Tinderbox Princes Square

This review is for a recent visit to the Tinderbox in Princes Square but could apply to all of them.
First of all, the food in Tinderbox is terrible. Terrible and overpriced. I had an Italian chicken panini. The bread was tasteless and the filling was very salty. The panini had been heated but the filling was still ice cold. Combined with a drink this cost me £7.50. They also serve a plain packet of crisps and an inexplicable plastic tub of mayo with everything.
None of the Tinderbox cafes do table service and they even make you sprinkle your own chocolate on your cappucino. This is normally fine but if you’re charging these crazy prices you expect something for your money.
The good thing about these cafes is that they’re pleasant places to be with nice interiors and plenty of seating. They do a nice hot chocolate with a mega dose of whipped cream. I’ll be sticking to that in future.

Tinderbox very busy on a cloudy but dry Saturday — managed to get one of the last tables — staff too busy to strike up any conversation with their customers which is a real shame but love the place nonetheless — still one of my favourite chains. Despite it being busy, I don’t feel rushed even though there is a few people hovering over me looking for a seat. Ignorance is bliss.

Stars are only that high for the balcony which looks onto the lovely princes square. Gorgeous surroundings really help to add character to an otherwise bland coffee shop.
Service was lovely with very chatty staff and the cost was very adverage.
The coffee is mediocre so I always order a spiced mocha with proper whipped cream.
The food looks nice enough but it’s expensive.
Overall it’s ok but not anything special.

I am usually pretty positive about my reviews, mostly because I love food/​find it easy to list strong points about scran/​am glass is half full when it comes to eating out. So I guess 3 stars from me are painfully honest.
I’ll start of by saying Tinderbox isn’t BAD, not by a long shot. It’s perfectly pleasant. But it’s really not the best café you could go to, even if the stylish façade tempts you in.
In this particular branch, it’s set in an absolutely gorgeous shopping centre. With Princes Square’s sweeping wooden staircases, relaxed atmosphere and ornate stained glass, you can’t go wrong in terms of a classy venue. Even if you’re skint, this place makes you feel a million bucks just being there. So it’s easy for the customer to be distracted with its rooftop setting and fancy seating.
I just find this coffee chain to be style over substance, which sums Tinderbox up as far as I’m concerned. As Briony pointed out, the steel grey interior is a bit gloomy in an almost claustrophobic fashion. I seldom want to sit in here, because the low lighting makes you squint at your table date. The food supply is always sparse (I’m always in here too late to sample the Bento Boxes, for example). Even though they have steady custom after 5PM, there isn’t much left to snack on, apart from the sandwiches no one else wants to buy. For a coffee shop with a great reputation, the menu lacks ambition or flavour. The panini options are never that adventurous, and usually prepacked and heavy with cheese. Without going on about it, the tea is a fortune, and you can’t just get a builder’s brew! If i’m getting Suki tea I want Indonesian apple, frankenscence and a finishing touch of gold dust, but £2.00 for the pleasure of a fancy teapot is criminal. The cakes are the best thing going for it (they really are beautiful), but again, I might as well gorge myself on a big chunk of chocolate cake than pay loads of money for a tiny brownie. It’s true good things come in small packages but a tenner for 2 teas, an orange juice and wee cake will raise anyone’s eyebrows.
Staff are lovely but Tinderbox is one of the few places in Princes Square that don’t, as a general rule, do table service. This isn’t a problem with me, and is something I wouldn’t even notice in the Byres Road branch, but it sticks out like a sore thumb when surrounded by the inner circle of upper class restaurants.
Overall, it’s underwhelming. The food is fresh and you could do far worse, but there’s just not enough of a hook for me to frequent Tinderbox regularly. Sure, it’s a lot nicer than the chains on the high street… but who wants to be nice when you could be amazing? Above average, but you’re better trying Darcy’s downstairs.

It seems I’m not alone with my ambivalent feelings about this Tinderbox. I needed some place to work, and I tend to forget about the offerings of Princes Square. It is a gorgeous wee shopping centre but I’ve not really visited many of the restaurants/​cafés in there.
I headed up to Tinderbox (on the terrace level/​second floor) and grabbed a seat in a booth that needed tidying (cups and plates left from the previous diners). As I said for a minute, I then realised there wasn’t table service and headed inside to order a peppermint tea. It took about as long as tea normally takes and thankfully by the time I headed back to the terrace the table had been cleaned and was still free.
I like the cute wee booths and it would make a nice place for a stop after some Buchanan St/​Princes Square shopping. The atmosphere is probably nicer than most cafés due to the lovely bright, airy feeling from being at the top of Princes Square. Even on a dark, glum day it still has a lovely feel to it. Although, if you don’t sit on the terrace you will probably feel a bit like a mushroom inside Tinderbox which seems awfully dark and gloomy by contrast.
The peppermint tea was perfectly fine, and it was a nice place to spend an hour or so while I got some work done. I left with an a-​ok feeling, hence the three star review. Perhaps if they had table service I’d bump them up to a 4.

Can’t believe it has taken me so long to go here. Never again will I pop to Starbucks or Nero when I can have a lovely Tinderbox macchiato instead. I love the surroundings of this one. You can sit at tables or booths inside but it’s quite dark, the balcony type area is why I like it so much. It’s quite peaceful, away from the hustle and bustle of Buchanan Street and it’s full of light. Only slight negative is the price of the panini’s, they’re really not worth it. They do some nice little cakes though

Ahhh Princes Square, a place I pop into now and then but rarely shop in (I did see a nice pair of shoes but… £420! MENTAL!).
There are plenty of options for food here but we were in a ‘quick bite’ kinda mood so decide on Tinderbox because, a. coffee, b. cake. c. convenience.
We managed to get a seat and after a quick check of the menu, I headed in to order. French Toast & bacon for her, Tuna Panini for me (once I’d decided). It’s important to note at this point that whilst there is a menu, everything is pre-​prepared so don’t expect freshly made food.
That said, the tuna panini was ok although I think it was supposed to have sweetcorn in it… that seemed to be missing, and whilst I’ve never really noticed before but when you order a panini and it DOESN’T come cut in half for you, well that’s a bit of an annoyance.
The french toast looked ok, although was a bit sparse on the bacon front and the bacon itself obviously wasn’t ever going to be crispy (pre-​prepared). The accompanying pot of breakfast tea looked and tasted like tea (I’m going to stop commenting on my partner’s tea in future, it’s usually breakfast tea, two sugars and milk and does the job of being tea…).
My panini was pretty bland, not bad, but nothing special. The coffee, a vanilla latte, was ok but not as good as I was expecting either. It was also a little light on the vanilla, more ‘hint of’ than anything specifically vanilla flavoured.
We did then split a bit of jaffa cake — that’s a gluten free orange sponge topped with a dark chocolate ganache — which was delicious. I’ve not idea what it was made from, but it was wonderfully moist, slightly bitter from the orange and the dark chocolate was just the right side of ‘not sweet’.
In short, I’d go back for the cake, put up with the coffee and avoid the pre-​prepared savoury offerings!

It’s a nice place with a nice atmosphere in nice upmarket surroundings. The coffee is ok — Starbucks is more expensive but more to my tastes I think.
They don’t accept card payments for less than £5 here, so if you’re the kind of person who lives in the 21^st century and no longer carries cash then you have to trek all the way along Buchanan Street to get to the nearest ATM.
UPDATE: I said in the original review that this place didn’t have wifi, but it actually does. I think the network name was Polkadot or something like that. Updated review and increased star rating.

I really like this café and coffee house. And the setting, of the wide open light Mall, is even nicer.
It has lots of outdoor seating and indoor. The coffee is nice, there’s Pekoe tea, and there are lots of fresh sandwiches, salad options, and many cake options. They also have those little Portugese tarts which are good (better than Costa).
It’s quite cool, and despite having been around in Glasgow for a while, hasn’t gotten to that sold out stage (I’m looking at you Beanscene). There are two of them (I think) in Glasgow and it’s an independent, although it is far more clean and pollished than a corner café shop.
If I’m ever in the city centre and want to meet friends, have a meeting, or just find somewhere to read a book, this is where I’ll come.

My request for two natas to accompany our two cans of orange soda were greeted with a quizzical look. If you’re going to sell the most amazing tasting portuguese custard pastries it might be as well to learn what they are called.
I resorted to the point and smile method and that did the trick. We sat out on the balcony overlooking the upscale stores in Princes Square Mall. Its a pleasant spot and a good place to hide when the weather isn’t great.
I’m a fan the Tinderbox brand, but would love it even more if they gave more change from a tenner for two cans of soda and two small cakes. I’ll pay for quality but there is a limit and they are reaching it.

In the nice Princes Square mall Tinderbox have opened a nice café with plenty of seats. I am not sure if it is always as slow as when I was there but I did not have any problems finding seats here. The service was perhaps not overly friendly but they were fairly quick in handing our orders. Prices appear to be a bit higher than average in Glasgow but from a London persective it seems reasonable to pay £2.5 for a flat white. The coffee was not great the first visit, it was drinkable but with a hint of a metallic taste to it. I did however return for a new try and then it was good so still would rate it is good for any milk based espresso beverage. I would not go out of my way to visit but if I am in the city center and feel an urge for caffeine this would be my choice.

A place that does coffee and overpriced food you say? But there’s loads of them in Glasgow!
This one rests cosily in Princes Square, yet rarely gets really busy. A nice seating section, with a good layout and menu are the first thing that got my attention swiftly followed by the price of the food where I was tempted to go for French toast with bacon till I learned it was £4.95. No thanks.
A substantial wait on our order, including a mix up with my friends food didn’t leave a good first impression at all where the cost of her wee lunch was alarmingly overpriced.
My smoothie was lovely, but would rate Nero’s over it if you find yourself in a coffee joint wanting an alternative.
Nice place, but not worth the money.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Princes Square branch of Tinderbox also offers the same lovely hot pie & beans that you can find in their Ingram St branch. Plus they do a nice smoothie. A good choice for coffee & lunch in the city centre. The only issue here is that its often rammed full of people — also don’t confuse the wee bar on the ground floor for the proper full café on the top floor!

On more than one occasion I have experienced extremely rude, dismissive and childish staff in this branch of Tinderbox.
I am often aghast at how pretentious and up-​themselves the baristas on duty have been on the numerous visits I have made to this store, and have yet to be served a decent coffee.
The wi-​fi is also stupidly overpriced.
On the flipside, the Tinderbox on Ingram Street is a completely different affair with courteous and friendly staff, in a nice atmosphere with good coffee.

Unlike the Byres Road or Merchant City branches, this version of Tinderbox isn’t a particularly regular haunt of mine. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with it, as it still has a high quality, very urbane selection of lattes, bagels and fancy cakes.
I suppose Princes Square is nice and luxurious and all, but it’s just not the place I’d choose for a coffee. If however, you enjoy watching Paris Hilton-​alikes cooing over a fancy handbag whilst you sip your Americano and pretend you’re in New York, then feel free to add a star onto the above.

Prince’s Square may look great but it’s expensive. Seriously expensive. Thankfully the inclusion of coffee chain Tinderbox on the prestigious top floor level has allowed skint students, plebs and those sporting deep pockets and wee arms the opportunity to dine with Glasgow’s bold and beautiful.
The café offers good tea and coffee options and a reasonable range of cakes, as well as a small selection of beers and wines. There are also some plain fare (and massively over-​priced) sandwiches and wraps but the setting is the main reason for coming here.
With a glass ceiling, it’s an extremely pleasant place to sit at night, particularly if you can bag a booth on the outside with views of all that’s going on in the complex.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and my favourite by far. This is why I love heading to Tinderbox to enjoy warm porridge and fresh coffee when I can. Everything about this place is so cosy: the coffee, the cakes, even the clientele. This place has a lovely relaxed atmosphere, with big squishy armchairs upstairs that you could get lost in.
Time really does fly by in here, whether you’re people watching with a coffee or enjoying lunch with friends, its chilled out and warm and welcoming atmosphere means that it’s not uncommon to while away your day in here.
Coincidental or not, Tinderbox only seem to employ pretty people, which I have no complaints about, combined with the tasty treats, the smell of fresh coffee and the comfy couches makes for an enjoyable afternoon to tickle all of your senses.

This Tinderbox is by the far the nicest of the Glasgow pair: upstairs seating, a large area with comfortable chairs and a sofa, booths for intimate conversations: all this, and the coffee seems to be far sweeter than at the Byres’ Road branch.
Since it is open until 10pm, this is the perfect place for a non-​alcoholic end to an evening: not too far from either Merchant City or city centre, it is well stocked enough that there are still cakes available even at the end of a busy night.
The prices are fair, the service good and the quality high. It is also very peaceful for most of the day, due to the size of the café.

Do we really need another Tinderbox? In the city centre? Um yeah we do… unfortunately.
My last review of the west end store wasn’t too complimentary– mainly due to their ridiculous over– pricing (£3 for a coffee, plus £3 for wifi? Noooo thank you).
However the city centre really does lack alternatives to Starbucks and Costa. This Tinderbox, although over-​priced and a tad pretentious, has quirky décor and efficient staff. And the coffee is good (despite being over-​priced, did I mention that?).
I know I’ll be a regular visitor when wanting a coffee shop in the city centre, I’ll just not be that happy about it.

As part of Princes Square’s 21^st birthday celebrations this year they announced the opening of coffee shop Tinderbox in the mall — the 4^th in the UK (with two of the others also being located in Glasgow). As a big fan of Tinderbox, I had to visit.
As you would imagine in Princes Square, this place seems to have become even more luxurious the minute it set foot in this posh shopping mall. Brand new and so shiny, it still has all the nice qualities of the other much-​loved Tinderboxes — great food and lovely coffee in nice surroundings.
As expected, I love the seating here — a varied mix of little booths for two, tables inside near the counter or ‘outside’ in the mall on the balcony. It had just opened when I visited and so was very quiet but it’s so spacious that I can’t imagine visiting here ever being anything but a chilled out and enjoyable experience.
It’s a pretty mean feat when a chain (if four justifies a chain) of coffee shops can make each one seem individual to the extent that you forget it is actually a chain.