Alston Bar & Beef

In short, the 500g bone-​in rib is the best steak in Glasgow.
We have been here four or five times and I have had the bone-​in rib, medium rare, three times. It is a carnivore’s dream! Make sure you’re hungry and in the mood for meat as it really is a good slab!
Mrs G normally has the 300g rib-​eye and it, too, is brilliant. The quality of meat on offer is top notch!
I’ve had the burger for a work lunch too and that is also fantastic!
And the gin? Wow! What a selection!
I’m drooling writing this and need to get back there soon!

Right in the Railway station down a big flight of neon steps, this looks more like a cool underground bunker than a restaurant!
I was in a group of four and we were sat very quickly as it was a weekday lunch.
The set menu is awesome and only £14 for two courses. Some great choices. I ordered the chicken liver pâté (absolutely incredible) and a burger with cheese and bacon (good, but not mind blowing and fell apart pretty easily).
In all this is a very well priced spot for a good quality lunch.

I have not tried the food at Alston Bar and Beef as yet, but this review is based on the drinks and ambience.
I had been wanting to visit this place for a while as it sounded so interesting. I was intrigued by the almost secret looking door and the staircase of lights, as well as the attractive mural and wall decorations which lead you downstairs.
The first thing you see at the bottom of the stairs is a glimpse of the other side of the restaurant through a sort of square fireplace. Intriguing! The whole «hidden» theme continues as you enter with a virtually endless view due to the huge mirrors on both arched end walls. You can also learn more about the myths and mysteries behind the bar through the book which you can browse on the village which is reportedly under the station, which Alston make reference to on their menus (nice touch).
The staff were quite attentive, but also gave us time to absorb the menu, as there was lots to choose from.
I wish they had tasting notes for the gin– I don’t really know enough about gin to know which ones I would like, I went for a sloe gin as there are only 2 of these on the menu and I’d only ever tasted a well known brands version before. This did not disappoint, especially with the Fentimans tonic. I took a photo of the menu so I can do some research before my next visit, as I know I will be back again.

Ever since I first visited Glasgow Central Station’s underground restaurant Alston Bar & Beef, I’ve been a firm fan, going back time and again. I like to think of Alston as Glasgow’s best kept secret which you enter via a secret passage door — blink and you’ll miss it. I cannot keep raving about the food to everyone around me and if someone asks for any restaurant recommendations in Glasgow, I make sure Alston is at the top of the list.
This time around, I climbed down the Timorous Beasties staircase to sample their new Wednesday Steak & Lobster deal. For £40 for two, you can order a 250g dry aged rump steak, ½ North Atlantic lobster or a North Atlantic lobster roll each. The deal also includes a large portion of chips, lashings of garlic butter and a bottle of house wine to share. Sounds like a perfect way to spend a Wednesday. What’s even better is that the deal starts at 12 until closing which means if you want a rather decadent lunch, you can!
Before our main course arrived, we ordered some starters. For my mom, Chicken liver pâté with toast & red onion chutney. I opted for lemon & coriander crab cakes with lemon mayo & mixed leaves. Both delicious and beautifully presented… but we’re really here to learn more about Steak & Lobster Wednesday, aren’t we?
The restaurant uses a Montague oven which reaches extremely high temperatures and when cooking steaks, it allows the meat to be tender and juicy inside while being perfectly charred on the outside. The end result on my recent visit? A perfectly cooked medium rare rib-​eye steak that I would gladly eat every day of the week if I could.
Alongside the steak, our massive platter had a mountain of chips. Yes, a mountain, that’s the only word to describe the amount before my very eyes. Not that I’m complaining. There was also a little boat of garlic & sage butter, ideal for dipping your chips into and drizzling onto your steak if you so wished. Naturally, I did. Who can resist a good garlic butter?
On the other platter, a half lobster and a rather appetising lobster roll with another boat of garlic & sage butter. The lobster was cooked perfectly, soft light succulent meat with some lemon squeezed on top– glorious. The only downfall for me? I wish there was more. As we weare sharing, there wasn’t much lobster meat to go around, especially as it was so light. A whole lobster would have been perfect.
It was my first time trying a lobster roll. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it at first but after my initial bite, I was sold. A lightly garlic toasted brioche roll filled with a creamy mayonnaise mixture of meat from half a lobster. It was extremely light and seemed more like an afternoon snack than a full blown meal for dinner, for me personally. It was delicious though, even more so when dipped into the garlic butter boat. My initial scepticism was unwarranted. My mom however wasn’t a fan of the lobster roll. She’s a firm lobster fan and loved the creamy mayonnaise mixture but disliked the brioche roll. She’s just pernickety.
The Steak & Lobster deal comes with a bottle of house red, rose or white wine, however, as I’ve stopped drinking alcohol, I opted for a few mocktails that were whipped up for me based on my favourite fruit juice– grapefruit. My mom rarely drinks alcohol but on this occasion, she ordered a small glass of white wine along with a soft drink.
After a short break, we ordered a couple of desserts. Crumbed pear which is by far the best dessert Alston do. It is a masterpiece of whole poached pear with shortbread crumb and crème anglaise. A more refined version of a crumble and damn it’s good.
We also ordered the dark chocolate mousse with a warm salted caramel sauce and pistachio biscotti. It was seeing the word pistachio that made me order this. I’m a sucker for anything pistachio, as some of you will know. Addicted is an understatement. This was a rather rich decadent dessert and I would have preferred having the salted caramel sauce on the side to drizzle over instead of it being on top of the mousse. That’s my own preferred choice.
Overall, dinner was superb. I love Alston Bar & Beef and if you’ve never been before, you really should. It is honestly really hard to ever criticise the food that comes out of their kitchen. The new Steak & Lobster deal is amazing value for the great quality food you are presented with.

Popped in here with four friends and I was delighted to find that their standards remain high.
The food is excellent, the service prompt without being pushy, and I think the atmosphere hits a great sweet spot of high class without being too exclusive.
I started with the Lemon & Coriander Crabcakes. Three well fried, yet still soft and succulent inside, crab cakes, with a hint of coriander and a nice tang from the lemon mayonnaise.
That set me up well for the fillet steak. I ordered mine with mash and béarnaise sauce on the side.
The meat was perfectly cooked to medium rare, and I could’ve just pulled it apart rather than cutting it. It was delicious, buttery and smooth, with just enough char on the outside to complement the gentle flavour.
The béarnaise sauce is one of my favourites and again, not much to criticise here. It’s got a sharp tang to it but doesn’t overpower. The mash was ok, and probably the weakest part of the dish as it’s just a little on the dry side, plus I think the portion is a little on the large side, perhaps less mash and one more veg might be a better option? (some roasted miniature carrots perhaps?).
We washed our meal down with a very nice Malbec (can’t recall which one, Argentinian I think) and declined the dessert menu as we were all nicely full.
What a wonderful restaurant, can’t wait to go back again.

Time for an update. After a previously bad experience I decided to give Alston another try and I returned for a work dinner. First impressions were good, the staff were really friendly and we got seated pretty quickly.
For starters I had Cullen Skink which was was very very good. Super creamy with huge potato chunks and thick with fish. There was also lots of lovely bread and butter on the side. For mains I had a amazing sirloin steak with mash. The steak was cooked to perfection and melted as you cut it. The mash was great once you added some bernaise sauce. For dessert I had peach Melba. It was my least favourite thing, but that was more about taste than it being bad. It was still a good (super sweet) dessert.
All in a great dinner and a much better experience. The service is as efficient and super friendly. The only let down was we were sat next to a fire door and the staff kept opening and closing it which created a massive draft. Still did not spoil a lovely meal. I’m glad I went back.

This place is a great sign of the burgeoning state of Glasgow’s eating culture. Underneath what used to be a rather unpleasant part of Central Station, Alston exudes class and modern décor.
Primarily a Gin bar, I bought a Hendricks G&T and a French Gin that eludes me along with a pint of an IPA for me. That lot came to £16.40, ouch. They are serving nice Tonic bottles but charging £1.50 for them. A pint at £4+ is sadly commonplace these days.
We got to our tables and ordered our food. Please don’t go here is you want a budget meal. They are pricey, good but pricey. I would say they are about 20% over the quality of their food with their pricing. My Alston Burger was £15. For that money I expected something truly marvellous. What I got was tasty enough with some nice pulled pork on it but I would think a tenner a fair price for it. My wife had chicken and mash, our pal the maple pork chop. Both really enjoyed their food.
The desserts were nice enough too, though my salted caramel was warm and runny sitting on top of a chocolate mousse. Tasted nice enough but runny just warm caramel is a sauce, not a «caramel» as such. The pistachio biscotti was a little bit stale around the edges but very tasty.
Our bill for three was £78 and we enjoyed it quite a lot. Not sure I would eat there regularly but I wouldn’t hesitate recommending it to people, with a price caveat thrown in!

Absolutely loved my dinner here on a recent Saturday night out with a friend. The steak was amazing one of the best I’ve had in Glasgow and the gin cocktail to start was lovely. I loved the all of the food and the buzzy atmosphere in this place was just great. I had booked the table for 7.30 and didn’t leave till almost 22.00 and the staff really didn’t bother us or try to get us to leave. I was already excited about returning here while I was still eating!
There were some groups and birthdays eating too and it seemed like a great place for that so I’ve booked my graduation dinner for Alston and I can’t wait. It’s also got a lovely bar area and a nice place to pop in for a few drinks.

Alston has an amazing selection of gin, which is my primary reason for loving this place.
I first visited the Alston for a Unilocal gin tasting evening — I would never have noticed it otherwise, and it really opened my eyes to how different gin can be, depending on the brand and the mixer. So I can genuinely blame/​thank Alston for my new found gin obsession.
There was a group of us visited on Saturday night, and Alston were good enough to reserve seating for us. Great seats too, with a view of the bar, and right beside the door — perfect for people watching.
I merrily worked my way through the Scottish selection, starting with The Botanist, then Boe, Caorunn, Gilt, Daffy’s (not even on the menu — check me!) and finishing with a Plymouth Sloe (OK, I deviated from Scotland for the Sloe).
Caorunn, served with sliced apples is definitely a favourite, but the Boe and the Gilt were also totally delicious. I think the Gilt just edged it. I also had a taste of the PCA Sloe, and I’d say that’s much nicer than the Plymouth — much jammier, like a jam donut. Hey, I didn’t say I knew technical posh language about gin, I just like drinking it!
I love the décor in here too — it’s so fresh, classic and stylish, and the staff are lovely too — real experts and friendly. Plus it’s just cool that it used to be a street underneath Central Station.
I’ll definitely be back. Alternating between here and Gin 71 does seem to be a bit of a plan.

The entrance is like the setting for one of those cool hip clubs in new York you see in films, but when you get in it’s a nice ambiance, Great for a relaxed drink with friends, work colleagues or even meeting future partners or in laws.

I was here last year for the awesome Unilocal gin tasting night, just after the Alston opened. That night gave me a (previously non existent) appreciation for gin. I’ve made it my mission to try as many different varieties as possible, but somehow haven’t made it back here. Until Friday.
I was meeting a friend for a night out and, remembering that she’s also quite into her gin, thought that The Alston would be a good idea.
The Alston is immaculately clean and very stylised — it puts me in mind of a Norwegian bar I saw on tv once, icy white with bluey lighting. The toilets do that irritating thing where, instead of actually just saying ladies/​gents or having the universal icons, they have pictures of deer — with horns for gents, without for ladies. Try figuring that out when you’re all ginned up! I saw at least 6 folks just starting at the doors trying to figure them out…
When we arrived it was extremely busy so we just squeezed ourselves into a space at the bar. We were immediately furnished with a drinks menu, and away we went. from sloe gin, London no3, a raspberry/​ginger thing, to my new favourite, Cold River. Once the dinner crowd were done, we grabbed a table and settled in. Most of the gins were around £3.50, with the more expensive ones just over a fiver. A glass of prosecco is also cheaper than a wine.
I still haven’t eaten here, but absolutely will. The menu looks great and is reasonably priced — the food I saw being served looked and smelled awesome. The staff were really attentive and immediately started us a tab, without us asking, even though they didn’t do that for most other folks there.
The Alston is somewhere I could happily spend an evening, working my way through their gin menu and chilling out.

Subterranean steak heaven! Having visited Alston for an amazing Unilocal night a while back, it would have been rude not to come back and try it all over again. I suggested that we go here for our works night out to try out their Christmas menu.
I really don’t have a bad word to say about this place at all. It was really busy when we arrived last night, our table was still being set but it didn’t matter since everyone hadn’t arrived yet. Such a cool place! The blue lighting, hanging jars with bulbs, sci-​fi like stairs on the way in, arches, white brick, open kitchen, mirrors… Just stunning.
We were seated and ordered our drinks. I went for a tasty sloe gin and Victorian lemonade. It came garnished with a coiled piece of lemon and lots of ice. So tasty! Wish I could remember the name of the gin.
First up, on the food front, was the beautiful hot oak smoked salmon
with pickled baby gem, beetroot cream and lemon infused oil. I didn’t want this dish to end. Everything tied together so well and the salmon was beautifully cooked.
Next up was the sirloin steak, pepper sauce and chips with sprouts, chestnuts and tiny strips of bacon. Seriously one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. It was huge! The sides were incredible too, I was struggling to finish it, but it was so good that I really didn’t want to waste any of it.
I even managed to squeeze in my dessert. Steamed apricot and ginger pudding
with warm butterscotch sauce and ice cream. Outstanding! I had to stop myself from licking the plate.
Given how busy it was and how big our table was, the service was excellent. The girl who was looking after us was so nice and full of chat.
In the words of big Arnie… I’ll be back!

I’ve still not made it in here for a meal yet due to bad timing with dinner partners but today I finally found an excuse to pop down (a lack of change for the loos upstairs and 45 minutes spare waiting for a friend to arrive on the train)
I headed to the bar and sat down in front of the bartender, «I hear you have gin» I said, «we do» he replied, thrusting a menu in front of me, «and there are others not on the list so just ask if you’re lost».
Oh my, I flicked politely through the list of drinks before setting it down and asking him for a recommendation.
He pulled out three and allowed me to sample the aroma from each. I decided to brave a neat gin (with ice and an orange twist) which had been aged in a whisky barrel.
It was at this point I realised that this would be my new home whenever I had time to wait at the train station. A bar with wifi, friendly and helpful staff and more gin than I can shake a stick at.
I will be back for food one day, but until then there is a seat at that bar waiting for me and it won’t have to wait long neither.

This restaurant is in an underground chamber of the main train station in Glasgow. My wife & I went there without any reservation. The staff accommodated us immediately. The mixed grilled meat plate was very good; but I would prefer some more vegetable. The grilled beef bone marrow was creamy and flavorful. The pan fried sea bream was well seasoned; its skin crunchy. The staff was friendly and efficient. But due to its enclosed environment, the noise level in this restaurant was high, requiring louder voice to make conversation across our table.
In spite of its noise level, I recommend this restaurant since its dishes and service are very good.

As soon as I heard about Alston a few months ago, I was totally intrigued — could there be anything cooler than a restaurant underneath Central?
What really sealed the deal for me was oor Briony’s photo of the roast chicken main with mash, it looked so delicious I knew I just had to have it!
Myself and the boyfriend decided to come here a couple of months ago for lunch, as a sort of do-​over for my birthday dinner, as we’d had a particularly disappointing time at The Raven (see previous review, I’m still rather sad about it to be honest.)
The pre-​theatre menu with 2 courses for £12 is such an absolute bargain, especially given the quality of the food — obviously there are other places where you can get that sort of deal but you might be disappointed with what you get.
Having already decided what I was having, because of the aforementioned photo and the fact that I always look up menus online (sometimes to my detriment if I pure get my heart set on something and then it’s not available for whatever reason, I never learn!) my belly and I were very excited for the chicken coming our way!
And oh. Oh that chicken. I still think about it sometimes. It’s without a doubt one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in my entire life! The flavours of the bacon, leek, red wine jus and the chicken itself went together so well and everything was cooked to absolute perfection — so delicious! The mash was probably the best I’ve had in a restaurant, as I’m usually left pretty disappointed but not in this instance! Went for an Eton Mess for dessert as well, which was really very good, the meringue was lovely and the strawberries weren’t too tart. I convinced myself I probably wouldn’t manage to eat the whole thing, but I think deep down I knew that was a downright lie and I scoffed the lot ha.
The marvellous spread they put on for us at the Doors Open Day party cemented my need to come back to Alston for another proper meal — and luckily I’ve been on about it so much that my steak-​loving Dad has decided he’d quite like to go for his birthday, result! It’s almost a month away, but I’m already looking forward to it!
I do have one teeny wee niggle, seriously pains me to do this, but I think the soft drinks are quite overpriced unfortunately. I paid £2-​something (£2.30 maybe?) for a Coke, which would’ve been fine except it was literally — and I do mean literally — the smallest bottle of Coke I have ever seen, I think it was about 200ml!
However, having had a swatch of the alcoholic drinks (I was driving and so couldn’t indulge, story of my life) they seemed to be not too bad, so I think I’ll definitely have to try a cocktail or two next time!

I love lists; they keep me sane at work when there’s a million and one things to be done and just not enough hours in the day. Alston Bar was so good that I’m struggling to put it into words that aren’t simply ‘wowza’ and ‘steak and gin, gin and steak!!’ So, in honour of such a wonderful steak and gin experience, here’s why I loved Alston Bar and Beef in list-​form.
I loved:
The warm, friendly welcome on arrival. In fact, the service really was great from start to finish. Staff were so helpful, attentive, and generally seemed to be enjoying themselves. Being served with a genuine smile is always the cherry on the cake.
The cocktail list. Can we all just take a moment to appreciate the existence of the gin & gingerbread cocktail? With Caorunn gin, lime juice & orange bitters and finished with oh-​so-​tasty homemade gingerbread beer, I wished with all my heart that my glass was bottomless. Alas, it wasn’t and now I’m longing for my next sip. I need more of this delicious concoction in my life and preferably as soon as possible.
The food. It was all mouth-​wateringly scrumptious. From the croquette to start to the medium rare fillet steak with sweet potato fries and garlic and sage butter. My first experience of restaurant sweet potato fries did not disappoint. They’d been cooked and seasoned to delicious sweet-​potato-​fry-​perfection. And the steak… It was all kinds of meaty pleasure. So, so good.
In short, I really liked Alston! — I’m sure it won’t take much tempting to lead me back for more steak and gin very soon.

After two visits for drinks only, I finally managed to eat here, we have some family over from Canada and decided to go somewhere nice for dinner.
There were seven of us for seven last Saturday the staff were all very welcoming and remembered me from being in before. My Brother in law has a Neurological disorder and bravely conquered the stairs, when we arrived in the restaurant the staff offered to take him up in the service lift after our meal.
We ordered a variety of drinks me a pint of Innes & Gun very nice, some wines and other beers no delicious cocktails tonight.
Only three of the party had starters, Roasted Golden Beetroot Balsamic roasted walnuts & Greek Feta & Pan fried Scallops, pea purée parma ham & black pudding times two, all appreciated and enjoyed with relish.
There was a variety of mans two Mixed Grills which were huge portions and beautifully presented, Maple roast pork chop with Stornoway black pudding, baby roast potatoes and caramelized apple & sage leaves times two, Pan fried Sea Bream with peas two ways, baby roast potatoes, onions and lemon bearnaise sauce, 500gm dry aged bone in Rib steak with pepper sauce and mash.
last but not least Chicken Breast, coconut and coriander marinade, crispy chicken skin, stem broccoli and leek and coriander puy lentils.
A variety of food and flavours all delicious and thoroughly enjoyed, sadly no room for pudding as tempting as the choices were.
The staff were all very attentive and very friendly without being intrusive, as promised the three lads went up in the service lift to keep Bro-​in– law company.
A great night was had by all, we will definitely be back.

I’ve now visited Alston and tried the a la carte menu, so I thought that was worthy of a review update.
I ordered the pan fried scallops, pea purée, parma ham & black pudding (£9) as a starter. Now, I’ve lived in Glasgow for 5 years and have adopted a love of most things Scottish: haggis, oatcakes and potato scones … but I have never, ever had a black pudding that I liked. I even considered asking them to leave it off the dish but figured I’d just eat around it. The dish was beautifully presented on a slate and had three plump scallops with a lovely purée and crispy parma ham. And the black pudding. I decided to give it a try to see whether I still hated it — and I didn’t. I actually really liked it, it was soft, spicy and subtle and I scoffed the lot. Parma ham and peas should get married, and so of course they went really well together. As I mentioned in my previous review, the portion sizes are small in the starters but I actually think that’s a good thing as you’ll have a whopping steak to eat.
For main I had the 227g dry-​aged Fillet (£27) with mash, béarnaise sauce and a side of chips (double carbs, I win). Again, a really lovely piece of meat which was perfectly cooked and was so rich and succulent. The steak is seriously memorable and I can’t fault it. I devoured every last mouthful and was glad that there was the perfect sized amount of béarnaise sauce for the steak.
Service was great as per my last visit, and again it was an all-​round lovely experience. I was perfectly happy with both the a la carte and pre-​theatre menu so I’m not too fussy about what I go for next time.

An update now I’ve been here for food, and the extra star is well deserved. It’s definitely serious about its steaks, and all of the other steak-​heavy restaurants are going to have to look over the shoulder, as I was really impressed with the quality of what was on offer.
The starters definitely aren’t an afterthought: my ham and roquefort croquette was really nice, especially when you mixed it in with all of the accompaniements (sorry, can’t remember what else you get with it!), and the scallops I tried were also really good (extra marks for the black pudding this comes with — really, really good).
I went for the sirloin with chips, and all were cooked brilliantly. The steak was cooked just the way I liked it, and was well seasoned. The chips and sauce come in their own containers, which is handy, and the chips were lovely — think decent thickness hand cut rather than thin frites.
Didn’t have a dessert, but what I saw looked pretty tempting. The staff were all really friendly, and even with the restaurant pretty full you didn’t really have to shout over everyone. Also loved the cut glass drinks glasses — makes you feel all sophisticated!
It’s not cheap, but then most steak places aren’t. Definitely worth a go, at least for the pre-​theatre, but I have a feeling that if you started on that you would definitely be back for the full a la carte experience. Highly recommended.

Alston is right up there with some of the hippest bars in Glasgow. The door is located just inside the Gordon Street entrance of Central Station, and when I say a door I mean literally there is a door and that is it. You descend down what surely must be the coolest stairs in the city in to what feels like a prohibition style hidden club. The vibe in the restaurant is contemporary industrial style chic with lovely tunnel shaped rooms, exposed brick walls painted white, really lovely tiled floors and exposed pipes along the roof. In the bar there are some seriously cool decanter lights, in fact the whole lighting design is very clever it’s intimate but feels well-​lit and airy.
The staff were brilliant, our waiter was on hand with lots of suggestions and recommendations which I always enjoy — I like waiting staff that know the food and are excited about it. They were attentive and super fast. I couldn’t fault them. I really loved that the plates are all printed with the Alston logo and each plate that was set in front of us had the logo at the top of the plate facing us… it’s the little things that make me happy.
The menu at Alston was absolutely up my street, it is full of tempting dishes along with an assortment of steaks, sauces and sides to choose from. I chose to start with the beef & roquefort croquette served with horseradish cream. The food arrived reasonably quickly the portion size wasn’t huge but it was beautiful, it was light and fluffy and so incredibly tasty, the horseradish cream just added the smallest hint of heat which was perfect. A special mention has to go to the bread which came with Mr Geeks soup, they had toasted it lightly on an oiled grill which gave it a slightly meaty smoked taste, it was amazing.
For my main I went for a medium sirloin with garlic & sage butter and sides of sweet potato fries and a house salad. Only one word is needed to describe my steak… Perfection! As good a steak as I’ve had in the city. It was cooked exactly right for me and was so flavoursome, the butter came in a separate little pot which I loved because I don’t like it all melted over the steak. The house salad was full of lovely little treats like beetroot, mini gherkins and peas. The sweet potato fries were delicious and really well seasoned. My meal was incredible and I could rave about it for days.
Even after all that food we still had room for dessert, the waiter suggested that we try the crumbed pear with crème anglaise, my friends Louise and Stuart both took him up in his recommendation but I was not to be tempted away from trying the chocolate tart with mascapone & raspberries. My dish was luscious, the tart was thick and short which was filled with a dark, bitter and creamy goo, this was perfect with the raspberry infused mascapone. It was incredible. Stuart let me try a little bit of his pear which I am happy to say lived up to our waiters hype.
Word of warning it is a pretty pricey, not ridiculous but it is worth looking at the menu before you book. We had a wonderful evening and I can not wait to visit again soon.