][1]Maclay Inns have been busy boys and girls of late. Hot on the heels of opening Munro’s and relaunching the Tullie Inn, Balloch, the firm have just opened the doors of The Hope.
Formerly the Grahamston Bar on Waterloo Street, The Hope is their first Glasgow city centre bar. The venue has been given a new lease of life after a two month, £500K refurbishment.
Lynn Lovelock, marketing manager of Maclay Inns, said: ‘When we took over, the venue had been closed for months and was dark, dated and in need of some love and attention. We could see it had great potential and we are delighted with the new look and confident that our customers will be too.’
Copper bar
Having been stripped back to its original features, the bar has been completely transformed. The new design, created by Dominic Paul of IBDP, included installing new feature windows to add more light to the bar; knocking down walls to extend the raised restaurant area and restoring its beautiful mahogany and copper bar.
Stylish mirrored tiling adds to the beauty of the original bar while Glasgow tenement style floor tiles have been used as a feature in front of the bar to highlight a large zinc drinking table.
Sistine Chapel
Interesting design pieces such as oversized hanging felt lampshades and quirky pieces of art have been added to create focal points in the restaurant. They complement the frieze on the ceiling which, remarkably, is inspired by the Sistine Chapel.
One imagines that countless jokes about nipping out for a pint and a prayer are just waiting to take wing.
Pulled pork
The menu includes dishes such as slow-cooked pulled pork with bbq sauce, hand cut potato skins and apple fritters; teriyaki chicken breast with wilted greens and fresh coriander rice plus a range of sharing platters such as the mixed seafood platter with crayfish, smoked salmon, mussels, hot smoked mackerel, tartare, lime mayo, capers and wholemeal bread.
The Hope will open every day from 8am –midnight and aims to attract Central Station commuters as well as the many people working in the offices in and around Waterloo Street.
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