Kirkintilloch Restaurant Guide

2023 Review: “A cheerful, inventive place” in the West End, “offering small dishes of Vietnamese street food: yummy!” – “an authentic-ish taste of ’Nam with student babble to make it more fun”.

This “buzzy” and “friendly” two-year-old, in a city-centre Scottish baronial landmark Cathedral House, is a “nice addition to Glasgow” by all accounts. It was launched by Anna Parker and chef-husband Dan (ex-of London venues Darby’s and The Dairy), who fell in love with Italian cooking on their honeymoon and have brought “a different kind of Italian” to Anna’s hometown. Expect much “sourcing locally from small suppliers”, as well as a focus on fermenting, preserving and curing.

2022 Review: This spin-off from Cail Bruich attracts some attention purely on account of its stellar sibling, although the culinary formula is much simpler – sharing plates of locally supplied meat, seafood, cheese and charcuterie, plus an interesting selection of wine. But while we do have some feedback saying it’s “very good”, its volume is too limited for a definitive verdict.

“Just a home from home” for its many long-term fans – this Merchant City institution (est 1979) provides a cosy setting, characterised by its paneled walls and custom-made furniture (by Tim Stead). The fare is straightforward rather than of any huge aspiration, but it makes for an affordable destination.

2022 Review: “Never disappoints, even after four decades of being a customer” – a “Glasgow institution” (est. 1964) whose “consistent cooking” attracts “generations of families, all welcome”. The victuals touch on most of the flavours of the subcontinent, while the founder, known to all as Mr Ali, is a bit of a West End dining legend.

There’s a “wonderful buzz” around Sugo owner Paul Stevenson’s city-centre pizza joint – also with a West End spin-off; cooked in artisan-built, wood-fired ovens imported from Naples, the pizzas are “exceptional”, while a “limited menu ensures quality” – and is rounded out, in any case, by “always amazing specials” (e.g. pancetta, roasted violet potatoes and fior di latte).

With the “lovely decor” replicated from the Theatreland icon for which they are branded, Richard Caring’s “always buzzy” spin-offs have found a gigantic audience nationally. But “these places live off the name for sure” and “it’s the ambience that keeps them going” – while fans say the food is “reliable”, more sceptical types dismiss it as “conveyor-belt cooking”; and say service is merely so-so. Some branches are better than others: best in London is ‘Chelsea Garden’, which has the same “distinctly average” standards as the others, but reliably offers an “uplifting” atmosphere and “great people watching” (and “on a sunny afternoon there is literally NO WHERE ELSE TO BE but its large garden. HEAVEN!!”). Also worth mentioning is the outlet by The Thames in SE1: “excellent views of Tower Bridge”, “even better if outside in summer and convenient for The Bridge Theatre”.

2023 Review: Shuttered in September 2020 and marked as ‘Permanently Closed’ on Google, this city-centre fish and seafood institution is one of the city’s best-known restaurants thanks in large part to its Art Deco interior, created in 1935 by the same craftsmen who fitted out the Queen Mary. According to an August 2022 report in the Glasgow Evening Times, it will re-open… but no-one seems to know when.

This “treat of a seafood restaurant” in a centrally located basement is thriving after 25 years on the strength of chef-patron Derek Marshall’s “tasty and generally faultless” cooking – no wonder “there has been little attempt to change the basic formula and experiment with new techniques and flavours”. Top Menu Tip – the famous “fish soup is superb”.

“Continuing its outstanding reputation in the West End, Stravaigin has been given a recent facelift, which adds greatly to the ambience” – this thirty-year-old landmark of the West End was sold to new owners the Metropolitan Pub Company in 2022 and their investment is breathing new life into this Glaswegian foodie icon. Both The Scotsman and The Times reviewed it after the change and according to Rosalind Erskine of the former, “the food and drink… is a lot like the new look, it’s a refresh but still recognisable for what it always was, which will be a comfort to regulars and new visitors alike”.

This fun venue by the Botanical Gardens “continues to be inventive with its pan-Asian fusion”, using mainly Scottish produce. “Fish dishes are made to order and brought to your table fresh from the kitchen”. Success has led to a second in Edinburgh’s St James’s Quarter.

“Modou Diagne never ceases to amaze us” – “the strength of his cooking is unsurpassed” and the ‘Total Trust’ no-choice menu at £25 a head (served on Sunday and Monday nights) is an absolute bargain – even those who found the occasional dish “disappointing” reckon “the concept is good... We’ll be back to give it another try”. The story behind the chef’s rise brings tears to the eyes of hardened reviewers: Modou was a penniless and homeless refugee from Senegal, and worked his way up from kitchen porter under Glasgow chef Nico Simeone (of Six by Nico) to a level where Nico gave him his own restaurant to run.

This large, rambling West End institution was an early-days pioneer of ‘Modern Scottish’ cuisine and “still represents great Scottish food and character”, making it a “fantastic setting for a special occasion at any age”. Owned since summer 2022 by Greene King, the UK’s largest pub group, it was founded in 1971 by Ronnie Clydesdale, who taught himself to cook while on all-night sentry duty during national service. It quickly became “the first Glasgow restaurant at a standard which you would accept in London”, and after Ronnie’s death in 2010 was run for a dozen years by his son Colin.

2021 Review: “Tucked away in a corner of the West End, this top-end venue” is nowadays part of the Hotel du Vin group, but has long been one of the city’s famous culinary destinations, with many top chefs having cut their teeth here in years past. Nowadays formatted in less formal style, this wood-panelled bistro is “full of nooks and crannies to dine in”, and features some “excellent, exemplary cooking”, including a full vegan tasting menu, “and the superb wine list, expertly introduced by the sommelier, is to die for”. But in its new guise, it can be “rather too noisy: perhaps tablecloths might help”.

“A clear recommendation when visiting Glasgow” – Ryan James’ comfortable, old-school fixture occupies an extremely characterful Victorian building (the site is thought to be Glasgow’s oldest culinary establishment) filled with “awesome antiques”. The “very good” and “not overpriced” dishes draw on the rich Scottish larder (and there’s a “separate vegetarian menu, so worth a visit if you’ve got veggies in your group!”). RIP its West End sibling Two Fat Ladies in the City, which was still listed on the website as we went to press, but has been put up for leasehold since 2022.

This two-year-old Finnieston venture is the debut as patron from Graeme Cheevers, winning instant acclaim for his “excellent cooking” – he’s a “fantastic chef, I’ve followed him from his days at Martin Wishart’s Cameron House” (he also ran the kitchen at the Isle of Eriska Hotel). “The fish courses are particularly good” and there’s a “generous and well chosen accompanying wine flight”.