Recess

We ate here for supper a few times during our stay at the Hilton Garden Inn. We had breakfast at the hotel daily as well. The service was great every time we were here for supper. We were greeted warmly, seated quickly, and check ins happened at appropriate intervals during the meal. We did have to ask for drink menus on a couple different days but it was no problem to get them when asked. We tried a few different drinks and they were all good. I liked the drumstick ice cream inspired cocktail in particular. The menu isn't huge but there's a good variety. We particularly enjoyed nachos as a starter (fresh made nacho chips and a variety of tasty toppings), the burgers (tried 3 different ones, all good), and the pizzas. Our surprise favorite pizza was the hot pepperoni which has a bit of honey drizzle. We weren't sure about honey on pizza but it was sooooo good. Really nicely balanced sweet taste against the savory pepperoni. We asked them to go light on the chili flakes and that was a light to moderate amount of heat for a Canadian! We didn't end up doing dessert any day, so I can't comment on that. The atmosphere is great. The restaurant is really nicely decorated, sophisticated modern vibes with lots of comfortable seating either at tables or bench seats. Almost everyone gets a river view. We never ate outside but the seating out there looked really nice. Comfy seats with umbrellas in case of rain and and looks like some blankets and heaters for chilly days. The view is beautiful. The breakfast buffet was good. The service staff were all very efficient and good at their jobs, but there were days they were clearly understaffed. One day the manager pitched in to help - well done. Despite being understaffed they worked very hard to keep up and did a great job. We had only a few misses - such as watery scrambled eggs and one day my husband had a ton of eggshells in one of his sunny side up eggs. Other than that the consistent hits were the haggis, sausages, beans, eggs, pastries, toast (nice bread that seemed homemade), and fruit/yogurt station. They also had a daily smoothie and a waffle station that we didn't try. The granola was good too. They had 2 espresso machines. The tea selection was pretty reasonable, and the Earl Gray was very good. This next part gets its own paragraph. I love porridge (as you will see) and was surprised there was no porridge in the breakfast buffet, so I asked and was brought THE BEST PORRIDGE EVER IN LIFE. I had it all 4 mornings I was there and this cook knows their stuff. It was the perfect consistency with some creaminess yet a bit of chewiness, salted just the right amount, and using good quality oats for sure. It was so good I added nothing to it. No need for cinnamon, fruit, yogurt, anything. Even better than my Granny's porridge and that's saying something. Definitely did Scotland proud in the porridge department. It was so good I have a picture to remember it by, haha. Yes, I'm a bit crazy. Would recommend Recess for breakfast or supper. Definitely hope to get back there some day, especially for more porridge!

Gluten free choices were good, and the food was very tasty. However, we'd been moved into a side room as there was a private function on, and it was literally 4 conference tables & conference chairs. It felt like it was the waitress' first day, and she was overwhelmed with 4 tables and the bar to manage.

Today was the hottest day of the year in Glasgow and after returning from dinner we decided to have a drink on the terrace and it was such a lovely place to sit by the river, we expected to have a breeze from the river Clyde and it wasn’t really there but it was just so lovely to see the river shimmering in the sunshine while enjoying our drinks. Would definitely recommend and will return.

Booked a table for a meal was not advised they had a reduced menu for ‘concerts’. This was not advised on booking and the menu was not inclusive to those that had food intolerances. Menu was not inclusive, staff were not polite advised they ‘should have advised when the table was booked a week in advance’ but they didn’t! After. 5 hour drive we are now left without any food for our evening. Not impressed at all.

Actually pretty surprised. After reading reviews my expectations were low but the food was really good! Service was Glasgow standard but reasonably quiet restaurant at 5pm even with shows on at hydro and armadillo