This one is a bar spot in Merchant City, sitting in the $$ band, carried on my list as a Go-to: a dependable call.
I have not written this one up yet. Nothing sourced, and no hours I would stand behind. Check the room's own channels before you go.
Cocktails
61 King St.
Bar · Merchant City · $$ · Go-to
King Street
Where to go next
Also in Merchant City
Shawarma King!
Solid · Shawarma · Merchant City · $
walk-in
The owner gives away exactly one thing about the method: the family marinates the meat with its own recipes the day before it goes over the counter, so "the meat gets enough flavour" (STV News, 27 February 2025).
The Absent Ear
Solid · Cocktail bar · Merchant City · $$$
book ahead
A basement speakeasy named for the ear Van Gogh lost, hidden in Merchant City behind an unmarked buzzer, and you only get the street address when you book; the team behind it took SLTN Cocktail Bar of the Year in 2023.
Dakhin
Solid · South Indian · Merchant City · $$
book ahead
The batter for the dosa is fermented rice and lentils, and the crepe it cooks into runs two to three feet across the table, which is the format Dakhin brought to Scotland in 2004 as the first restaurant here cooking the food of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and…
More Cocktails
Kelvingrove Café2◆
Solid · Cocktail bar · Finnieston · $$
book ahead
The bar freezes its own blocks and portions them with a 14-inch Japanese ice saw, using methods The Skinny traces to "tools and techniques used by cafe owners in 1930s Glasgow."
The Gate
Solid · Cocktail bar · East End · $$
book ahead
A pub has held a licence at 251 Gallowgate since James Reid took the lease in 1826, and the bar there now keeps more than 160 whiskies behind it, directly across the road from the Barrowland Ballroom.
Daddy Marmaladesjust added
Solid · Cocktail bar · Merchant City · $$
book ahead
The pair who opened this place in late 2022 planned to sell beer, and three years later took SLTN's Cocktail Bar of the Year.
Key: what the badges mean
★ Michelin star · Bib Bib Gourmand · Green ★ Michelin Green Star · Michelin in the Michelin guide, no distinction · J Jeff's own note · Jeff ★★★★☆ 2019 his own rating out of five, and the year he gave it · new the venue itself opened recently · just added recently added to Jeff's list, whatever its age · 2◆ independent chef/industry recommendations · ! hygiene caution in force · ? no current public hygiene record, not a caution · keep walking Jeff has been and would walk past it · the line under a name says when to go: Destination (plan around it) / Solid (the dependable send) / Listed (on the radar). Under it, where the entry states one: how the room takes bookings, and the date I last checked the entry.
Record
- page id
- 61-king-st
- city
- Glasgow
- group
- Cocktails
- category
- Bar
- cuisine
- Bar
- area
- Merchant City
- price
- $$
- editorial class
- Go-to
- verdict
- —
- how I know
- —
- confidence
- —
- status
- Open
- address
- King Street
- coordinates
- 55.856781, -4.24644
- last verified
- —