Glasgow’s 100 Best Restaurants is a new book introducing the city’s top food places. The follow up to last year’s Glasgow and West Coast Cook Book, the 100 Best will lead readers to the right restaurants across the city in 2020.
Glasgowist has partnering with The Herald to introduce the new book as a celebration of the food and drink stories in the city. You can order a copy online and have it delivered to your door.
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The book is your restaurant roadmap for 2020. It includes a list of the top ten restaurants in the city, as voted by readers of Glasgowist, then a carefully considered collection of food inspiration – everywhere you should visit for breakfast, lunch, dinner and chips on the way home.
Today we reveal the countdown of the best restaurants in the city. For the full story, buy the book!
Glasgow’s Top Ten Restaurants
As voted by readers of Glasgowist
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10. ROGANO
11 Exchange Pl, G1 3AN / 0141 248 4055
Experience the time-capsule effect of escaping the busy streets around Buchanan Street, to be enveloped by the Art Deco style that was set when Rogano opened in 1935. Back then, the Cunard liner Queen Mary was being built on the Clyde, and that became the defining design influence.
The restaurant retains an element of stardust from a bygone era. Rogano is not a classic curiosity, however, it’s very much alive in the here and now. Martin Conner is the Head Chef leading the kitchen, putting his own imprint on the menu with more venison and lamb dishes.
A sushi platter is a recent addition. Pass through the bar to the dining room with jazz notes floating in the background and linger for lunch.
Best Dish: Half lobster Thermidor with Frites (£27)
9. JULIE’S KOPITIAM
1109 Pollokshaws Rd, G41 3YG / 0141 237 9560
From Masterchef contestant to street food pioneer to established Pollokshaws Road favourite. Julie Lin MacLeod’s star is very much in the ascendancy. Rarely a month goes by without an approving nod for her Shawlands Kopitiam from visiting food critics. One of the busiest food places in a particularly competitive part of the Glasgow culinary map.
Much of the appeal comes from colourful, simple dishes that get straight to the point. Often consisting of just four or five carefully selected ingredients, they crackle and pop with flavour as chilli flakes and crispy onions are sprinkled on top of sambals, soys and rich curry sauces.
Readers say: “cool place with stunning food”, “staff are really friendly, good value for money”, “a fun experience”.
Best Dish: Mamak Fried Chicken (£7)
8. THE BUTCHERSHOP BAR & GRILL
1055 Sauchiehall St, G3 7UD / 0141 339 2999
Serve the best steak and let people have fun. That was the short mission statement when James and Louise Rusk decided to open a neighbourhood restaurant in 2010. Exposed brick walls, cosy round leather booths. Regulars tell us they are interested in one thing. Grass-fed Scotch beef, hung on the bone and dry-aged for up to 45 days. They come from far and wide, congregating for fillets, sirloins, rib eyes, tomahawks and all the rest of the prime cuts. Enjoy with hand-cut chips, bearnaise sauce and top with garlic prawns for the full experience. Onion rings and creamed spinach on the side. Outstanding local produce, prepared with skill and precision, enjoyed with a sense of occasion in a relaxed setting.
Best Dish: Côte de Boeuf (£38)
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7. TWO FAT LADIES AT THE BUTTERY
652 Argyle St / 0141 221 8188
Ryan James started off on Dumbarton Road and then took over The Buttery thirteen years ago. He also has a city centre restaurant on Blythswood Street. The Buttery itself dates from 1870 – but it took a patient refurbishment and some culinary flair for it to retake its place among the best restaurants in the city.
This is the type of place that is difficult to create, it has to evolve over time. A traditional dining room without being stuffy. The charming staff glide between tables and put guests at ease. There’s a buzz of easy conversation. Tourists who visit The Buttery like what they find. Tip: Always order the scallops starter.
Best Dish: Grilled Whole Lemon Sole Meuniere (£23)
6. UBIQUITOUS CHIP
12 Ashton Ln, G2 2ND / 0141 334 5007
Ubiquitous Chip has become a byword for Glasgow cooking, in more ways than one. The venue’s success is due to the efforts of the talented staff combined with the genial atmosphere generated by its faithful cadre of bohemian customers who come here to tell stories and eat stovies.
A business crowd rubs shoulders with the arty set upstairs on the twinkling mezzanine level or in the restaurant. Students are brought here by parents to mark progress in their studies with red wine and a selection of dishes involving seasonal Scottish produce.
Ubiquitous Chip is a dining destination with a strong sense of place and a big personality. Go to their Wee Whisky Bar after dinner.
Best Dish: Loin of Lamb, Ratatouille, Sherry jus (£28.95)
5. GAMBA
225A W George St, G2 2ND / 0141 572 0899
From the East End of Glasgow, Derek Marshall left school with no qualifications and joined a youth training programme. It was the start of a culinary journey of discovery that would take him to the Channel Islands, the French Alps and Spain. Gamba turned 21 this year. It has held a 2 AA Rosettes rating since the first oyster was shucked.
Our own routine when visiting for dinner is to start with a bowl of foup – what Gamba call their fish soup, a finely balanced blend of Portland crabmeat, stem ginger, coriander and prawn dumplings. Monkfish and scallops for main course, cooked with ginger, spring onions, fish sauce and lemon. Desserts are spectacular, so order the wild honey and ginger cheesecake with dark berries. Ask about their gin cocktails.
Readers say: “My absolute favourite for seafood”, “dinner is always a pleasure”.
Best Dish: Isle of Gigha Halibut with Brown Shrimps (£24)
4. SIX BY NICO
1132 Argyle St, G3 8TD / 0141 334 5661
Judging by the naming convention at chef Nico Simeone’s restaurants, he likes numbers. Six by Nico is a hit. Here’s how it works: a six-course tasting menu for £29, with a wine pairing option for £26 is created around an idea, place or memory.
Experimental preparations cue nostalgic emotions, deconstruct a particular cuisine or pepper a series of small plates with pop culture references. Enthusiastic staff introduce each dish. Pictures are taken for Instagram. This has become a Glasgow success story, with Six by Nico opening in Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester and most recently Liverpool.
Readers say: “Our Finnieston favourite”, “special every time”, “can’t get enough of these tasting menus”.
Best Dish: Six course Tasting Menu (£29)
3. CAIL BRUICH
725 Gt Western Rd, G12 8QX / 0141 334 6265
Cail Bruich is known for beautiful food and an innovative approach to fine dining. The family-run restaurant and bar currently holds a 3 AA Rosette status and was included in the latest Michelin Guide, although they are inexplicably reluctant to present brothers Paul and Chris Charalambous with a star.
When the Good Food Guide 2020 announced the best places to eat in the UK, Cail Bruich was included in the top 50 restaurants in the country. Last year the dining room was given a new look to mark the tenth anniversary of the Great Western Road stalwart.
Menus rotate in harmony with the seasons. Produce arrives daily from local suppliers including Loch Fyne Sea Farms, Highland Game Company and Isle of Skye Shellfish, combined with ingredients provided by the kitchen’s own garden and a team of foragers. Glasgowist readers compliment their confident cooking and attentive staff.
Best Dish: Seasonal Tasting Menu (£65)
2. THE GANNET
1155 Argyle St, G3 8TB / 0141 204 2081
A highly-regarded leader of the Glasgow restaurant new wave, The Gannet has attracted international attention for fine dining in a modern, casual setting. Ivan Stein and Peter McKenna are working chefs and owners: preparing dishes, organising ingredients, devising menus. Ivan is from London, Peter is Irish. Both gravitated towards Glasgow.
They couldn’t see a restaurant they wanted to work in. So they created their own in a vacant tenement building that had been derelict for almost a decade. With the help of architects and a significant amount of hard work, a stylish bar and restaurant was fashioned from the space.
The relationships the chefs have with local producers, combined with significant flair in the kitchen, is the basis of their success. Some of our favourite Glasgow meals have been enjoyed at The Gannet.
Best Dish: Seasonal Tasting Menu (£45)
1. OX AND FINCH
920 Sauchiehall St, G3 7TF / 0141 339 8627
Glasgowist readers have voted Ox and Finch as the best restaurant in the city right now. You come here for modern small plate dining. Assemble a selection of dishes, divide and conquer. The menu covers a lot of culinary ground. A myriad of influences and ingredients, some familiar, others surprising. The fact the kitchen can maintain impeccably high standards across such a selection is the greatest achievement of the restaurant team.
Some of our favourite dishes: venison, juniper and peppercorn carpaccio, hazelnuts and crowdie. Thai fish cakes, prik nam pla, lettuce wrappers and pickled salads. Slow-cooked lamb shoulder, bulgur wheat, apricots, almonds and mint yoghurt. It’s a lively neighbourhood restaurant that celebrates food with an inspiring approach to cooking. Visit often.
Readers say: “Delicious dishes. Always presented beautifully. Fab cocktails”, “the food is always fantastic and great value”, “amazing staff”, “the menu is a tribute to Scotland”.
Best Dish: Cod Cheek, Morcilla, Chorizo and Tomato (£7.50)
