][1]There is something stirring deep underneath Glasgow’s Central station and it’s rather tasty.
Over the last couple of years, plans have been afoot to revitalise and give a new lease of life to some of the extensive system of vaults which lie under the train station.
In the last week or so, those plans have come to fruition as Alston Bar and Beef has opened its doors and enticed customers down into its white-washed cellars.
The team behind Alston already run a large number of bars, restaurants and hotels including Waxy O’Connor’s, Horton’s and the four-star Carlton George Hotel in Glasgow.
The new venue specialises in two things which the 5pm Dining blog is very fond of: gin and beef.
Timorous Beastie mural
Entrance to the bar and restaurant is through a blink-and-you-miss-it doorway within the Gordon Street Entrance to Central station.
The stairway leading down to the venue is decorated with a huge Timorous Beasties mural which opens out onto a view of the kitchen.
As the name suggests, beef, in all its forms, is at the centre of the menus. The kitchen’s supplier sources only the finest Aberdeen Angus cross Limousin beef from accredited farms in Ayrshire, East Lothian and Aberdeenshire.
Dry-aged steak
The cattle are grass fed and finished on grain to help the beef develop both flavour and good marbling. The beef is then dry-aged and matured for a minimum of 35 days.
The kitchen uses a Montague oven which is capable of reaching unusually high temperatures. As a result, their steaks are beautifully charred with a slight crisp on the exterior while remaining tender and juicy inside.
The 5pm Dining blog had a preview last night and it’s a huge thumbs up for the rib served on the bone and the ham hock terrine is also pretty damn fine.
][9]Scottish gins
If you are a gin hound then you are in the right place. The Alston specialises in gins and serves some fifty odd, twelve of which are Scottish.
Assistant manager Chris is a fount of gin-related knowledge and, as well as a select range of nifty gin cocktails, the staff are dab hands at producing a number of perfect serve gin and tonics.
The Tanqueray with a twist of grapefruit makes for a taste-bud tweaking aperitif.
Historical roots
The venue takes its name from the now forgotten Alston Street, formerly the main street in the old village of Grahamston.
First noted on maps in 1680, Grahamston village was just outside of the city of Glasgow’s boundaries. Over the years, it grew rapidly from a row of thatched cottages to the industrial centre of Glasgow.
Alston Street housed theatres, pubs, warehouses, yards and refineries, which were demolished to make way for the Caledonian Railway Central Station which opened in 1879.
The bar’s signature gin cocktail is the ‘1873’, named after the last time anyone saw the main street running through Grahamston.