Ox and Finch

Creative, contemporary cooking in Finnieston's bustling food scene, serving sharing plates with Michelin Bib Gourmand status.

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

Ox and Finch opened in 2014 and already feels like an influential mainstay of the Glasgow food scene. Riding a growing trend for small-plate dining, this place was something of an instant hit, and it’s often still hard to score a table in the tasteful tenement corner venue at short notice. Actually the plates here aren’t that small – slow-cooked lamb shoulder brings a generous helping of gently spiced, tender meat sitting on a bed of bulgur and apricots, all dressed with toasted almonds and mint yoghurt, while a special of green pea and harissa hummus with feta comes with a mountain of thick-cut toasted sourdough. With most dishes priced around £8 or £9 and three or four being enough for a couple, it works out at surprisingly good value. There’s an impressive attention to detail here, with everything from complex cocktails to chunky chips made, presented and served with care and style. They’ve even managed to solve the ‘too much at once’ problem of small plates by thoughtfully staggering the arrival of your order. Note the same team’s pan-Asian pop-up, Ka Pao, is slated to open a permanent outlet in Vinnicombe Street around June 2019.

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

Straight up fresh natural ingredients, creativity and precision in flavours and textures of all elements has earned, Ox and Finch a Michelin ‘Bib Gourmand’ star for good value food – one of only three held in Glasgow. This unpretentious place is buzzing with open kitchen and bar exuding efficiency through to the chattering diners cooing over sharing plates. Packed utilitarian style shelves tagged with an array of regional continental wines reinforce provenance all the way to the wide choice of craft beers, ales and cider. Scanning the placemat menu (noticeably free of fluffy descriptions) it’s hard to resist wanting it all in one sitting. Dishes speak for themselves. Apple-cured mackerel is exquisite and sensitively balanced in flavours accompanied by wasabi yoghurt and spiced granny smith. Colours are important too – salt and pepper squid with blood orange, chiili and saffron aioli is sunshine captured. Oh my! Lemon and earl grey baked alaska is like diving headfirst into a big cloud of squishy meringue and finding subtle citrus treasures with every spoonful. Decadent flavour depth unfolds in the layered torte – zingy blackcurrant and bitter dark chocolate the ideal bedfellows for silky smooth honeycomb ice-cream and scattering of crunch sweet cornflakes.