The Finnieston

Sophisticated seafood restaurant and cocktail bar in a friendly harbourside-style pub setting.

The 2019/20 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £5.95 (+p&p).

The Finnieston may look like a casual harbourside-style pub but it is really a pretty sophisticated eatery. A commitment to Scottish produce is evident throughout the menu – most notably in signature Scottish fish and seafood from named suppliers. It also screams seasonality: in winter, roots, brassicas and nuts feature – sometimes taking centre stage (a vegetarian could dine like royalty). The results are delightful and surprising in equal measure. A very lightly pickled red cabbage sits beautifully with a charred mackerel that evokes a shoreline barbecue, while roast cauliflower and a celeriac purée lift tender scallops to even greater heights. Cauliflower, puréed this time, adds a duvet of comfort to roast sea bass. Slightly off continent is a millisecond-seared tuna with ginger and soy – but the accompanying slivers of carrot and daikon radish steer it back home. Puds join seasonal celebrations too – pumpkin parfait with cobnut brittle, salty pumpkin purée and sweet caramel is a real triumph. The bar in which cocktails are to the fore – the Botanical Elder, for instance, perfectly balances an Islay Botanist with apricot liqueur and elderflower tonic – deserves a visit in its own right.

Listed in the Glasgow Larder – order a print copy (free + p&p).