THEY do this strange thing at Cote where a guy brings your food out on a tray from the kitchen but is clearly not allowed to put the food on the table himself. Or to say anything. So he stands there, this guy. In silence. Right beside the table. Food inches away. Bobby and I looking at him. In silence. Him anxiously scanning the restaurant for a waiter to take it off and put it on the table. Tick, tock. And, of course, eventually one comes. Eventually.

It reminds me of Gordon Ramsay's Amaryllis in Glasgow where they did exactly the same thing, except the food tray was carried by what looked like a small boy.

I didn’t like it much there and I don’t like it much here. Especially as otherwise the staff, who are friendly enough, are zooming up to the table the minute the drink in your glass falls below a certain level.

This is my first visit to Cote. Yet another huge English chain which, for reasons sometimes too complex to fathom, seem to thrive in Glasgow.

We’re in a hurry anyway, having just nipped round from the office. The food is surprising. Flavours come flooding out of an otherwise straightforward minute steak. It has been seared, slightly charred, is thick enough to still be pink in the middle. It’s been lightly seasoned too and rested, probably not just at the table side. There are thin, crisp, salty chips and a salad dressed in honey and what tastes like Dijon mustard. For all I know this could have been prepared in a factory in Derby and sous-vided up to Glasgow in a panel van. I don’t care. It’s good.

The roast Breton chicken from the same £9.99 Menu Rapide does not have a millimetre of skin that’s not golden and crisp, comes with snappy green beans and a good dish of potato gratin. And it is juicy.

We’re out the door in, say, 40 minutes having eaten well and spent relatively little. A couple of days later Debs, Luca and I are wandering back from the the World Piping Championships on Glasgow Green and, well, Cote is quick isn't? This time it’s a Saturday evening and the tables are busy, the brassy, brasserie decor, to my mind just the right side of too brassy, twinkles in the low lights. It’s noisy but what restaurant isn’t these days in an age in age of hard, clean surfaces?

Tomatoes Breton come doused in one of those sharp, sweet wine vineagrettes. The tomatoes themselves in greens, oranges and red have flavour and a soft, mild goat's cheese oozes over it all from sourdough bread.

Even run-of-the-mill calamari rings, fried in breadcrumbs, have a garlicky, lemon aftertaste while a sauce vierge of lemon, tomato, olive oil and basil whips a tuna carpaccio into great shape.

Tonight I’m paying extra for the side salad on yet another consistent minute steak. Whiffs of white wine, bites of chilli, little explosions of garlic punctuate a Breton stew of steamed sea bass, mussels, little vongole clams and prawns. If the seafood is simply OK, it’s that sauce that is mopped up by us all with bread.

Only a veal escalope, thin and breaded, disappoints. The meat being clammy, the coating sliding off, the overwhelming flavour of the butter it was possibly fried in slightly sickening.

We have a simple disk of puff pastry, topped with apple, served with ice cream for dessert. Nothing that would tax any chef and, possibly, even prepared elsewhere but pleasant.

Then we pay a bill that what with extras for side dishes that possibly shouldn't be side dishes, service charge, slightly saltily priced starters and desserts puts Cote right in competition with the better local independents.

Would we come back? I will for the cheap, fast and very good minute steak frites. Otherwise? Hmm, not sure. There’s a lot of competition out there at full-fat prices.

Cote

41-43 West Nile Street, Glasgow (0141 248 1022)

Menu: French brasserie food, steak frites, moules, Breton tomatoes. A bit ooh la la but nothing too scary. Reasonable choice. 4/5

Atmosphere: Brassy brasserie with twinkling lights and wooden tables. Pleasant, relatively smart feel to it. 3/5

Service: Staff are pleasant and trying hard. There’s a new restaurant feel where they bend over backwards to please. Silly tray delivery system but not their fault. 4/5

Price: Depends what you order. Menu Rapide steak frites are great value at £9.99 but prices rise easily with extra for side dishes and slightly pricey starters. 3/5

Food: Here’s where they score. Whoever designed this chain’s menu did so with taste very high on the list and just about everything delivers even the simple minute steak. 8/10

Total 22/30