Dakota Hotel is swish and swanky but too corporate for most

Dakota is bang slap in the middle of the city centre and yet you could easily walk past it and not know its there. Why?
Eton MessEton Mess
Eton Mess

Well, it’s awfully corporate. You might find yourself near its entrance, then glance down and realise you’re wearing trainers, or that your coat is a little shabby. Which is why you might just breeze on by for something a little more shabby chic.

What is it?

Eggs RoyaleEggs Royale
Eggs Royale

This is, after all, a swanky hotel and winner of ‘most stylish hotel’ in the Scottish Style Awards. It boasts a restaurant and a bar, which are open to anyone. Its somewhat angular exterior is broken up ever so slightly by a variety of topiary but these too are steadfastly geometric. Beyond that is a vast mirrored glass frontage and the sign, Dakota Deluxe, which immediately speaks of luxury and exclusivity, of men and women in suits with immaculate hair. So, the perhaps the most pertinent question is, how does a place like this manage to maintain its superior image while attracting a certain echelon of the passing trade?

The Welcome

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Certainly, the welcome couldn’t be any more friendly. Walking into the foyer of any hotel can be a confusing/intimidating affair but I’m quickly directed to the head waiter, who seems to glide across the floor as he guides me down a set of stairs into the downstairs dining area, a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of the city above, wreathed in calming silence. Uplights gently illuminate the interior of this confined carpeted space. Modern art hangs on the walls. Glass gleams.

The Food

Dakota HotelDakota Hotel
Dakota Hotel

Before I’ve even ordered anything, a complementary course arrives in the form of a Venetian dip, along with some crusty bread. It’s hot (not spicy) and seems an odd thing to just turn up with, given some will like it and others not. It was a bit like a chunky, herby tomato soup and ultimately neither here nor there.The eggs royale (£5), on the other hand, were superb: a slightly salty yolk spilling out, hollandaise helping to offset the sourness and a little disc of toasted bread to soak it all up. I’d eat this all day. Eton Mess (£5) followed: two kinds of merengue, blackberries, peach, strawberries. It looked good, the flavours balanced out nicely, it wasn’t too little nor too much. The final bill, with a bottle of Kingdom still Water (£2.50 for 330ml) came to £13.75.

The VerdictService was efficient but the place was almost dead, with just one other couple sat opposite. The food here is exemplary, the atmosphere a little staid but with a few tweaks, softening of its exterior, it could attract a larger footfall.

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