Glasgow has some of the best restaurants in Scotland and even though we are yet to have any Michelin stars, you can still experience fine dining in the city that won’t break the budget! Listed below are four of my favourite restaurants to sample what Glasgow has to offer in the fine dining circuit:

The Arches Café Bar and Restaurant

When you think of The Arches, you don’t necessarily think of gourmet food but don’t let the façade put you off. I made that mistake but left pleasantly surprised and yearning for more. For £12.95 (yes, really!) you can have three courses from the Market Menu - the brainchild of the ever-impressive head chef Robbie McGuiness and his team. The menu has choices such as ham hock and confit chicken terrine with tomato and whisky chutney. Also slow cooked blade of beef, served with puy lentils, red cabbage and a cider jus and golden syrup tartlet with butterscotch chantilly. The Arches is a dark horse in the Glasgow dining scene, one that I highly recommend.

253 Argyle St G2 8DL 0141 565 1000

The Gannet

The Gannet may only be a few months old, but it is already one of the most talked about restaurants in town. Owners Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein who met while working at the award winning Michael Caines’ ABode Restaurant, have produced fine dining without all the fuss using well-sourced Scottish ingredients. £19 for a three course pre-theatre dinner at this quality is normally unheard of, but The Gannet achieves just that. The menu includes Stornoway black pudding, Scotch duck egg and sauce gribiche, West Munich red braised beef cheek, parsnips and potato puree and pear crumble with vanilla ice-cream. The Gannet to me is faultless. The food will remain in your head for days after; it’s just THAT good.

1155 Argyle St Finnieston G3 8TB 0141 2042081

Brian Maule at Le Chardon d’Or

After working as a Head Chef at Michelin starred Le Gavroche alongside the Roux Brothers in London, Brian opened his very own restaurant, Brian Maule at Le Chardon d'Or in Glasgow in 2001 bringing fine dining to Glasgow. At £21.95 for a three course lunch and pre-theatre menu, you’ll be dining on dishes such as goats cheese with panko bread crumbs; fried scotch beef with confit beetroot, creamed mashed potatoes and a red wine sauce; and chocolate brownie with coffee parfait, nougatine crisp and pistachio cream. Brian takes extreme pride in his work and after service has finished, he greets every guest. It’s not every day a Head Chef will do that, is it?

176 West Regent St G2 4RL 0141 248 3801

Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery

Not to be confused with me and my shadow after all the eating out I do, Two Fat Ladies at the Buttery is one the groups five restaurants around Glasgow and most recently Troon. Tucked away in Finneston, you could almost forget The Buttery exists, however its reputation precedes itself as being one of the best restaurants in Glasgow. The three course pre-theatre menu will set you back £19.50. Expect to see dishes such as bruschetta with artichoke, salami & roasted peppers, garlic infused oil. Boneless pork cutlet with apple ginger mash and red onion jus, choux bun with chantilly cream and chocolate sauce. I recently dined here with the BBC Good Food Show Scotland Bloggers, of which I am one and I couldn’t fault my meal at all.

652-654 Argyle Street G3 8UF 0141 221 8188

How do you get your gourmet on in #Glasgow on a budget? Agree with this list? @Groupon_UK #grouponguide

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