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Glasgow’s Bay Horse has run its race and gone to the knacker’s yard in the skies. Long live The Raven which will officially open in its place on Renfield Street tomorrow.
With a firm focus on sports, craft beer and slow smoked BBQ food, The Raven has an open kitchen, eleven wide screen TVs and an upstairs function area which is, of course, called The Nest. Children are welcome until 9pm.
Smoked low and slow
Look out for the sharing platters of smoked meats. At The Raven, ribs, chicken and meats are slow smoked on site for up to twelve hours. The Raven is a Maclay Inns venture which has several similarities to Clerks Bar, another Maclay Inns pub in Edinburgh. Both make a feature of their smoked dishes.
This 5pm Dining blogger tried the smoked platter in the capital and it was a healthy portion of well smoked meaty delights. The ribs in particular stick in the memory. In fact, I may still have some of the BBQ sauce under my nails.
Other dishes available at The Raven include hot dogs topped with pulled pork, nachos, burritos, burgers and even a range of mini-sliders. One of which is a mac ‘n’ cheese variant which comes with smoky ketchup.
They also serve a couple of salads. One imagines that they might even sell one every five years or so. You can see the full menu from here.
Craft beers
As well as Caesar Augustus and Deuchars plus four other craft beers, The Raven’s draught selection includes Heverlee, Estrella and The Raven Table lager. The selection of bottled beers is pretty tasty with names like Camden, West Brewery and Stewarts standing out.
Shaun Donellan, General Manager of The Raven, said: ‘We’re sure our mouth-watering menu of slow-smoked food will be a crowd pleaser but what we’ve really focused on is making sure everyone feels really welcome. Our staff are smiley and approachable and we’re focused on giving folk a really brilliant night out. With what we have in store, we’re confident we’ll rule the roost.’
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