Margo to open in Glasgow this October

On Monday 28 October, Margo – a new restaurant from Scottish restaurant group Scoop (Ox and Finch, Ka Pao) – will open in Glasgow, bringing a new drinking and dining spot to the city centre.

The kitchen will be headed up by Glasgow native Robin Aitken, who joined Scoop as a chef at Ox and Finch in 2014. After a period of travelling and working abroad, Aitken returned to the Scoop as part of the senior team leading Ka Pao Glasgow to its first Michelin Bib Gourmand, and Ox and Finch retaining its Bib Gourmand for the 10th year. 

Aitken will lead the kitchen in delivering a menu of snacks, small plates and sharing dishes that highlight curated seasonal produce. The menu will evolve regularly, retaining a flavour-led approach focusing on Scottish seafood, meat butchered in-house and bread and pasta made from scratch. 

Dining at Margo

Guests can start their meal with snacks such as smoked haddock churros, manchego and saffron, or Margo focaccia with prawn head butter, before moving on to beef tartare, grilled onion salad, crispy potato and crème fraîche; beetroot, Yelloson goat's curd and cocoa tortelloni; or West Coast crab tart with bitter leaf salad. 

A selection of larger dishes will follow, including skate wing with kumquat kosho, trout roe and green peppercorns and lamb faggot with seared liver, bonnet polenta and salsa verde. Feasting-style plates will include dry-aged sirloin on the bone with café de Paris butter and half Creedy Carver duck with liver parfait, marmalade and toast. 

For dessert, Aitken's team will present their takes on classic puddings, including baked rice pudding crème caramel, lemon and sorrel posset, blackberry and fennel meringue and chocolate nemesis. 

A cocktail list has been designed to complement the food, including signature frozen martinis, yoghurt punch and classic serves with a Margo twist through techniques such as fat-washing and carbonation. The restaurant will also offer Scoop's most comprehensive wine list to date. 

Located at 68 Miller Street, Margo will seat 138 diners across an expansive main dining room and upper mezzanine. 

Heading up front-of-house is Paige Wilson, who has led Scoop through milestones including the opening of Ka Pao Glasgow in 2019 and the restaurant's receipt of its first Bib Gourmand, as well as the launch of the Ka Pao's second location in Edinburgh. 

Scoop's managing director Jonathan MacDonald says of the upcoming launch: "Margo will be an evolution of our first restaurant, Ox and Finch, which has just celebrated its 10th birthday. Both restaurants share the ethos of being relaxed, accessible and fun, alongside a focus on quality."

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