Merchant City, International Restaurant Guide

“Not a café, but a bar and restaurant in the Merchant City area” that’s also, to give it full dues, a “Glasgow institution”, having been founded back in 1979 and having introduced Glaswegians to cappuccino machines, as well as wowing them with its distinctive wooden furniture, custom-made by Tim Stead. Downstairs is well “worth a visit for days where you want to have a simple dish, of higher quality than normal pub grub” (burgers, Scotch eggs, neeps and tatties), while the upstairs bar, of more recent vintage, is a fine place for a brew.

Celebrating its twelfth year with a major six-month refurb, this sizable venture in Kelvingrove reopened in April 2025 complete with a scrubbed up but stripped back new look. Its opening was too late to inspire feedback in our annual diners’ poll, but – in her May 2025 review – The Times’s Chitra Ramaswamy exclaimed “What a comeback” and hailed “exceptionally good” modern bistro fare and wine that was just as good as ever. On that basis we’ve restored its former good all-round rating on the basis that this is conservative. It’s comforting not culinarily ambitions fare – with dishes such as Skate wing, crab, capers and pickled chilli, Duck liver parfait, cuts of Scottish beef, and classic desserts, from Apple tarte tatin to Rhubarb, custard and gingerbread trifle.

“Affordable fine dining” – say fans – makes these Fitzrovia and Canary Wharf venues (from Nico Simeone’s Glasgow-based national chain) “good for date nights” and “real value-for-money”. “The tasting menu changes regularly, so it’s a different experience every time” – the formula being “no mystery: you get to taste small samples of delicious food all related to a specific, changing theme”. (“We’ve been twice this year – more themes have caught our eye without the window of opportunity to try them. It’s not filling, but a really enjoyable eat”). There is, though, an alternative jaundiced view, which is that they offer “style over substance – you’ll leave still feeling hungry and the venue is noisy, like being in a canteen”.

2024 Review: “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”.