Perhaps no other chef in Glasgow craves a Michelin star – one of which the city hasn’t had since Gordon Ramsay’s Amaryllis closed in 2004 – quite like Brian Maule. He’s certainly going about it the right way – an 11-year veteran of Michel Roux Jr’s Le Gavroche in London (yup, it’s Michelin-starred), Maule presides over a classy dining room near the top of West Regent Street that delivers bags of style with substance to match.
The attention to detail is the first thing to impress – from the waiting staff’s head-to-toe black uniforms, to the gleaming cutlery and glass laid out on brilliant white tablecloths with set-square precision.
The quality is maintained right throughout the meal, and the menu turns the natural Scottish larder into elegant haute cuisine. From starters of spiced crab with citrus salad or three-ways duck, to mains of grilled sea bream and assiette of pork, to desserts of homemade ice-cream and sorbets, everything hits the spot.
The prospect of paying London prices in Glasgow, where value for money is never too hard to come by, won’t appeal to everybody. And while Chardon d’Or is by and large refreshingly unpretentious, a restaurant with such an intimidatingly large and expensive wine list might not be the kind of place where everyone will feel at ease. But for special occasions, or just a dose of sod-the-budget decadence, Glasgow offers few better alternatives.
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