Nestled on Miller Street in the heart of Glasgow, Margo is the latest addition to the city’s vibrant dining scene. Opened by the talented team behind Ox and Finch, this new restaurant has quickly become a favorite among locals and visitors alike. It has also hit a note with the Michelin inspectors, having been recently awarded a Bib Gourmand, all within less than a year of opening! Being a massive fan of Ox and Finch, as well as their other restaurant Ka Pao, I knew we had to visit.

The Restaurant

Margo boasts a spacious, semi-industrial interior spread over two floors. The lively atmosphere is enhanced by an open kitchen, allowing diners to catch a glimpse of the culinary magic happening behind the scenes. The restaurant’s design strikes a perfect balance between modernity and coziness, making it an ideal spot for both casual gatherings and special occasions.

The Food

The menu at Margo is a delightful fusion of Mediterranean cuisine and Scottish produce, focusing on seasonal ingredients, with seafood, meat, and other ingredients sourced from local growers. The assortment of delicious sharing plates is perfect for those who love to explore a variety of flavours in one meal.

The menu is split into starter-sized and main-course-sized sharing plates, making it perfect for trying a variety of dishes. The dishes come out as and when they are ready, though the main-course type dishes do tend to come out later in the service. There was so much to choose from, and everything sounded tasty and looked even more so from my spying on other tables!

We started with some fluffy focaccia with a confit garlic butter to enjoy with our cocktails. No vampires were coming near us after that!

For our next dishes, we moved on to the more starter-type dishes, featuring tender pork belly with beetroot, morcilla and pickled prunes, followed by soft and flavorful hand-dived Uist scallops with sobrasada and haricot beans. Both dishes were tasty, comforting, and perfect for the cold winter’s night we visited.

Next, we enjoyed our ‘mains,’ which included red prawn and fennel agnolotti del plin—perfectly cooked pasta with a well-balanced sauce—along with a bavette steak with chimichurri. The steak was cooked to a perfect medium and was perfectly juicy, with the chimichurri sauce complementing it beautifully. We also had a serving of the crispy Ratte potatoes with garlic butter, which were crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and super garlicky!

After a short break, we decided to try some desserts, as we couldn’t pass them by given how good they sounded. We opted for the Bare Bones Chocolate Nemesis with vanilla ice cream. Having had Bare Bones chocolate before, we knew we would be in chocolate heaven! Our other dessert was a perfectly wobbly buttermilk and toasted vanilla panna cotta with roasted Muscat grapes and fig leaf oil. Both desserts were a perfect way to end our meal.

Final Thoughts

Sadly, we had a train to catch back to Edinburgh; otherwise, we could have happily had another drink or two, as the atmosphere was great—lively with background music and the sound of friends and families catching up.

Margo is another great offering from the Ox and Finch team and a welcome addition to Glasgow City Centre. I’m already planning my next visit, though after their recent award, it might become a bit harder to get a table!