenge. Really great craic too and up for a laugh.
It’s pretty dark in there so perfect for a mellow meet up or if you are having a bad skin or hair day or God forbid both, this is a great place to look Mariah like.
Nice food menu too but again we just stuck to the booze.

Not normally the kind of chappery who is drawn to a place that does great food and cocktails when I’m out on a drunken night, I was entirely shocked/​pleased and pleased/​shocked by how much I enjoyed myself in this wee joint.
Ok, I’d be wrong not to atribute a portion of the fun I had here to my cohorts and fellow booze guzzling associates, but to detract from the quality of booze on the cards/​table, would be very unfair.
Right, so it’s all about the cocktails and despite having West on tap, I’d recommend that you play to their strengths. For a large portion of our time here we bowed to the drinkies on offer via the menu, but when one of our group ordered a off piste ‘Penicillin’, it was made without any hassle and tasted quite splendid.
Service was sharp, full of banter and deserving of a big tip. The only down side? We had to leave. 5^th star reserved until a return visit has confirmed it’s awesomeness… let’s say it’s pending.

I really like it in here. I’ve been 3 times and have enjoyed each visit.
The staff are lovely, it’s cosy and the menu is different. Try the Swordfish.
They have great cocktails and there is a red wine called Tiddy Widdy Well which is my absolute favourite.

I’ve been here twice. So quaint. Just a two second walk off the tube. Twice for breakfast. It’s one of my son and his friends’ favorite morning haunts after a late night. I can see why. It’s very low-​key, great coffee, delicious food and personable servers. The booths are generous so there’s plenty of room for coats and hats.
Back to the food, we’ve had their poached eggs served with spinach and a mornay sauce as well as their french toast. Fabulous. Not too much, just enough.
We’ll be back!!!

Mmmm. Now this is my sort of place. Top nosh, understatedly lavish décor, inventive cocktails, and laid back atmosphere. And did I mention the food?
The sister-​restaurant of ‘Left Bank’, it has the same style menu, albeit slightly smaller. The burgers are a staple, there’s a curry, fish and chips, some salads, swordfish steak, and a whole host of smaller starters /​tapas dishes. But these aren’t any ordinary meals, oh no. Need convincing? Just log onto the website and read the menu to get an idea of how different «Two Figs» is.
The curry and rice for example. «Aubergine, sweet potato and spinach, in a rich tomato, coconut and curry leaf sauce with just a wee kick!»
Or the main, «Persian Feta and pistachio on ras el hanout roasted aubergine, flatcap mushroom and spinach.»
The food sounds extravagent but is by no means pretentious or trying to confuse its diners as some top-​class restaurants do with their «joux» instead of «gravy» malarky.
Instead they use different ingredients and recipes to create wholesome and yet simple meals. And if sometimes you just want plain and simple, the burgers are divine.
The service is a little slow, so don’t come here if you’re in a rush. But the staff are friendly, and have that cool laid-​back west end vibe.
It isn’t somewhere you’d wander by on an evening stroll of the west end, so make the effort to book and try (I do recommend booking, even during the week). It’s only an extra 5 minutes from the Hillhead underground hub of Byres Road.
They also do brunch, which I’ve yet to try, but if the evening meals are anything to go by, they’ll be equally as delicious. A pub /​restaurant, you can also just swing by for some beers and cocktails (check the menu again, I had a honeycomb mint concoction to wash down my burger).
All in all, different and quirky in an understated ‘not-​trying’ manner that works a treat for my honed west-​end tastes.

One trendy, stylish, classy little number this is. The décor is modern yet comfortable with an almost showroom feel. The menu lists a good range of the usual burgers, pizzas and pastas as well as breakfast options for those who are up bright and early (unfortunately, we missed these options by quite a bit…). In our hungover state, the burgers were the safe, comfort food which was opted for. They were above the average burger without a doubt and did the job.
Meanwhile, the staff are friendly, quick and effective, though they do lack a little bit of warm. Truth be told, for some reason, there just seems to be something missing which you cannot place your finger on.
Good for a try, and I’ll probably give it another chance at a later date, but there are definitely other places nearby that do have that extra little thing.

If I was the type of person who believed in magic, I would seriously think 5 Byres Road is cursed. Previously the home of Arisaig, Cabbages and Kings and The Living Room, no proprietor seems to be able to hold on to the site.
Hopefully this pattern will change with The Two Figs which opened in August. Owned by Catherine Hardy and Jacqueline Fennessy of popular The Left Bank on Gibson Street, they seem to be doing a good job of rewriting history so far. Reviews in the Scottish press have been rave and every time I walk past most of the tables are occupied, whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner time.
My boyfriend and I popped in for lunch one rainy Monday. I loved the stylish décor; modern yet homely (the flat screen television fire hoisted on the wall is a particularly nice touch). I ordered the veggie burger and he ordered the beef, both were given the thumbs up by us. I will definitely be back to sample more of the extensive menu which includes breakfast, lunch and evening, as well as a cocktail list.

One grey Glaswegian Saturday morning, my boyfriend and I decided to treat ourselves to a slap up breakfast. We wandered onto the bottom of Byres Road and decided to try out The Two Figs.
Only opened this year, the Two Figs is owned by the same people as the Left Bank. The food is intended to be similar — but somewhat cheaper. The average main course price ranges from £8 to £11 — and their menu is inspired by worldwide food.
The interior is absolutely gorgeous — and it didn’t surprise me at all to learn that it’s been nominated as the «Most Stylish Restaurant» at this year’s Scottish Style Awards. The walls are covered with specially designed wallpaper featuring — you guessed it — figs.
We ordered from the breakfast menu, which is available till noon and offers full cooked breakfasts for just under a fiver. They also offer treats such as french toast, which is what I ordered, mmmm!
The food was good, the décor was lovely, and if you get a window seat you can watch the world go by very comfortably. We have been back in the evening for a drink though, and drinks are a little pricey.
Despite all of this, I felt that there was a little something missing. Although the service was perfectly nice — the waiting staff could have been a bit warmer. But maybe I’m just being picky.