The McMillan Southside

Arranging the team Christmas Dinner is often an affair fraught with danger. A group of people you’ve known for over 15 years who have developed their own personal tastes, likes and dislikes. Whilst a Dominos and a half dozen cases of Blue WKD would have previously passed muster we have somewhat matured and as such our Christmas nights out have been getting progressively fancier over the last 5 years.
With a mixed group of tastes varying from the adventurous to the not so, and knowing that it’s just around the corner from my flat, I booked a table at the McMillan. First things first, it was amazing value at £26 for 3 courses. As anyone who’s visited the McMillan will know you often do well to get a main alone for that price when you’re pushing the boat out. It was busy but the atmosphere was just right for Christmas without feeling suffocating. Whilst the pianist is an oft underrated part of any restaurant ambience.
Each course had four choices to pick from. For my starter I had a confit duck salad which was wonderfully lifted with some pickled vegetables. I also tried my friends grilled polenta with brie and house salsa which was also very tasty. For main I shunned the traditional turkey dinner (having already eaten 3 by that point of the week!) in favour of braised beef shin with mashed potato, picked carrots and bone marrow bread pudding. That’s right BONE. MARROW. BREAD. PUDDING. It was, and my apologies for the slight profanity here, the dugs baws! I now demand I have this as an accompaniment with any slab of meat I eat. The beef shin, carrots and gravy were also spot on and as a whole dish it was really great.
Not being a dessert fan I went for cheese and biscuits and whilst the selection was rather uninspiring with cheddar, stilton and brie there was enough biscuits on my plate which for some reason kitchens have great difficulty parting with when it comes to serving up a cheese course.
They have a varied bar menu full of whiksy, gin, beers and cocktails and the waiting staff, bar one rather ‘intense’ chap, were great and joined in our special blend of nonsense when asked,
I really like it in here and as Christmas dinners go it was an absolute win for me. I noticed they do a steak and wine for two night during the week for £30, if I could jsut meet the love of my life I

Looking for a reasonably priced, sophisticated place to eat with friendly staff? McMillan Bar & Chop House is definitely for you.
When I say reasonably priced I do mean for what you get. Only £17 for half a lobster!
I would recommend this to anyone looking for a delicious dinner (get the mac & cheese, it’s unreal!)
Also great cocktails. Good selection and strong.
I’m glad the Southside has a place like this. ⁵⁄₅!

The McMillan Southside is really nicely put together inside. I really liked the décor, the lighting inside the restaurant creates a really lovely ambience. There are large booths that help your dining experience feel more intimate and private without feeling as though you’re in a diner. The walls have some exposed brick and all the tables have small candle lit lamps. Even though it is a large room, it wasn’t overly loud, you could easily talk across the table in a normal tone. In big rooms like this it’s not uncommon to be able to hear everyone else’s conversation but your own, thankfully this is not the case at McMillan’s.
On to the food! My partner and i shared the chilli squid with soy and sesame sauce for starter. I wasn’t sure wether they were fried or sautéed but i was glad to see that i wasn’t given a whole octopus. The sauce complimented the chilli really well by taking a bit of the bite out of it, the squid could have been a little more tender for my liking. My main consisted of the Classic burger which came with fries and Beetroot sauce. My partner got Andy’s smokey burger and we swapped our halves so we could try both. The Andy’s burger was definitely the better out of the two. The classic burger was just your average where as the Andy had BBQ sauce and bacon giving it an extra kick. Tomato, pickles a special cheese and a bun that wasn’t just air, made the Andy burger too good not too finish. I was disappointed with the fries as there was nothing memorable about them, they reminded me of frozen oven fries.
The service was really good for peak hour on a Friday night, all the servers never lost their enthusiasm. I did see a few groups having to be turned away as their were no tables free so if you are planning to pop in on a friday night, book ahead.
All in all i would definitely come back to The Mcmillan and would recommend it to others. I will be back to try the steak next time as i hear it’s well done! (pun intended)

I was not very hungry when I stopped here but I wish I had been! The menu was lovely, the surrounding also matched. My friend and I were seated at a cosy booth overlooking Queens Park, which even in the dreich weather looked romantic.
I had the chicken skewers and chips and though they were a little late arriving my lovely waitress informed me this was due to the fact that she had seen them and didn’t not think they were up to scratch so had sent them back for a fresh plate. I found this honesty quite refreshing!
The food was great, the service also matched and since I live in the Southside I will be visiting again soon with more of an appetite!

I visited The McMillan on a Tuesday evening with in a group of 6 people. The restaurant was not overly busy but it was not empty — a happy medium. My sister had booked in advance and we were shown to our seat without having to wait at all. We were seated in a booth which was cosy and perhaps we could have used a little more room but it wasn’t really a big problem. The décor of the restaurant is very fresh and modern and I noticed that they had a private room with a large table which would be good for private parties. I didn’t give much thought to the bar as I just passed through it.
Every staff member we dealt with was very friendly and well informed about the menu and other aspects of the restaurant. We all ordered steaks, which were delicious, and cooked exactly as we had requested. The menu did have other choices including burgers, which looked delicious, and fish and chips. We ordered wine from the comprehensive wine list which was good, too. We all got desserts to follow — my chocolate fudge cake was great and my sister’s sticky toffee pudding was also delicious.
I would definitely recommend this for a special treat for steak lovers.

Yayyy! A new bar to link the burgeoning Strathbungo to the established scene in Shawlands. The building it’s in was going to make it pretty horrible I thought. Well I was wrong, I agree with my fellow accompanying Unilocalers that the bar area feels like a slightly uninspired afterthought, but in the main area it’s pretty contemporary, shiny and spacious… and it was busy on this, it’s first Friday lunchtime.
It ain’t cheap for a southside joint though, we were a little taken aback at the drinks prices, the food prices though seemed more reasonable. I ordered the Beef Carpaccio, and the Spiced Tweed Valley Lamb Burger. The service was fine, the carpaccio came and yes it was a little small, but delicately presented and with the salad leaves and balsamic everything was in just the right ratio. The lamb burger was lovely, the chips were good, not the fluffiest or crispest but very acceptable. My one main complaint is simple, burgers have to stay together when you eat them or they ain’t burgers, this didn’t, it rapidly fell into bits and left me picking it up with a fork. Star off!

This building has been empty for as long as I can remember, so it’s great to see that someone has given it a bit of love and turned it into a bar/​restaurant. It’s described as a steak/​chophouse and the smell of steak really hits you as you walk in!
The bar area is a little weird — Steph S describes it perfectly as having a real hotel bar vibe, so hopefully they do something about that. It’s very sparse and not very welcoming. We had a seat at a booth which was great — but we could have easily another 4 people to our party. This was the same kind of set up in the restaurant area. We were initially told we’d have to wait an hour for a table, it was more like 20 minutes and we got regular updates from the maître d who was excellent and super friendly.
We ordered a couple of starters to share — my dining companion is pescatarian so we got the scallops and requested to leave off the Parma ham, and we also got the calamari. The scallops definitely needed the salt from the ham as it was a little bland, thankfully the scallops were lovely and juicy, and the pea purée was delicious. The calamari was also good and nicely seasoned with pepper — already the dishes were of a higher standard than I initially expected.
I ordered a steak for a main, medium rare. There is really too much choice between cuts and sizes on the menu, the waitress couldn’t really offer any guidance on whether I should order the premium Scotch or Aberdeen Angus. I also ordered an extra side of mashed potato which never appeared and I forgot to check it wasn’t on the bill. That being said, the steak was really delicious — well cooked, simply presented with a generous pot of roquefort sauce and a nice addition of some roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine.
Service was fine — the waiting staff seem quite young (maybe I’m getting old) and as this place is brand new, they are obviously all still working out their processes. We did get checked up on a few too many times by different waitresses but I guess it’s better than being abandoned! I think this bar/​restaurant needs a little time to find its feet and its crowd — I’d definitely head back to the restaurant, but I can’t see myself going to the bar for a drink in its current format when there’s bars like The Bungo nearby that ooze personality.

Drinks only Review
Popped in for a crafty pint with fellow Unilocalers, but quite quickly I found that it’s not the ideal place for drinks only. Yes, they serve some decent crafty pints like Innis and Gunn’s Lager Beer (£4.50), but as the main area’s set up for dining you’re pointed to either the 1 high table in the bar or the rather sterile separate seating area. And to be honest this area seems to take its décor inspiration from a Travelodge hotel reception.
So this Strathbungo steakhouse’s main bag is food and the dining area certainly looks more intimate, so I’ll definitely be back to participate in some luncheon. Prices seem standard, although a tenner for soup and a sandwich initially seems excessive. But steak’s most prevalent on the menu, so it’s something meaty I’ll be going for :)