Martha’s – A Quest in the West

I used to spend a good chunk of my time in Glasgow, a couple of years back, but for one reason or another, I’m barely there at all, these days. This meant that I hadn’t yet had a chance to pay Martha’s a visit, but I was delighted when my day went totally to pieces, placing me in central Glasgow and much in need of sustenance, today.

Martha’s has been open for just a few months, and seeks to offer fast, healthy choices to central Glasgow diners, from morning through to early evening. The place is clean, simple and bright, with memorable tile work and a leafy green theme. The friendly counter service adopts all the slick and speedy aspects of a good fast-food operation, but provides you with food items that may actually form part of a sustainably balanced diet.

The everyday menu of soups, salads, wraps, and hot main dishes is augmented by daily specials. Given their emphasis on fresh and natural, it’s unsurprising to see and excellent range of vegetarian dishes.

My choice was made for me as soon as I laid eyes on something called Martha’s Mighty Chicken Ramen. I was feeling uncharacteristically thirsty, so augmented matters with a raspberry, cranberry and cardamom crush, from their menu of juices.

The ramen appeared very quickly, and was served in a giant recyclable pot. For some reason, that brought to mind the question of what our Edinburgh equivalent Martha’s is. The short answer is we don’t quite have one, but if JP from Elephant Juice, Elaine from Union of Genius, John and Kozo from Artcafe Morita, and Susan from Hula were left in a room together for long enough, I think they’d eventually invent Martha’s Edinburgh. Maybe we should make that happen!

Anyhoo, I took a pew and attacked my ramen. It almost (almost) goes without saying that I made an ungodly mess of yet another unfortunate tie, whilst slurping the lovely noodles. The broth, suffused with ginger and spring onion, was spot on (there’s just a chance that that’s a terrible pun). Soft slices of chicken and good chunky bits of carrot rounded things out in to a truly sumptuous dish.

The juice wasn’t quite so good (it could have used more of a fragrant cardamom kick, for me), but those type of things aren’t really my bag. It was refreshing, so performed its main function, admirably.

So Martha’s is definitely worth a visit next time you’re in them there Glasgow parts. I might venture to suggest it’s almost worthy of a special trip. They’ve adopted the positive aspects of fast-food service and applied them to the provision of tasty, healthy, natural, locally sourced dishes. It works beautifully, creating a perfectly joyous experience that I’d be happy to repeat on a regular basis. I envy those Glaswegian folks who have the opportunity to visit Martha’s more regularly than I do. But of course, that feeling is fleeting when I reflect on all the wonderful choices I have back in the Burgh…

Scores
Blythe scores Martha’s:
4/5 for food
4/5 for presentation
4/5 for service
4/5 for setting
giving an overall 16/20

Today’s quester was: Blythe

I ate: mighty chicken ramen

I drank: raspberry, cranberry and cardamom crush

I wore: a navy overcoat

Total bill: c.£7