Alston Bar & Beef, Glasgow Central Railway Station, G1 3SQ

Alston Bar & Beef, Central Railway Station, Glasgow, G1 3SQ

History

Alston Bar & Beef is named after Alston Street which the restaurant is approximately laid upon, from the village of Grahamston (please check out Norrie’s book, it is excellent). The village disappeared around 100 years ago to make way for Central Station ( you can still find some remnants such as the Grant Arms Bar on Argyle Street).

Venue

At the moment the entrance is very understated, however we are assured that there is work afoot to sort this out.

Decending the industrial,looking stairs you pass a huge Timirous Beasties mural, a splash of colour to the white walls.

You are met right at the bustling kitchen area by friendly staff who lead you into the bar area.

With two Enomatic machines serving an array of wine you won’t be short of a drink. However, it’s the gin selection that dominates the bar – 55 different gins! You are sure to find something here.

We settled down to some gin education by “gin-asseur” Chris. He doesn’t look so blue in real life.

He led us through the tasting, smelling and appreciation of Caorunn, Pickerings and The Botanist gins.

Food

Settling down into the restaurant area we checked out the menu for our evening, chosen to highlight parts of the menu. Below is a copy of the full menu.

As you will be able to tell by the name, beef is favourite here with beef from grass fed Aberdeen Angus cross Limousin beef from accredited farms in Ayrshire, East Lothian and Aberdeenshire.

The dining commenced with Steak Tartare with a quails egg yolk, crouton and olive oil. Served with a perfect serve gin – I had Tanquery with Fever Tree tonic and grapefruit.

Delicious, light and not metallic tasting like it can often be.

Next up, Ham hock roulade with pickled beets and a caulieflower purée.

Tender, moist ham with lightly pickled beets.

Pan Fried Scallops with pea purée, Parma ham and black pudding. Moist inside and crisp outside to the scallops. Strong smelling pea purée with the best tasting Parma ham crisps. The black pudding didn’t overpower at all.

14oz bone in rib served with chips. Simple, perfect.

Soft, warm pear with buttery crumble with a light custard.

Good selection of room temp cheese 🙂 served with barrel aged Martinez.

Delicious food, staff with knowledge and passion about food ( and gin!) as well as modern surroundings but with a nod to the past.

We think Alston Bar and Beef will do well.

Many thanks to Alston Bar & Beef for inviting us along to this review night. We look forward to returning again many times.

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