During our recent trip to Glasgow, Scotland, we enjoyed lunch at the Willow Tea Room inspired by the art nouveau designs of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and modeled on Kate Cranston’s Ingram Street Tea Rooms from the early 1900s. The actual door to the tea room is so small, one might miss it amongst the large floor-to-ceiling big, box stores surrounding it.

A short flight of stairs takes you into their first floor dining area. There is a second floor for larger, reserved groups, but we were served on the first floor with views overlooking the bustling Buchanan Street below. We had reserved our date, so we got a nice window seat.

I ordered the classic afternoon tea with a glass of Prosecco. My tea of choice for the day was Lapsang souchong tea. Dave ordered a coffee and their bangers (sausage) and mash. 

The china service was of the Willow design featuring four of the miracles from the legend of St. Mungo, Glasgow’s Patron Saint.

“The bird that never flew,
The tree that never grew,
The bell that never rang,
The fish that never swam.”

— St. Mungo

It’s not my favorite pattern, but I really didn’t care at that point. The Prosecco had arrived and it was probably some of the best Prosecco I’ve ever had. Then the 3-tiered food tray arrived with four yummy sandwiches, a small, but VERY good fruit scone with jam and cream, and a single shortbread cookie and a lemon meringue tart, which melted in your mouth. I’m still not a fan of salmon, so Dave finished that sandwich for me, but everything else was consumed and enjoyed. The teapots were small and because I ordered the afternoon tea service, they provide a free “topping off” (refill) of the tea, so I asked for that.

As we were eating, someone outside was “blowing” huge bubbles that would randomly float by the window. I don’t know why, I don’t care why, but I loved it!

We took a few more photos and gave our thanks to the highly attentive, hard working wait staff. Right after we sat down, a large group of bus people arrived and went to the upper floor, so I knew they’d be very busy the next couple of hours.

I didn’t buy anything from the gift shop. If we had more room in our luggage I probably would have. The only thing I really liked was a mug, but I don’t need another mug…I have dozens!

---

If you’d like to read more about our trip to Scotland, check out my travel blog below.