Amber Regent

Living on a past reputation IMO. A lot better more exciting places in Glasgow now. Food is fine, staff are fine, but just average

The Amber Regent is located right in the centre of town at the bottom of West Regent Street. The interior in all honest was slightly dated… it was perfectly pleasant but I could have easily been sitting in exactly same restaurant ¹⁰⁄₁₅ years ago. Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t horrible or uncomfortable, it was perfect pleasant it just wasn’t modern or particularly fresh décor. This is a pretty personal thing so don’t let that put you off if this wouldn’t bother you, it’s just pretty dated which I amn’t really into.
The staff were not particularly welcoming, I think I managed to pull a smile from the woman who brough my bill and seemed genuinely pleased when we said we enjoyed our food. Other than that the staff never made eye contact, never smiled and were brisk and efficient at best. They certainly never left me feeling warm and fuzzy.
The menu was MASSIVE and full of all the standard chinese dishes you would expect. There was a full-​page just dedicated to about 40 different starters, and choosing what to pick was certainly difficult as everything that was coming out of the kitchen looked great.
To start with I decided to go with the Steamed Siu Mai (pork) Dumpling. I was advised when ordering them that they could take 15 to 20 minutes which was helpful, I still placed the order as I didn’t mind waiting. They arrived after about 15 minutes and were presented in a bamboo basket. There was six bite sized dumpling which tasted nice enough, they aren’t the best I have ever eaten but I still enjoyed them.
For my main there were literally pages and pages of dishes to pick from. I have always have a bit of a thing for duck and knew I wanted to try one of their many duck dishes, after going back and forth between the options I finally settled on the Barbecued Duck with Colourful Vegetables and a portion of boiled rice.
The dish arrived pretty quickly and was a massive portion, it was so big in fact that I managed to get 3 pretty big servings from the dish. The duck was tender and tasty, it was presented shredded with a selection of veg and served in a light flavoursome sauce. The rice was lovely — fluffy and ever so slightly sticky. This was another large portion, there was so much rice that we ended up leaving about half the portion. The dish didn’t blow my mind but it was enjoyable enough to eat.
For 2 courses for 2 people and a large bottle of mineral water we were £51.50. I would say this was a reasonable price — neither cheap nor overly expensive.
This is quite a hard one to sum up as I thought the food was nice enough but it wasn’t really anything special in comparison to some other Chinese restaurants like Opium. I get the feeling that 10 years ago this would have been an amazing restaurant when they were receiving all kinds of awards and recommendations. I think there is a danger now thought that they are perhaps resting on their previous successes. I can imagine that they have a massive loyal following of people who always go here if they are going out for Chinese food because it is where they have always gone, which I can completely understand because the food was perfectly nice.
I would say that if you are thinking about trying this place you would definitely enjoy the food, but it’s probably not someplace I would be in a hurry to visit again as there are much better more modern options in the city which are much more to my liking.

We had really overdone it on black pudding, scallops and haggis earlier in the week so were craving something a bit different. We wandered in out of the rain and were seated at a lovely cozy table. Chicken and corn soup to start was delicious and our entrees were even better. Service was perfect — the right amount of checking in to see if we needed anything without being overbearing. The lady at the front was incredibly friendly and found us a taxi on a dreary night. Will definitely be back when I next return to Glasgow.

Yes, this place is expensive — but if it is freshly cooked, uniquely tasting Chinese food you desire, this is the place to come to.

There’s something to a name.
Regent: someone who rules during the absence of a monarch.
In this case, the Amber Regent is definitely the aged pretender to the throne, trading on its city centre location while the true heirs to Chinese food in Glasgow lurk on the outskirts.
Amber: a hard translucent yellow, orange, or brownish-​yellow fossil resin, used for making jewelry and other ornamental objects.
In this case, fossilized resin would apply nicely to the chilli & garlic prawns. Limp, pale, laid like corpses in the metal dish that was supposed to sizzle when the gloopy peanut butter-​coloured sauce was poured over it with much flourish by our brisk waitress. No sizzle. Merely a glug. Sitting too long out of the microwave perhaps.
Glug would describe the whole experience. Yes, there is a lady at the entrance to check your coats in and lead you to the dinind room, where you wait, like supplicants to see the regent while they figure out where you’re meant to be sitting. Yes the décor is a bit more upmarket: tablecloths, napkins, cutlery, paintings, mood lighting. But the food is where it’s at. And here it’s definitely not ‘at’.
Starters of paper chicken, golden fried prawn ball and siew mai (Chinese steamed pork dumplings): a non-​event. Textureless, flavourlessthe one indistinguishable from any other except by shape.
Beef with ginger and spring onions is meant to be flavourful cuts swimming in a light and zingy sauce. Instead, cheap cuts of meat, probably braising steak, flavourless again, overwhelmed by gingeriness and cooling to a corn-​flour saturated gloop.
The Chinese tea was too bitter: something so simple that a Chinese restaurant should do well. Egg fried rice again something that should be perfect. Instead, watery and flavourless. Zero points.
Any good points? Because the food was so bad, it was great that the portion sizes were so small. No guilt at all about leaving it. And the service is scarily swift so you can get out much quicker than you get in.
This regent is resting on its aged laurels.
Make the effort instead to head out to some of the less grand but infinitely better Chinese food establishments in this city.
And some of those establishments are (in no particular order):
Rumours Kopitiam (Bath Street), See Woo (Saracen Street), Chinatown (New City Road) and Banana Leaf (Cambridge Street).
They’re all on this site so delve.

Love this restaurant, it’s the best Chinese I’ve had in Scotland. The staff are always really friendly and the use of good Scottish produce gives the cuisine an interesting twist. You must try the crystal prawns.

This is certainly a contender for the best Cantonese restaurant in Glasgow.
The only reason I never gave it five out of five is again the price However
The special orders are worth checking out.
Monday&Tuesday Half Price off main courses all evening.
Wed/​Thur/​Fri Half Price main courses before 7PM.
Saturday Half Price main courses before 6.30PM.
They also have a loyalty card which depending how many stamps you collect you can be rewarded with a business lunch to a bottle of champagne.
The service is always excellent and the staff in the evenings wear Cheongsam dresses which is a lovely touch. It does get really busy so I would book.
The food is to die for, no sign of greasy overfried hormone pumped chicken here. Quality food with old favourites cooked perfectly, they also offer a take a way service.
Give it a go but try the special offers, they don’t knock the portion size or the quality. Apparently the cocktails are great too.

Amber Regent is one of the best Chinese restaurants in Glasgow. Some would say the best but personally I think the Ho Wong just pips it to the post for that title. Nevertheless this is a really good restaurant. The menu is huge and if you are a fish lover then you will be in your element, as there is a large selection of fish and seafood available. The A La Carte menu is not cheap but food is good. But if you are in need of a bargain they do midweek specials and the lunch menu is good. Lunch menu comes in at under a tenner and the choice on it is huge, so you won’t be disappointed if you decide to give it a go at lunchtime. Décor is very luxurious and staff are nice. All in all dining here is a lovely experience.

Nice Chinese food but expensive.
It is usually busy and you are best to book at lunch time as many city people go there for business lunches. Good if someone else is paying or go for a special treat.

Anyone that lives in or eats in Glasgow on a regular basis will be familiar with the name Andy Chung. He is well known for his Chinese food throughout the city. Amber is one of his restaurants and I dare say it is one of his most popular. It is very popular amongst families, I know we have been there a few times and each time we leave we promise we will be back again. The restaurant has an elegant décor which has a very posh feeling to it, there are very high ceiling with very extravagant photos up. This is not want you expect from a Chinese restaurant but it works very well. As well as offering a huge range of Chinese food it is important to remember the specialise in the sea food aspect so if this is your thing then you cannot be disappointed

Chinese restaurants can so often be a disappointment, overloaded with grease, batter and sugary sweet sauces. The Amber Regent certainly does not fit within this category, as the food served up here is moist and delicious, delicate in flavour, but unmistakeably chinese. The pastry of the spring rolls was light, with generous fillings of crispy fried vegetables and seared duck. Dishes were not overloaded with sweet sauces, but were carefully thought out and balanced in flavour. The delicious food is complemented by a luxuriously grand dining room, where you really do feel like you might be dining at a chinese banquet. A setting fit for royalty.