This little coffee house is not quite like those that have come here before. It is not most of the way up 'cosy' and 'quirky' street, nor is it half way down 'trendy' avenue. Instead this place maintains the balance between money and class and family and friendliness, because the Princess Mall is not shy of any of these things. Fantoosh sits on the bottom floor of the Princess Mall in Glasgow where the children pretty much run freely and enjoy themselves in the arty surroundings which put you in mind of the continental open air café culture. After a small amount of shopping and eyeing up some things that none of us in today's group could afford we wandered down and into the coffee house, taking a seat and being handed menus by the waiting staff. So after some humffing and hawing and finding out the croissants had all gone missing we ordered a single espresso, regular cappuccino, Apple Loves Mint tea and a toasted Ayrshire ham & Scottish cheddar cheese foccacia. Giving us time to settle in and have a nose about to see who was about, our order arrived in a swift and timely manner and a large smile from the waitress. So down to the nitty gritty.

The espresso first. It came served up in a perfect white demitasse that was tapered and thick enough to keep the heat in the espresso and off your fingers. The coffee was well rounded, on the whole balanced but tending towards the tart side (in a pleasant fashion) and left a fantastic after taste of ground cocoa.

As soon as the cappuccino hit the table it was immediately noticeable that there was a small and lovely Rosetta poking out from underneath the chocolate topping. The foamed milk had that metallic shiny sheen that one might expect in something akin to the national or international competitions for coffee and it was extremely dense and a hairsbreadth away from the perfect third as well. This small fact is easily glossed over in the face of the sweet and creamy meringue taste that the foam possessed. The espresso’s tart taste and cocoa overtones were slightly lost in the milky drink, but the chocolate dusting powder on top, which was tending towards the bitter side (and I’d take a stab at it being Abyss powder) balanced out what was lost from the pure espresso.

The tea, for anyone who did not recognize the unique name straight away, was the Apple Loves Mint blended and branded tea belonging to the Suki tea company, and no surprises, it held to its usual high calibre. And though Bean monkey here is a vegetarian (I apologise now ) the focaccia was well enjoyed by one of my partners ad the noises they made while they were eating it testified to how good it must have been (the wild gesticulation and fond words afterwards about it may have helped).

One of the other aspects worthy of note though was the little details that the staff put into the place, and just how attentive they were. For example, in there cappuccino’s for males there will be a Rosetta, females a love heart, and children receive bunny rabbits or fish: something appropriate and entertainingly impressive for all then. And the attentiveness of the staff was never in question, always served swiftly and with a smimle and the duty manager on for the day even managed to spot yours truly and his gang for the day and came over for some small talk about coffee and competitions and what on earth I was up to. I would sigh if I didn’t feel slightly like a monkey celebrity.

So a cool 4.5/5 beans for Fantoosh in Glasgow and we would strongly recommend that if you were in the are then pop in, though they do tend to get busy, they are getting very popular.

Most definitely a likeable place for me and my crew, and they will probably see me in the passing again.

Bean x

Unfortuntaly as of July 2011 Fantoosh closed it's doors to seek out a new premises. The owner is hoping to open up further outside of town, and i will keep you posted.