Brooklyn Café

After spending a rather enjoyable yet sleepless Saturday night in a hotel in the Kelvingrove area of Glasgow, I decided that a regular breakfast just wouldn’t cut it so I searched online for interesting places.
At the bottom of an article on Buzzfeed, I spotted a photo of a ‘Brooklyn Benedict’ served at the Brooklyn Café. Salivating at the thought, I set off in my car and drove accross town in the pouring rain.
Being a Sunday it was easy to get parked directly across the road although I believe that parking so close may be a challenge to do any other day.
I walked in with my mind on one thing, a ‘Brooklyn Benedict’ but as soon as I was taken to a lovely window table by a friendly member of staff, I was introduced to a much wider range of interesting menu items than I previously expected.
Mind wavering at the pancake options, I ordered a flat white to buy myself some more time and without thinking I went for what I came for.
It arrived very quickly and before I knew it, I had a very presentable plate in front of me, similar but different to an Eggs Benedict sans salmon and the traditional English muffin, substituted with a bagel base and piled with pulled pork.
I must admit it felt a bit strange at first eating a bagel with a fork and knife but after the first mouthful, I reached for the next without hesitation.
My god it was awesome. The latte was pleasant but my god, the Brooklyn Benedict did not disappoint. Just go and enjoy it.
I also noticed a good selection of milkshakes, ice creams and pancakes. I’m going back to try them next time.
I’d say 4.7 but I’m rounding it up to 5.

It’s been many a long year since we visited the Brooklyn and we were pleasantly surprised by how it’s updated itself (they were early adaptors on the pulled pork/​smoked ribs) and how incredibly friendly the service was
We had four adults and four slightly boisterous kids and nobody batted an eye or made us feel in the slightest bit unwelcome which made us much more relaxed that we could potentially have been elsewhere
We all went for the ribs, some with the BBQ sauce (dark, rich and not too sweet) and done with the dry rub (brilliant zingy flavours) all served with big chips, onion rings and coleslaw. A couple of the kids had burgers and we couldn’t believe they were from the children’s menu — they were proper «man sized» steak mince homemade burgers on brioche buns. Not often you have four adults and four children and you end up with eight empty plates at the end of the meal.
Again, I’d single out the quality of the service we received. It was superb and friendly through your the night and we’ll definitely be making s return visit soon.

Belated review from my breakfast yesterday…
Wanted to go for a breakfast and midweek in the south side there isn’t a huge number of options. Brooklyn does all day breakfast menu every day which is pretty good. The décor is a bit bland, looks a little dated without being kitsch or funky enough to be retro. I had a latte which was fine, but my friend’s coffee was undrinkably bitter. Fortunately they gave another free of charge and it was a little better on the second attempt. I had a tasty fruit smoothie and the all day breakfast. It was no-​frills but well cooked and not overtly greasier than you’d expect for a full fry up! In particular, the sausages (link *and* square) were tasty, and the fried bread was crisp.
It’s not going to change your life, if you want a standard breakfast it’s pretty reliable.

I’d cycled passed The Brooklyn Café a few times but had never had the time to go in. I will never make that mistake again. Oh how I love this place. It is a lovely space with fantastic food & great staff.
We had the Mac & cheese with sides of chips. They were delicious. For pud we had Sundays made with the home made ice cream & were so yummy.
But I have to rave uncontrollably about the milkshakes. They are made with the home made ice cream & are just the best thing ever.
If you love good food & if milkshakes take your fancy do yourself a favour & visit.

Absolutly fantastic food went for a breakfast today. Bacon pancakes with maple syrup and a latte 5stars from me

So we popped in here from the baking hot sun with a groupon deal. It was for 4 people burger meal and with only the two of us we thought it would be just the two, cue pleasent surprise when they offered to cook us the other two (didnt charge us the extra pound or two from the deal either) to take away.
The place is very cosy, bare flagstone and iron wrought light fixtures which is a great look. We also had a very nice waitress in Viktoria who was pleasent throughout, chatty and couldnt do enough for us.
The burgers came with chips, they were medium done, tasty, the ones we had in the restaurant itself were gorgeous as well. We had a cajun spice burger which is done in the spices and very tasty, and my gf had the italian burger which had a tomato sugo. All the burgers came with lettuce, tomato and mine came with red onion. All the salad items were fresh and crispy and the burger was juicy and delicious. All the burgers come with a sauce to copliment them such as bbq, mayonaise and such depending on the burger which i thought was a nice touch!
All in all a very nice place, friendly waitresses and a decent menu. Cant wait to go back in and try out the smoothies and ice cream sundaes!!!

I have to update my review based on my most recent visit (last night) and remove a star to bring it down to 3 stars.
Service was still really good, but their pulled pork is now a massive disappointment. Dry, tasteless mush. Luckily I went for the ribs and they were still excellent.
Worth noting that BYOB price for a beer has gone up 20p to 70p per beer too.

I had braved the wilderness that is Shawlands Arcade in order to get some Poundstretcher joy — always a good source of DIY bits and bobs if you can’t be bothered schlepping to a B&Q. On the walk back to Pollokshields I decided to stop for a bite and coffee in the first place I could find that wasn’t Costa — and so it was that I wandered into the Brooklyn. I sat down and picked up the only menu on my table which had a few breakfast items and hot drinks on. The adjacent table had what looked like an evening menu AND a grill menu, but due to the inconsistent distribution of these extra menus throughout the café, I wasn’t sure if they were actually being served yet — and my polite if indifferent waiter didn’t seem to be too bothered about whether I was aware of the full choice of stuff on offer. No matter though, I wanted something simple, so ordered a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel and a latte. For a £5.70 bagel, I was anticipating some salad on the side, or a slice of lemon (or for the cutlery to arrive before the bagel, rather than slightly after).
Nope. The chef evidently had some paprika in the kitchen, which he sprinkled decoratively around my plate, but nothing remotely fruit or salad related was provided. Rather poor show.
Also conspicuous by their absence were enquiries as to how everything was and whether I’d like anything else when my dish was cleared, or whether I’d like the bill at all. At over £8 for a coffee and a bagel, I’m kind of glad they didn’t offer dessert. In summary, not terrible, but I wouldn’t make a special trip to go back. In fact, if I’m ever hitting up Poundstretcher in future, well… I may as well just stop at Costa.

The Brooklyn was the nearest café to my previous flat, and like some sort of hapless victim of Stockholm Syndrome, I kept pretending to myself it was much nicer than it actually was.
With the benefit of a bit of distance I can see it for what it was — quite expensive, not especially tasty, and filled throughout with (as Gordon N has noted) a strange perma-​grease-​haze.

Brooklyn Café has been my hangover cure for a number of years since living in the South-​side. It’s a decent sized café just off the main street in Shawlands serving all day breakfasts, lite lunches, ice creams and coffee to name a few.
On the whole the food is very nice, maybe just slightly over priced if anything. The staff are friendly and service is normally very prompt.
The only criticism for them surrounds the amount of grease/​haze sometimes lingering in the air. The kitchen could do with a higher power extractor fan or better ventilation.
I wouldn’t let it put you off from trying the café though.

The Brooklyn Café is EXPENSIVE.
There — I’ve said it.
Recently, my girl and I had Macaroni cheese, chips, a tuna sandwhich and 3 drinks (2 for me!). The bill? £18.25.
That’s OUTRAGEOUS, you can get far more (and far better) in Shawlands for less.
In terms of the food, I enjoyed my Macaroni — I bloody well should have, it was £7.50 on it’s own (no salad, no garnish bar 2 slices of charred tomato). Chips were extra. The tuna sandwich wasn’t great by all accounts — how can you go wrong with a tuna sandwich!!!
Service was pretty poor, the young lady serving us was too interested chatting to a vacuous looking young blonde girl to be too interested in our table.
Décor-​wise, it’s nice enough and relatively clean. It’s a café, not much more can be said than that.
I honestly don’t see what people see in this place. The service is poor, the food mediocre at best, and the prices are about 40% more than they should be.
You always hope the owners of these places will come onto site like Unilocal and make some changes based on the reviews, but, with a heavy heart, I know they won’t.
Still, if this review saves a fellow Unilocaler some money, my work here is done.
Summary? Brooklyn Café — JUST GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.

Don’t really know why this place is so popular. Is it because of a lack of options in the area? Greasy spoon food, not-​great service when sitting-​in and quite appaling service/​wait when taking away.
We couldn’t drink the take away coffee because the paper cups smelled/​tasted so badly of grease from the kitchen. Yuk!
Another occasion, the takeaway minestrone soup had to be thrown away because it really could have been dirty dish water.
I like to try places a few times before making up my mind. I’m sure food critics recommend giving a place 3 shots before saying it’s great or not, and The Brooklyn has exceeded these 3 times, and I won’t be back!

ilove love laaavv it here! the café is so nice, friendly and the food is simple yet tasty! the menu is full but rather simple, although wont disapoint you,
bad point is it can get crowded so any1 with young kids n prams should be aware they get in the way as i learned with my 2 but overall its the best chilled out café in the southside — also caramel latte’s are the best and their massive x!!! try it NOW!

I took my child into the Brooklyn Café earlier this week (21^st/​22^nd), for what was our final time in here!!! I always liked the Brooklyn, the staff seemed friendly, and the food was good (though the menu is a little long winded…).
Tonight though I heard 2 members of staff, a young guy and a girl, badmouthing another member of staff. Obviously this night was not the «family friendly» night they promote themselves as, as I do not wish my child to overhear that type of language when I have to pay for the «priviledge»!!! Goodness knows how they talk about the customers that dare to complain, or sent food back for whatever reason…
Oh well, plenty more cafes in the sea I guess :-)

The Brooklyn is a super cute little café in Shawlands, you can sit here for a coffee or if you’re feeling peckish grab one of their delicious light meals.
My favourite time to visit Brooklyn Café is during the summer, after a stroll through the park and around Shawlands I can pop in here for one of their scrumptious ice-​creams. It’s also great at night time as it’s always lit up with candles. Overall a lovely café with a very traditional vibe to it.
My friend also informs me there’s a good looking guy working in here, I’ve yet to see him but keep your eyes peels for a bit of potential eye candy.

The Brooklyn is alright, no more, no less. It is alright, ok, fine. The only thing about the food in the Brooklyn Café that would dare inspire anything other than indifference is the prices — I thought it was pretty pricey for what you get.
However, it is a lovely wee place, and if it wasn’t so dear it would be the perfect place to go and celebrate an anniversary or birthday.
The ice cream is excellent, famous even! The Sundae has to be tried. Yums.

The Brooklyn Café is one of Shawland’s jewels: situated just off the main road, it is quiet, good value for money and has a peaceful, family atmosphere. Both breakfast and lunch are hearty, and is ideal for an evening coffee, as it doesn’t get bothered by the pub goers and clubbers.
It also doubles as an ice-​cream parlor, with old fashioned flavours and a wide range of sweets. It can get a bit busy during the day, but their are booths for a little more privacy.
However, the traditional breakfasts are the real highlight: it is the usual mix of meats and eggs, but well cooked and not swimming in fat! The service is attentive without being intrusive as well: a relaxed and welcoming café.

I just went to the brooklyn café last week for an early meal with my visiting uncle over from the states, it was a lovely experience the staff were very friendly and helpfull, the food came out after what seemed like two minutes, although they were quiet it was faster than expected and my rissoto was lovely, clear plates all round our table so i guess the rest were happy, we had ice-​cream to end our night which was top of the range and it priced in at £36 for four so close to a bargin,
good point– quick quality service
bad point– toilets all upstairs and very big menu to chose from

The Brooklyn Café is a bit of a Southside institution that has managed to get the balance between old and new pretty much right. A lot of old classics are still available, and in the shop you can buy old –fashioned ice cream combos such as an oyster. However as well as classic café choices such as the fry-​up, they also do a pretty good range of pastas. Service is sometimes a bit slow, but there is usually a pretty nice atmosphere, and they don’t try to push you out if you are sitting reading a paper. A good spot for those looking for a reasonably priced family meal or to sit and hug a coffee undisturbed.

Nice wee café in shawlands, good for the usual all day breakfast and take-​away rolls etc. They also do lots of different baked potato, sandwiches, coffee’s and plenty other things.
Nice and cosy with plenty of seating and the décor is nice, my only complaint would be the portions seem to be pretty stingy for the money you pay. ie: if you want a full breakfast and say, no bacon but extra beans they take the bacon off but charge you for the beans! (£1) and the plate comes with a table-​spoon of beans (no exaggeration, this has happened a few times)
You are paying that little bit extra for the privilege of eating in one of the south-​sides more well known café’s, I still go but only when im flush!
Service has been pretty slow a couple of times while busy We waited 40 mins for food that hadnt been passed to the kitchen (waitresses mistake) but this is a rare occurrence!
All in, its pretty good, the staff are friendly and the choice is good, shame about the prices though not a greasy spoon!
:-)