Cup

We recently visited Cup for their Morning tea selection. I often pick up itison vouchers for this and I’m never disappointed. The food is tasty and there is always plenty. A doggy bag away is a bonus treat to enjoy later in the day.
The afternoon tea selection is equally generous too. Highly recommend to all.

Went back to Cup today with my friend for lunch and thought I would update my review!
I decided to go for the lunch offer (£10.95 for a sandwich, cup of soup, tea and cupcake). I went for the lentil and bacon soup along with the club sandwich — two of my faves! And I confess… I went for the Tablet in a Cup tea AGAIN! It just tastes so good!
Our server brought my sandwich and forgot my soup (it arrived about 5 minutes later). She was nice enough but we placed an order with multiple drinks etc which she failed to write down and that always when you’re ordering quite a few different things. Soup and sandwich were both delicious (as was the tea!).
Looking at the menu, there are so many cupcakes to choose from. In reality, the amount they have to offer is getting less every single time I visit. It’s so disappointing! I had my heart set on one particular cupcake and ended up with their Scottish Tea Cake (call me crazy, I was thinking perhaps it was some ‘take’ on a Tunnocks Teacake!). It had a fig on top and the base contained honey. It was nice, but not nice enough to finish.
Overall, it was okay… nothing great.

I have only been here a few times and have always enjoyed my lunch! They have an amazing selection of teas, and my favourite is their redbush tea, which always tastes so pure. The place is extremely small and tiny to manœuvre around, which is party the reason I’ve given it three stars. I’ve always enjoyed my food, but I find Cup one of the more expensive lunch places to eat in. My soup and sandwich with a drink came to around £13. Part of the appeal here are the cupcakes, which always look delicious, but every time I’ve ordered one it’s always been incredibly dry (and I adore cupcakes). And the cupcakes are expensive for what they are, especially when they come out dry. I think this place is a hit or miss tbh, but their actual food is tasty. Nice place to come for a light lunch.

Cup on Byres Road is tiny and squished, but the ambience is very nice and the décor is lovely. My favourite thing about Cup is their tea selection. They’ve got a wide range of black, green, speciality and herbal teas, and the ones I’ve tried have all been lovely. The tablet tea and the Christmas tea especially.
I’ve been here once for tea and a cupcake. The cupcakes are not my thing. To be fair, I’ve never been a massive fan of cupcakes, but I’ve had better. The flavours sound very exciting, but the ones I’ve had have been a bit disappointing, and the frosting is just waaaay too generous for my taste.
I also went here once for afternoon tea just before Christmas. I really liked that you got to choose what you liked for sandwiches, cupcakes and cakes. I had a sandwich with butternut quash and rocket, which was nice but a bit flavourless. The scones were definitely the best part — I really can’t fault them. Then we had gingerbread cupcakes, which were (again) a bit of a disappointment flavourwise. The gingerbread flavour could’ve been stronger, and the frosting was too much. We also had a spiced Christmas fruitcake, but by that point we were so full we couldn’t finish them! It was good value for money though, as we really got a lot for what we payed!
The staff were cordial enough, but not really the most welcoming, and since it was so busy you sort of felt like you were in the way. All in all, I do like Cup, but I can’t give them more than three stars since none of my visits have been amazing.

Nice place for a relaxing cup of tea.
They have a huge variety of teas from: roiboos, black, green so there is always a chance to try a new one.
Local decoration reminds me to of my favourites restaurants in Madrid, with the lights on the wall.
Price is good, you can have a relaxing time at affordable price.

I like cup i really do but there are a few things that annoy me hence the 3 star review. I have never tried the city centre branch this is only the byres road branch.
I love the fact they cater for gluten free. The lunch deal i had today was £10.95 which includes soup, sandwitch, cupcake and a pot of tea.
One star lost for being told i could only substitute the tea for a soft drink as long as i paid a surcharge. I dont like tea or coffee at all.
I had the ham and lentil soup which was amazing. Really delicious. I chose the pesto and mozzarella sandwitch and here is where another star is lost. Anyone who is gluten free knows that gluten free bread is tiny compared to regular bread. The size of my sandwitch compared to my friends was really noticeable.
Service is slow in here with the waiter returning several times to re-​check our order.
He was however knowledgeable about what toppings i could have on my gluten free cupcake base.
My final bill came to £15.50 which included a second coke. It was very pricy for what i had.

The few times I’ve been to cup I’ve always been disappointed. One time I went the mini bagels with lox on it were so stale that we had to send it back. The second time I visited I found the cupcake really dry. The only thing that I found they do well is the service and the tea– a lovely selection of loose leaf teas that could make anyone happy. Overall thought I had high hopes and sadly I’ve been let down too many times to keep trying.

What a lovely café. Situated over three floors, it has a cosy feel to it. I had lentil and bacon soup and a savoury scone which was delish. I was stuffed so had to watch while my friend tried one of the many cupcakes. Apparently the lemon and coconut cupcake and coconut tea were devine. Our bill was £10 so maybe a tad pricey for everyday but this is going to be a favourite.

Full disclosure: A few years ago I worked at Cup, part time, as a waitress. I don’t work there any more but I left on good terms. Perhaps this means I’m biased because I really enjoyed working at Cup, but it also means that, if you’re the kind of person who cares about how service staff are treated, I can assure you that at Cup everyone is very well looked after.
It’s not a huge café, but its tastefully decorated and quite comfy. Watch out for the ceiling beams if you sit upstairs as they’re quite low. If it’s a hot day consider sitting outside — the café definitely warms up when it gets busy and the seats outside are a good place to relax and watch the world pass by.
Cup is a real tea shop in the traditional sense. They serve a variety of high quality teas and infusions and they really care about how they are presented. Teas are loose leaf and are given just the right amount of time to infuse before pouring, to ensure you get flavour without bitterness — don’t be surprised if you get a timer along with your teapot, it’s to let you know how much longer you should wait before you pour. Staff are trained carefully to make sure the teas are always at their best and most of them will have tasted a lot, if not all, of the teas on the menu. The result is that if you need a recommendation they will be able to give you a personal review and help you choose something you’ll love.
They’re also one of the few places I know of in Glasgow that do real, home made iced tea. It’s made freshly in the morning and the flavours are cycled regularly. The tea is also used in the home made tea cake. If you’re not a tea person coffee is available but you’d be better going elsewhere, coffee is really not what this place is about. Of course there’s a nice range of soft drinks and fruit juices on the menu as well.
Sandwiches, soups and salads are also made fresh daily, as are the breakfast options and of course, the cupcakes. The kitchen downstairs is always busy. I really recommend the soups which are always rich and warming and I’m a fan of the savoury scones that are sometimes offered to go with them. If you’ve got any room left the cupcakes are fab, although at this branch they don’t always have the full menu available (there just isn’t space) so ask about which ones they have when you visit. If you don’t have room there’s always the option to take a few away — they’ll be carefully packaged up for you in a cupcake box so they don’t get squashed.
If you want a real treat consider getting afternoon tea. It doesn’t come cheap but it’s a bit of a spectacle and everything is delicious. Alongside your tea you get finger sandwiches, scones with jam and clotted cream and cupcakes. I sort of always wanted the kid’s afternoon tea as well, which features cheese toasties, pancakes with chocolate spread and chocolate dipped strawberries but pretty much everything is delicious.

I’ve never eaten proper food here, but we really enjoy their teas and infusions ! We often stop in here for a pot of tea, lots of different mixes to chose from! All loose leaf! Plus they have yummy cupcakes to go with those wonderful pots of tea!

The tea here was great, they had their own little menu. I also had a scone with jam and cream. Both these things were so delicious though the scone was a little heavy. This place was clean, and though the service was a little slow, it was a full house, so I understand. If your visiting Glasgow, I recommend this place!

I get this section of Byres Road pretty mixed up even though I’ve lived in the W’end for 16 years. I find this odd. However, one of the standout shopfronts is Cup. mmmm, cake. mmmmm, tea. Two of my favourite things…
Both times I’ve visited I’ve managed to bag the wee table in the window, which seems to me to be the best one, as far as I can tell. Lucked out.
I had the Chai, plus the cheese toastie, and followed by the key lime pie cupcake. The Chai was good but definitely needed the milk, and needed sugar too. There’s a great selection of tea & herbal infusions, which I definitely want to work my way through. The key lime meringue was lovely, the meringue was sticky and the cake moist. Staff were lovely, I’ll be back!

Having never been to Cup before we didn’t realise that you have to wait to be seated & it was a busy Saturday afternoon but my eagle eye spotted a wee table by the window so cat-​like upon it I did pounce (not actually but that would have been fun!), there were still some plates & cups at it but I thought it would be fine to sit there… wrong! It’s ‘Wait To Be Seated’ here and not only that apparently that table was reserved (there was no sign saying so). Not a great start. We were just about to leave when a teeny tiny corner table right at the top of the stairs became free so the waitress offered us that one; it felt rude not to. I didn’t like this table. You either had your back to the counter (which I didn’t like) or towards the top of the stairs and a few times I felt as though I was going to move my chair back too much & fall down them! I was probably fine but I just didn’t feel totally comfortable.
They specialise in proper brewed teas & cupcakes here so that’s what we ordered. I had their Byres Bold Brew tea (when in Rome & all that jazz) & a Caramel Wonder cupcake & my (human) boy had a soft drink (he doesn’t do hot drinks) & the Red Velvet cupcake. Tea comes in a wee pot & with a timer so you know just when it’s brewed — all well and good but this doesn’t really take into account people who like strong or weak tea. I like my tea strong & black and after the timer had pinged it didn’t look strong enough for me so I gave it a few more minutes. still looked a bit peely-wally…gave it a mo longer still & poured, tasted & it was okay — nowt great. I’ve made better myself at home. I’m not sure if it was just that blend but it wasn’t very strong at all. I picked this tea as it was described as being a ‘bold’ & ‘strong’ tea but sorry, I really didn’t think it was either. Thinking I would have more luck with my cupcake I took a bite and it was clearly not fresh… you can tell when cake is fresh or a day or two old & this was probably on day two as it was crumbly & dry instead of fluffy & moist. At first I thought maybe this was how they’re cupcakes should taste so I tried my boy’s Red Velvet and I was wrong — his was really good; moist, fresh, tasty & with a delicious zingy cream cheese icing, yum. I had picked badly! I also wasn’t keen on the icing on my cake — it was far too sweet so my lovely boy ended up swapping cakes with me as he is more wasp-​like than myself when it comes to sweet treats. He didn’t mind the topping but he did think the cake was dry/​not fresh also.
Saw lots of people having the Afternoon Teas here & I spotted lots more ‘Reserved’ tables (with signs on!) so this seems to be THE place for A. Tea in the West End. I still find it a bit bizarre having to book a table for a café/​tearoom but I guess the rise of the tearoom/​Afternoon Tea has made them more popular now.
Would I come again? Probably not to sit in when Avenue G is right nearby and this place is almost a bit TOO small for how busy it gets at weekends but I would pop in for a take-​away Red Velvet cupcake because that was yummy. I just hope it will be fresh!

My visits to Byres Road were becoming a bit repetitive so I decided to try somewhere new and so I popped into Cup. It’s quite small but the décor is lovely and there is an upper level to but mind your head on the wooden beam. If your quite tall your probably best downstairs.
I’m not really a tea drinker but there are so many flavours on offer I thought I would give it a go and tried the apple and cinnamon, it was a bit more apple, less cinnamon but it was still nice. I had the lunch deal which was a sandwich, cup of soup, cupcake and a pot of tea (which I got a few cups out of) for £9.95. Thought that was pretty reasonable since tea and a cupcake is over £5 itself.
The sandwich was huge, did not look graceful trying to eat it but it tasted good so hey ho. As I had given up junk food (it was a dark time) I nicely gave my cupcake away, feedback said the sponge was nice but the icing tasted more just like chocolate when it was supposed to be chocolate/​hazelnut. Think I’ll have to go back to taste test it myself just to be sure

I only received takeaway on some baked goods. We purchased a caramel cupcake and some scones. The scones were not good at all and the caramel cupcake was alright. These items were not good enough for us to want to come back though. The place itself is cute though and I could see afternoon tea being brilliant here.

Afternoon tea:
This place is lovely — busy with a big selection of cakes on offer. A friend and I had meant to have the afternoon tea for a long time and finally got round to it.
Given the amount of food… it is great value! Scones warm from the oven, sandwiches with refreshingly different fillings (no boring old tuna seen here for example) and lots of little cakes which included shortbread and meringue… all on a cake stand! We were very full so the waitress kindly got us a wee box to take our leftovers home in. The staff here were very attentive and friendly :)
The reason for the four stars as opposed to 5… the cupcakes here are nice and they are pretty… but, given the amount of cupcakes you can get these days, I think I have had better. The icing is just a bit dense and the cake a bit plain. I hate to be picky and moan. Sorry!
Lastly the menus mentioned upgrading your tea to include fizz/​cocktails … Yet it turns out the Byres Road shop isn’t licenced, the menus are just the same as the ones used at the other shop in the city centre. A simple note on the menu would sort this problem very easily.
All in all a good afternoon tea. :)

I’ve only had tea here but I absolutely love their coconut cream tea and Tahitian vanilla teas. I even bought some to take home.
The café is small but nicely decorated with comfy chairs and a pretty selection of cakes.

I really like Cup & go in regularly before work. They do a nice eggs Benedict and scrambled eggs & I really want to try the sharing breakfast platter because it looks delicious. I’ve tried a few of the teas and they’ve all been very tasty & the cakes are delicious.
It’s my favourite coffee shop/​café on byres road.

The smell of baked flour and sugar hits as soon as you walk through the door. The cupcakes are superb (though we always share one between two) and I love the variety of different teas. There are often seasonal options too, so there’s always something new to try.
The savoury options, however, are disappointing. Pretty mean-​sized sandwiches that don’t taste of much, with everything accompanied by a salad of just chard covered in over-​sweet balsamic dressing.
Just have cake for lunch, and you’re onto a winner.

(I thought I had reviewed Cup. Erm Unilocal thinks otherwise…)
I came here with a friend who wanted a cup of tea instead of going to the pub. Well! So we nipped into Cup, because it looked very tempting from the outside and I had spied the cupcakes…
We went in and we seated in the window — perfect for people watching and ordered teas from the extensive menus. I chose an apple based one and a lemon meringue cupcake (see photo). I was very impressed by how seriously they take their tea as when it arrived, I was handed a kitchen timer so I would know when the tea was ready to drink!
Beautiful décor inside, and very good service I shall return. And ha Unilocal– here is your review!