The Willow Tea Rooms Buchanan Street is part of the Mackintosh Gift Shop, which is inspired by the works of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. These tea rooms are modelled on Kate Cranston's Ingram Street Tea Rooms from the early 1900s, and have a totally charming, vintage feel to them. The menu focuses on locally sourced, traditional foods and there is a great variety of gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options for you to choose from.
The chef's soup of the day and cullen skink are homemade fresh daily, with the best of what's available in the Scottish larder, served with home baked oatcakes or rustic bloomer bread. There's a whole section of the menu dedicated to traditional Scottish fayre, including Finnan Haddie fish cakes with a house salad and grainy mustard mayo, and butchers link sausage with onion gravy and mashed potato. Other Scottish favourites include the cheddar and chive potato cakes and Scottish rarebit made with Worcestershire sauce and local beer. At lunch, you can opt for a sandwich or toastie, such as the prawn open sandwich with Marie Rose sauce, and toasted ciabatta made with mozzarella, tomato and pesto.
Treat yourself to one of the afternoon teas, which are served all day, every day. You'll enjoy a selection of sandwiches, such as ham with grainy mustard and butter, and cucumber and cream cheese, along with your choice of plain or fruit scones. Of course, each scone comes with lashings of clotted cream and jam, and for a Scottish twist, is served with homemade shortbread rounds. Choose your own slice of homemade, fresh cakes from the counter, which may include a Victoria sponge, strawberry tart, iced gingerbread, empire biscuit or chocolate brownie.