OK, What's For Lunch or Tea Today?

Yup, I totally get that, and it also sounds like a nice way of doing things.

The Merchant City now is a really cool place, and vastly different compared with how it was 30 years ago or more, when it was a total dive! You certainly wouldn't have felt safe there at night. What are your favourite haunts then in the Merchant City?:)

Btw, as an aside, have you ever been to the Rogano? Del and I always loved going there for lunch, after we'd done some Christmas shopping in Frasers, and I'd treated her to something small but expensive from the Argyll Arcade....;) The food in the Rogano (especially fish and seafood) was always excellent, and we loved the vibe and whole Art Deco thing.

Plus in those days, the shops all down Buchanan St and Argyle St were beautifully decorated, especially Frasers itself, and it all felt really Christmassy. Happy memories!:cool:

Another nice place, and one of our old haunts, which I see has been done up now, is The Buttery: http://twofatladiesrestaurant.com/buttery

Not sure if you've been there? Also, if you'd like to try somewhere special, in the now fashionable east end of Glasgow, and which is a bit 'off the wall', try this place in Dennistoun: https://bilsoneleven.co.uk/ Del and I recently went there for dinner, on the recommendation of a friend, and it was superb!

Marco [your personal restaurant guide]:D

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Originally Posted by Marco

Yup, I totally get that, and it also sounds like a nice way of doing things.

The Merchant City now is a really cool place, and vastly different compared with how it was 30 years ago or more, when it was a total dive! You certainly wouldn't have felt safe there at night. What are your favourite haunts then in the Merchant City?:)

Btw, as an aside, have you ever been to the Rogano? Del and I always loved going there for lunch, after we'd done some Christmas shopping in Frasers, and I'd treated her to something small but expensive from the Argyll Arcade....;) The food in the Rogano (especially fish and seafood) was always excellent, and we loved the vibe and whole Art Deco thing.

Plus in those days, the shops all down Buchanan St and Argyle St were beautifully decorated, especially Frasers itself, and it all felt really Christmassy. Happy memories!:cool:

Another nice place, and one of our old haunts, which I see has been done up now, is The Buttery: http://twofatladiesrestaurant.com/buttery

Not sure if you've been there? Also, if you'd like to try somewhere special, in the now fashionable east end of Glasgow, and which is a bit 'off the wall', try this place in Dennistoun: https://bilsoneleven.co.uk/ Del and I recently went there for dinner, on the recommendation of a friend, and it was superb!

Marco [your personal restaurant guide]:D

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Yes been in the first two but not the one in Dennistoun, but have read good reviews. There are many good restaurants in Glasgow these days, with Finnieston the area to go to these days but I’m too old to be trendy.
If we are going to the Merchant City we will stay overnight at the Fraser Suites which is handy. We like the following:

http://www.theitaliancaffe.co.uk/ Which is Italian tapas

https://www.cafegandolfi.com/ Everything from breakfast to drinks always good

After that we usually just bar hop from the trendy to the traditional like

http://blackfriarsglasgow.com/

Excellent choice of venues, Robin. I'm familiar with them all, although haven't been to Cafe Gandolfi in years! I'm intrigued by some of the dishes they're doing now on their 'Classics' menu, all of which have a heavily Scottish influence!

I'll defo be heading there next time I'm up... Btw, in terms of pubs and food having a major Scottish influence, we also love going to Babbity Bowster: http://babbitybowster.com/ Love the vibe in there, especially when you walk in and there's a load of fiddlers playing, and perhaps a wee sing-song!:)

Great selection of malts, too.....

Also, at the other end of the scale, if you fancy treating the missus to a lovely meal and overnight stay, for a special occasion, I'd thoroughly recommend the Hotel du Vin/Bistro, formally known as 'One Devonshire Gardens': https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/glasgow/bistro/

I took Del there for our 15th wedding anniversary (before it became the Hotel du Vin, and even before Gordon Ramsey ran the restaurant there), and it was simply stunning. Tina Turner, who was playing in Glasgow at the time, had vacated our suite the night before... Despite hunting high and low, however, we failed to find anything 'interesting'!!:eyebrows:

It's also great if you just fancy a nice lunch: https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations.../bistro/lunch/

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Excellent choice of venues, Robin. I'm familiar with them all, although haven't been to Cafe Gandolfi in years! I'm intrigued by some of the dishes they're doing now on their 'Classics' menu, all of which have a heavily Scottish influence!

I'll defo be heading there next time I'm up... Btw, in terms of pubs and food having a major Scottish influence, we also love going to Babbity Bowster: http://babbitybowster.com/ Love the vibe in there, especially when you walk in and there's a load of fiddlers playing, and perhaps a wee sing-song!:)

Great selection of malts, too.....

Also, at the other end of the scale, if you fancy treating the missus to a lovely meal and overnight stay, for a special occasion, I'd thoroughly recommend the Hotel du Vin/Bistro, formally known as 'One Devonshire Gardens': https://www.hotelduvin.com/locations/glasgow/bistro/

I took Del there for our 15th wedding anniversary (before it became the Hotel du Vin, and even before Gordon Ramsey ran the restaurant there), and it was simply stunning. Tina Turner, who was playing in Glasgow at the time, had vacated our suite the night before... Despite hunting high and low, however, we failed to find anything 'interesting'!!:eyebrows:

Marco.

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Strangely I passed Babbity yesterday as we were coming down from the Glasgow Royal, not been in there for several years.

Hotel du Vin is a great choice and then you can enjoy all the places in the West End, including the “Chip”, still after all these years.

Yup, there are also some great places in the west end, especially down the lanes, although unless it's changed now, I've always been rather disappointed in the Chip - more a triumph of style over substance, and sometimes not even that, complete with an incompatible price tag!

They started to get lazy when executives from the BBC went there on expense accounts. However, I've not been for years, so it may well have changed.

No16 is rather good though: http://www.number16.co.uk/

And Mother India has always been great for a curry!:cool:

Marco.

P.S Defo swing by Babbity's next time you're in the area, as you'll love it.

way to upmarket for me...:lol:

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Originally Posted by struth

way to upmarket for me...:lol:

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No 16 is for special occasions only

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Originally Posted by struth

way to upmarket for me...:lol:

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Lol... Those are some of the places I miss LOTS, being down here, even though the weather's better!:eyebrows:

Marco.

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Originally Posted by Marco

Lol... Those are some of the places I miss LOTS, being down here, even though the weather's better!:eyebrows:

Marco.

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im just a pleb tho ;)

Btw, Robin, next time you're at Ibrox, since you appear to love Italian food, if you don't know of it already, check out this place (for authentic and very unpretentious Italian food): http://www.bellavitaglasgow.co.uk/

You could always pop along, after you've been with the boys to the Louden Tavern!:D

Also, Bella Fresca, on Paisley Rd West, is a great place for top-notch coffee and snacks, plus they sell quality Italian produce, which you can buy, great pasta dishes, too: https://www.bellafresca.co.uk/

When we used to live down the road in Ralston, it had only recently opened and was just a deli, and we used to get all our fresh bread and antipasti from there. Got to know the boss well:)

Marco.