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November 16, 2017
5pm Festive Dining
5pm Festive Dining offers includes Gandolfi Fish in the Merchant City.

Christmas is very much on the horizon. You can use 5pm Festive Dining offers to plan your scran.

Below we have listed seven city centre restaurants serving festive lunch menus. They would be ideal for a refuelling stop after a bout of Christmas shopping.

They are all close to car parking and within easy walking distance of Glasgow Central or Queen Street stations.

We used 5pm Festive Dining offers to search for city centre restaurants in the first week of December.

Of course, you can plug your own dates and requirements in and search our offers for the restaurant and location that suits you.

Citation Taverne & Restaurant

Citation Taverne & Restaurant is housed within the former Sheriff Court building on Wilson Street, in the heart of Glasgow’s Merchant City.

Which means it seems an appropriate spot for lunch if you have just done a ram raid on the shops of Buchanan Street.

They are offering an appealing Christmas shoppers’ menu. For £15.95 per person, guests can enjoy two courses from the Christmas shoppers’ menu plus a glass of wine, a half pint of beer, or a soft drink.

To begin, we would go for the creamed goat’s cheese with hazelnut, beetroot, radish and broad beans. For our main course, it would be a coin flip between the battered catch of the day with crushed minted peas and tartar sauce or the roast butternut risotto.

Ardnamurchan

Ardnamurchan is a contemporary Scottish restaurant on Hope Street, opposite the Theatre Royal. As the name suggests, the West Coast peninsula of Ardnamurchan has inspired the restaurant and its owners have close links to the area.

Whisky barrels, Harris tweed, exposed brick and stone walls plus designer lighting all mean that the decor treads a neat line between rustic and city centre chic.

The chefs at Ardnamurchan make the most of unique Scottish produce such as wild venison from Ardnamurchan Estate; Hebridean blue cheese and seafood landed on Barra.

Book in for lunch with 5pm’s Festive Dining offers and you can have two courses for £16.95 or three for £19.95.

Starters include Stornoway black pudding fritters with a whisky marmalade and a North Uist crab and mackerel pâté with toasted sourdough and fig jam.

The main courses on the menu include Ardnamurchan estate braised venison shoulder in a redcurrant reduction with mushrooms and Peterhead-landed, pan-roast cod with black pudding,

pearl barley, a pea and cumin purée and crispy bacon.

Barca Tapas and Cava Bar

Barca Tapas and Cava Bar is an authentic Spanish tapas restaurant located within Princes Square in Glasgow city centre. As well as a terrace dining space, it has a bar area and dining room – all with a modern Spanish design.

A wide selection of both classic and contemporary Spanish tapas is at the heart of the various menus available in Barca Tapas and Cava Bar, Princes Square.

Book in with 5pm Festive Dining offers and it is £17.95 per person for three courses from the Christmas lunch menu.

As you might expect, there is a distinct Spanish flavour to the menu at Barca. The choice of starters includes asparagus wrapped in Serrano ham with a piquillo pepper dressing and North Atlantic prawns and Spanish chorizo served on crisp tostados with crushed tomato and garlic.

The main curse options include a slow-braised rump steak with red wine and paprika, finished with an almond pesto, and a saffron rice cake served on a bed of samfaina and roasted cumin kale.

Halloumi

Decked out in the jaunty colours of the Greek flag, Halloumi is a Greek-Cypriot mezze restaurant on Hope Street. A bright, cheery space, it is a friendly spot for a quick lunch, a pre-theatre bite or a lively evening meal with friends.

‘Inspired by Greece. Made in Glasgow. Small plates. Big flavours.’ is how Halloumi describes itself.

5pm Festive Dining offers mean you can tuck into three courses on the Christmas menu for £24.95 per person.

With a menu that features pitta and dips, grilled halloumi, meatballs, crispy calamari, a classic  moussaka and our old friend souvlaki, there is plenty to choose from.

Tempus – Grand Central

The Grand Central is one of Glasgow’s landmark hotels and it has welcomed everyone from Churchill to Frank Sinatra. Tempus restaurant is within Grand Central and one of the city centre’s dining hotspots.

It is a sumptuous and light-filled venue with high ceilings, arched windows and two gorgeous Murano glass chandeliers

Tempus serves modern Scottish food and the kitchen has won awards for its locally sourced, seasonal menus. The menus are elegant, sophisticated and a great showcase for Scottish produce.

With 5pm Festive Dining offers, you can take a break from the shopping and have two or three courses from the Christmas menu for £15.95 per person or £18.95.

We would go for the beetroot-cured Hebridean salmon to start followed by the roast breast of Barbary duck with sweet potato and celeriac gratin, pak choi and a black cherry sauce.

Gandolfi Fish

Just a couple of doors down from the well established Gandolfi flagship restaurant, Gandolfi Fish runs a seasonal a la carte menu which pays tribute to all the fish and seafood landed at Scottish ports.

Separated into two dining areas with booths and counter seating at the rear, Gandolfi’s interior is light and airy, showcasing a specially commissioned artwork by Lewis-based Moira Maclean.

The Christmas pre-theatre menu is £17.95 per person for two courses and £19.95 for three courses when you book in with 5pm Festive Dining offers.

Starters include Summer Isles smoked salmon with pickled cabbage and wholegrain mustard mayonnaise or you could try Gandolfi’s take on a classic prawn cocktail – prawns and crayfish served with a spiced Marie Rose sauce and brioche toast.

Main course options include pan-seared sea bass with chicory, orange and a hazelnut pesto and, for a meaty option, the roast, free-range chicken supreme served with beets, turnip, crispy potatoes and a red wine jus.

Charcoals

Charcoals is an award-winning restaurant on Renfield Street in Glasgow city centre.

This relaxed and friendly restaurant prides itself on providing diners with exceptional food and service. As the name suggests, the kitchen’s charcoal grill sees a lot of action.

After a hard morning crossing names off the Christmas present list, you can recuperate at Charcoals with two courses from the Christmas lunch menu for £9.95 per person.

Count us in for chicken pakora and then lamb korma. Or maybe the South Indian garlic chilli chicken.