Alston Bar & Beef

3 Reviews on “Alston Bar & Beef”

• Laura Simpson

  Early memories of going out for dinner usually involved mon pere ordering steak. Regardless of what else was on the menu, he chose it because going out was a treat and steak was a rarity at home. Ever since then, a slab of beef to me is synonymous with happy family times. Nowadays I take my meat much pinker but the same principle stands thus why we chose steak for a certain birthday meal. Glasgow has some pretty good steak restaurants now The Butchershop, Grill On The Corner and The Grill Room are three examples of this. Theres always room for one more to join the party, and one did.Alston literally popped up in the basement of Central Station where youd least expect it. The doorway is easy to miss go in the main entrance to the station and Gordon St Coffee is on the left and its a single door after that as youre walking into the station. With some clever decor and lighting the space feels nothing like a dingy basement and more like an explorers cave. I dont much like the televisions displaying train times but I understand their importance to some. When you enter the cave you are facing the kitchens pass area so get some wonderful meaty smells and sights. Through to the bar area with its gorgeous lights then to the tunnel shaped dining room. What a pretty place and I found myself excited by dining in a venue that was slightly unusual.Theres something a bit 1920s about the place but I cant put my finger on it. Alston is actually named after Alston Street in Grahamston in Glasgow. The street is long gone but they can carry the name forward. My cocktail choice was the 1873, named after Alston Streets last year in existence. Caorunn gin, St Germain & blueberry jam sold it to me in an instant and it was as delicious as it sounds. They had Sam Adams too so Mr A was happy.Menu-wise they have a lunch and pre-theatre menu with two courses for 12 (3 steak supplement) or three for 15. Buoyed by the birthday celebrations we were eating from the main menu. A quick look online beforehand led us to having the porterhouse to share.Since we were going big on mains we didnt want to spoil our appetites with starters so opted for a tin of bread with butter to see us through. The bread was unexpectedly more than worthy of a paragraph. It didnt arrive immediately often a good sign and when it did it was warm (contented sigh). A knife was plunged through the middle and we dug in. There was a mini pan of oil & balsamic alongside soft butter so we alternated. At this point Id like to say that soft butter is underrated in restaurants little details like this say a lot to me about how hard theyre trying. Anyway, the bread was delicious. Really soft and fluffy on the inside with a nice crust.When it was time for our main course they took out Alston branded plates with a big quinelle of no-lump buttery mash. We had ordered sides of buttered greens and sauted mushrooms, which appeared in little copper pans.Then the main event came out a kilogram of 35 day dry aged porterhouse cooked medium rare. If you get as confused as me about steak names, a porterhouse has a bone down the middle with fillet steak on one side and strip sirloin steak on the other. Negative out of the way first it was served medium and not medium rare. It didnt matter too much because the beef that was in front of us was full of flavour and ranked up there with our best steaks.A bit of the meat combined with those buttery mushrooms and mash was heaven. Id ordered barnaise and Mr A had chosen pepper sauce but we barely used them. Its worth noting that the other sauces were buttery numbers and the sides were all rather buttery so I wouldnt go for them.Mr A was raving about the mushrooms and I loved the buttered greens (broccoli, green beans and leeks if youre wondering).Alongside our chunk of meat we had a glass of wine each. The Cotes Du Rhone had more depth than the Malbec so skip the former if youre having red meat. There were no wine descriptions on the menu and the restaurant filled up all at once so the staff cant be expected to describe every one at busy periods.Desserts were completely out the door after that main course so we had coffee cute cups.The toilets were another plus point nice decor, powerful hand dryers and good lighting. It took me a minute to figure out which one to go into as the signage is stag & deer heads am I the only one that prefers a normal sign? Especially after a few drinks!The meal was a huge birthday success and Alston goes on to my recommended list. Im sure my dad will be there in no time. girlaroundglasgow.wordpress.com

  February 20, 2015, 10:22 pm

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• Daniel MacIntyre

  Awesome service, food and choice of gins and cocktails. Trendy bar and restaurant in perfect city centre location. Girlfriend and I will definitely be back but with friends or family

  January 11, 2015, 12:51 am

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• Foodie Explorers

  Recently opened but already setting itself as a firm favourite. This is a restaurant/bar with a difference. From the industrial chic design to the 55 gins, it’s all go here. Check out our review for further information here http://www.foodanddrinkglasgow.co.uk/gordon-street-coffee-79-gordon-street-glasgow-g1-3sq/ foodanddrinkglasgow.co.uk

  September 3, 2014, 7:11 pm

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