The Gannet

The Gannet Glasgow is a multi-award-winning restaurant in Finnieston and serves the best of Scottish produce in a minimalistic setting. On the menu, there is a lot of meat and seafood, with a particular focus on produce from the Hebrides and its coastlines. As such it might not struck you as a vegan-friendly restaurant, but they actually also offer a vegan set menu - which is exactly what I tried!

I find The Gannet to be a perfectly relaxed fine dining option, somewhere to take your parents or your boss, somewhere were everybody walks out full and satisfied.

I was invited to join a group of journalists who were exploring Glasgow during the European Championships in 2018. I was excited to finally try The Gannet, but I was also a little nervous about the vegan options available.

When I saw the menu, I did not really know what to make of it. In real fine dining-manner the menu only gave away some of the main ingredients of the dish - I figured I'd trust the chefs and let them surprise me. And what a positive surprise it was!

Our set menu had four courses. It started with a salad od onion, courgette, carrot and radish - four very simple ingredients, topped off with one of the best salad dressings I have ever tried. I did not think you could make such a good salad with such basic components. Next came an artichoke and mint tart - only that the artichoke was the tart, rather than pastry. Again it was lovely, and spiced up with a bit of nasturtium.

My vegan main was a lasagne-like layered vegetable tower of aubergines, courgettes, heritage tomatoes and spruce shoot. It was served with pea mash and the tastiest chantarelle mushrooms ever. For dessert I got poached berries and raspberry sorbet.

Overall, I was really surprised by the vegan menu I was served at The Gannet. It went far beyond what other restaurants come up, and I felt like I'm dining just as fine and locally sourced as my omni table partners.

Labelling: There was a separate vegan menu card on the tabele. However, make sure you book ahead and let them know about your dietary requirement.

Budget: The Gannet is an affordable fine dining restaurant - the set menu costs £35.