Lychee Oriental

Plush, contemporary style bar surrounds for Scottish celeb chef Jimmy Lee's award-winning takes on Chinese and Asian classics, with a focus on local meat and seafood

The 2018/19 edition of The List's Eating & Drinking Guide is out now – only £7.95 (+p&p).

Styling itself as Glasgow’s fine dining Oriental restaurant, this flagship venture from Scottish celeb chef Jimmy Lee excels in exquisitely presented takes on familiar Cantonese staples. You won’t find any of the bone-and-offal-heavy cuts favoured by the city’s more gritty Asian diners here; rather, Lychee Oriental focuses on elevating tried-and-tested Western favourites to new heights in plush, style-bar surrounds. All stocks and sauces are made in-house from scratch, meaning that the crispy honey chilli chicken and hot ‘n’ sour soup taste a world away from your local takeout. To let the kitchen really show off its skills start with a beautiful dim sum platter, intricate jewels of prawn, pork and beef dumplings steamed to order. Follow with one of the locally sourced steak or seafood house specialities like meaty halibut with an aromatic sauce of ginger and soy or extra mature ribeye beef flash-fried with tender morning glory. With watch-words like ‘sophisticated’ and ‘exquisite’ thrown around it’s no surprise that at Lychee Oriental the customer is king. Service is warmly attentive and you’ll be happily encouraged to linger over fruity cocktails and old-school liqueur coffees.