I had fantastic meal in newly opened Scots Irish bistro in Glasgow's 'hippest' neighbourhood
An acclaimed Scottish restaurant has reopened and rebranded as a bistro with Irish and French influences. Rosalind Erskine visited for a weekday dinner.
When Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein opened The Gannet in a former tenement in 2013 it was during Finnieston’s meteoric rise to Glasgow’s most sought-after area and the hippest place to live - an accolade awarded to the Argyle Street ‘strip’ in 2016 by The Sunday Times. The regeneration around the SEC had been completed with the opening of the Hydro and the gentrification of Finnieston was well under way, making the addition of a fine dining Scottish restaurant one that made absolute sense.
After 12 successful years, which included awards such as 3 AA Rosettes and a longstanding Michelin recommendation, The Gannet shut its doors for good on Hogmanay 2025 with plans to reopen as a neighbourhood bistro. Once again moving with the times. While chef patron Mr McKenna spoke in the past of how he’d love a Michelin Star, there was never any plans to change the business model of accessible, high-quality, and locally sourced food.
This model is now in full swing as The Gannet has been transformed into Eleven Fifty Five, a neighbourhood bistro with Scottish, Irish and French influences. Opened in late February, the restaurant has been reconfigured to include more tables, in-window booths and a private dining room upstairs as well as a whisky snug in the back. There’s also seating at the bar, which has led to a more conversational atmosphere, said restaurant manager Kevin Dow, when we arrived on a blustery Tuesday night in March.
While The Gannet had been open Wednesday to Sunday, Eleven Fifty Five is open Monday to Saturday for dinner, with a lunch service 12-2pm on Thursday through to Saturday. The change from The Gannet’s fine dining, which moved from a tasting menu to a la carte in 2024 (the same time Mr Stein exited the business) was a natural one, as Mr McKenna and Mr Dow looked to provide customers with a more approachable, more affordable offering. Eleven Fifty Five is somewhere to book on a regular basis with a changing, seasonal menu of dishes of Scottish and Irish beef, braises and fish on the bone, not a celebration or occasion restaurant that you may only visit once or twice a year.
Mr McKenna said ahead of opening: “To me this feels like a natural evolution - we have stripped back then built up the restaurant and food offering creating a space and menu that will draw you back time and time again. Good honest hospitality with no gimmicks, just great produce cooked with care and respect and a drinks list that is second to none. I can't wait to share Eleven Fifty Five with our guests.”
Any time I visited The Gannet, for cheese and fizz with friends to a tasting menu treat from former colleagues, I always had a lovely meal so it was with great anticipation that I sat down to dinner two weeks after Eleven Fifty Five opened.
We started with a glass of fizz and oysters - raw and with Vietnamese dressing and crispy onions - and deep fried with a homemade hot sauce. Both of these zingy additions added a punch of flavour to the creamy oysters, all washed down well with bubbles.
Then on the bread, which is made in house. I’m loving - even if my teenage self wouldn’t be - that bread is back on menus in a big and creative way. We tucked into the sweet and slightly oaty Irish wheaten bread with a sticky Guinness glaze and the cloud-like milk bun both served with whipped salted butter.
Starters were a pretty plate of citrus cured wild halibut served with bitter leaves, blood orange and fennel - a tart and refreshing palate cleanser after all the bread and butter; and a single, massive hand-dived scallop served with cafe de paris butter. Meaty, rich and very moreish.
For mains we tried the whole John Dory served with a punchy wild garlic, green peppercorn and caper sauce and the sharing plate of aged himalayan salt aged beef which was succulent and smokey. The fish, which you don’t see as much any more, delicately fell off the bone and was light but meaty in texture and, crucially, not drowned out with the sauce. Sides of herby potatoes and carrots served with an Iranian-inspired almost chutney-like mix of walnuts and pomegranates turned this vegetable (that’s not my favourite) into something wonderful.
With just enough room for dessert, the thankfully not too sweet choux au craquelin with white chocolate, sour cream mousse and blood orange sauce was just the right choice to round off the meal.
Eleven Fifty Five is a welcome addition to this ever changing street and it’s lovely to see the team repurpose the space rather than move on or move out. With more approachable options, I can see myself coming back here with my parents and maybe for a big birthday bash in the summer. Cheers to that.
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