Restaurant review: The Grill Room at The Square, 29 Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow

T here is something undeniably plush and effortlessly stylish about the private members’ club 29, in Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square. From the Network Bar and Oyster Bar to the roof terrace and classy lobby, the place reeks of quality and forethought. It's that rarest of Glaswegian things: sumptuous and polished without being blingtastic.

I'm not a fan of clubs and normally would run a mile from anywhere I could be a member. But in truth, when it comes to 29 the private members' thing is just a clever marketing wheeze: there's virtually no chance of prospective members being black-balled by a bitter and crusty old committee man, while the yearly subscription is less than the cost of a ticket to see Adele or a decent round of golf and a few G&Ts in the 19th hole. Indeed, with free wifi, gratis coffee and pastries each morning, heavily discounted city-centre parking and a late license in a city with infuriatingly constrained licensing laws, it's not difficult to construct a case for joining. Now there's something I never thought I'd hear myself thinking.

Yet the best bit of the whole place is already open to Joe Public, and that's the first floor Grill Room restaurant overlooking Royal Exchange Square. Not only is it beautifully appointed, as my estate agent mate would say, but the food is one of the better offerings in Glasgow. Nor is it ridiculously expensive, particularly when it comes to breakfast and lunch.

The place wouldn't be a private members’ club without a slice of look-at-me, and this comes in the form of a table that is supposedly the equivalent of the secluded Table 16 at nearby Rogano, where everyone from Elizabeth Taylor and Keira Knightley to Mick Jagger and Frank Sinatra have eaten over the years while simultaneously preening and exhibiting themselves to lesser fellow diners. Fortunately, we ate on a Monday lunchtime so the equivalent at the Grill Room, a circular corner table set on a small pedestal, was empty.

Still, if the likes of brassiere magnate Michelle Mone, who rates the Grill Room as her favourite place to eat in Glasgow, had decided not to join us, at least plenty of other Glaswegians had made the effort on a dreich old day.

If our area of the Grill Room was full enough to create the sort of gentle hum of chat that is an essential accompaniment to eating out, that was partly because the restaurant had been sensible enough to draw a curtain across a large part of the dining room, making for a more intimate atmosphere. It turned out to be the sort of attention to detail that was reflected in a meal that ticked a lot of boxes.

The first of these was the service, which was slick and speedy, as you'd hope at lunchtime. When we let our waiter know that we were in no rush, and didn't have to be back within the usual hour, he left us to blether on, which qualifies as the very definition of decent service.

Our meal started promisingly with the arrival of a plate of still warm and clearly home-made bread, which set the tone for what was to come. As its name suggests, the speciality of the Grill Room is its steaks, in which head chef David Friel (formerly of One Devonshire Gardens and Lodge on the Loch) sets great store, but we decided to give the place's most popular choice a sideswerve and instead explored the rest of the menu.

Lindsay started with the potted Loch Fyne crab with brie and spring onion, a curious combination which worked surprisingly well. My Stornoway black pudding salad with pancetta, quails’ eggs and parmesan was spot-on as lunch fare: the black pudding was nicely moist, the eggs just soft, with the whole ensemble making for a light, breezy starter.

Our main courses were equally solid, with Lindsay choosing the game pie while I went for the char-grilled lamb chump. The game pie was a sizeable bowl topped with a deliciously light puff pastry and full of big chunks of game, with rabbit particularly noticeable. It was also nicely moist thanks a large pool of gravy lying at the bottom of the bowl, although the jus had an oddly sweet tang to it which Lindsay liked but which was a little too sweet for my liking.

As for my lamb chump, the meat itself was tender enough, but the first thing that struck me about it was the dark – almost black in fact – sauce which accompanied it. Despite my initial misgivings, someone had clearly got a little too busy with the browning and it turned out to be a virtually perfect foil for the lamb, with the hint of grain mustard running through the sauce complementing the lamb and the accompanying ratatouille.

I rounded off with a double chocolate bread and butter pudding with Baileys custard, a phenomenally sweet combo which had a lovely texture but was just a little too saccharine for me, while Lindsay opted for the pear and almond tart with butterscotch sauce and was rewarded with a slice of goodness worthy of even the most traditional provincial French patissiere.

So what to make of The Grill Room at 29? The first thing to say is that it's not remotely intimidating, so don't hold back. And there's a clear customer focus which is sufficiently obvious as to be heartwarming. Oh, and the food's not too shabby either.

TABLE SERVICE: The Grill Room at The Square (0141-225 5615; 29 Royal Exchange Square, Glasgow; www.29glasgow.com)

BILL PLEASE: 2 course lunch (inc coffeee, supplement for steaks) £15.50. 3 course lunch (inc coffee) £21. Starters: £4.95-£8.95. Main course: £12.95-£15.95 (steaks £19.95-£32). Puddings: £5.95-£6.95 (cheeseboard £7.95)

RATING: 7/10