Giraffe

There’s an abundance of restaurants to choose from over at Silverburn Shopping Centre in Glasgow and often, you can end up spending more time trying to decide where to go rather than actually eating in the place you end up in. We were there recently checking out the brand new Cineworld and seeing ‘The Gallows’. The new cinema is absolutely fantastic and I’d recommend that you check it out when you get the chance. The film that we saw, on the other hand, was awful. It really was a horror, but in a whole other sense. After enduring 90 minutes of crap, we were pretty hungry and decided to grab some food before heading home. We had heard that Giraffe were offering half price off of their food menu to all cinema ticket holders at Silverburn and decided to head along and check it out.
It was pretty quiet inside and we were seated quickly. The staff at Giraffe are all super-​friendly and it’s something that really stood out on this visit. There’s a bookshelf next to the bar with some rather interesting items on it and one of the staff members let us have a read of one of the books that we spotted while we waited for our food to arrive.
Speaking of the food, the menu here is pretty varied. There’s definitely something for just about everyone and it’s one of the better chain menus that we’ve come across. I decided to go for the Marrakech Market Salad and a Sunshine Coast Iced Tea.
The Marrakech Market Salad consists of fresh herbs, red & white quinoa, kale, sweet potato, roasted red pepper, spiced cauliflower, pomegranate, chopped almonds and a lemon honey dressing. Sounds great, right? Well it tasted good too! My only problem; however, was that there really wasn’t a lot of it. It was one of the smallest salads I’ve ever eaten and I was just glad that I was getting it half price as a result of the Cineworld deal. I’d have sent it back if it was going to cost be £8.95.
I do need to stress that despite it being an extremely small portion, it did taste pretty great. The sweet potato was perfectly cooked, the pomegranate added a lovely burst of sweetness to the dish and the peppers and chopped almonds finished it off with a really nice crunch. The kale tasted fresh and it was very well prepared. I was excited about the spiced cauliflower in this dish, but there was barely any in my salad. There was one tiny piece and that was it. I did also feel like I was finished after only a couple of bites; however, as it was just so bloody small! Did I accidentally order from the kids menu?
Remember I said that I ordered a Sunshine Coast Iced Tea with my food? Well, it was pretty special. Consisting of ice cold chamomile & green tea with mango, lime & fresh mint, this was as refreshing as a refreshing drink can be. It was so tasty that I could have finished off another couple of them quite easily. Very, very good.
Using the half price deal, we left happy enough. The others that I was with both enjoyed their food, but I was still kinda hungry during the drive home. I was looking forward to a big, colourful, filling salad but what I got didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The iced tea was delicious and the staff were excellent though, so the visit wasn’t all bad.

One Saturday morning me and my girlfriend, Claire, went to Giraffe for some food. We have been before and quite enjoyed it.
We arrive around half past 11 and order a coffee and two glasses of ice water. We decide to wait till 12 to order from the lunch menu. At this point I could see no more than two other customers yet our coffees were forgotten and I had to awkwardly remind the waitress.
At this point a male waiter said to my wife: «Oh so you do have arms» and continued on with something else. Luckily I don’t mind a comment like that, although it was a bit odd. Any other person might have been seriously offended.
The food was good, although a little pricey for the portion size. I had the no-​bun falafel and Claire had the Mexican chicken burger with sweet potato fries (they were excellent!).

Decided to go here because it was very handily placed inside Tesco and our stomachs were growling at us.
Looking at the menu I found it really hard to find something I could eat that I wasn’t intolerant to (lactose) and that I liked. I opted for the second cheapest meal on the menu — brunch for £8.50.
The meal was quickly served to us, and the brunch was tasty. I had poached eggs which were done to perfection and it was a large plateful. My two stars go to the brunch and the service being so quick as we didn’t have to wait ages for the bill.
I don’t think I’ll be in a rush to go back here as the menu just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I live in the Southside of Glasgow and Silverburn is in fact my ‘local’ at about a mile and a halfs drive from my house. So I inevitably visit there all the time, and had been eagerly awaiting the Giraffe Café opening in June of this year. I’m especially excited for Five Guys coming next year but that’s another story!
A friend and I decided to meet up for lunch one Friday afternoon and try out the Giraffe Café. Unfortunately we picked one of the hottest days of the year so far and my friend’s little baby girl (I think around 9 weeks at the time) was really suffering in the heat. When we went into the Giraffe Café it was immediately apparent their air conditioning wasn’t switched on (why on earth not?!) and we had to request for them to put this on, which was a little annoying as it took a while for us to cool down.
We both picked the ‘BBQ chicken and smoked cheddar quesadilla’ as we fancied something a little lighter — although the portion size was fairly hefty and we struggled to finish them! The quesadillas were tasty enough, but in all fairness I could probably knock up better myself at home, so would try something a little more ‘out there’ if I return. Thankfully my friend’s baby chose to have a nap at the precise time the food was delivered to our table, so it meant she could actually enjoy her meal!
We sat and chatted for a while afterwards and had another drink, but did have to prompt the waitress for our bill. In fact, I had to wander round the restaurant looking for someone as there seemed to be a shortage of staff!
Overall it certainly wasn’t bad and I’m sure I’ll go back to try more of the menu

I’ve avoided these in the past, they look like a typical value chain, but because Silverburn was getting one I thought I’d look into it more. Essentially it is a grill and burger restaurant, but it is more interesting than that though, it has a few dishes (just a few) that are actually really creative and draw inspiration from all over the world.
We parked at the other end of Silverburn, like many Giraffes it’s next to a Tesco, and so had a 10 minute hike to get there. The entrance is marked by a large — guess what? — giraffe, and when we went in it was obviously pretty busy. There were staff waiting ready to take us to our seat nonetheless. Our server was pretty much a pal before we even sat down with her typical Glesca banter and gentle cheekiness. Safari so goody then!
Unfortunately this Giraffe doesn’t do beer taps, it does do a small selection of lagers and beers however, and quite a few cocktails. Looking around the décor is themed, as you’d expect, perfectly comfy though and as you’d expect full of slightly rowdy kids which adds to the atmosphere. It is a family restaurant so the menu is predominantly burgers and pasta, but as I said before there are a few other options. I ordered the Orange BBQ Duck Tostada as an appetizer and we both ordered Chimi-​Chow-​Chow Hot Dogs.
The courses I think were delivered by cheetah. I barely had time to pour my beer and my duck was there. Oh dear, crisp tortilla chip, iceberg lettuce and cucumber slices, three things I really can do without. I dug in though and to be honest it was a really nice combination, the lettuce and tortilla worked together for texture, the duck and orange is a classic combination, and the chillies added decent spice. Still didn’t need the cucumber though!
The hot dogs came, they were beef, they were generous, they were smothered in loveliness. I think a pesto was on there, I’m not sure what else though, I was way too busy devouring it, but there was loads of it. It was pretty damn fine! A really very different dawg! The accompanying sweet potato fries were crisp and fluffy in the right places and as good as any I’ve had.
So okay it’s a value family chain and it’s hearty dishes, but it was good. Did we have a giraffe, yes we did!