It's hard to miss Bothwell Street's Grill on the Corner. Its windows of cascading fairy lights and neon signage stand out even amongst the impressive red bricks that surround it, while its interiors promise stylish leather seating and warm woods with a hit of glassy sparkle. More enticing than its facade though is the restaurant's menu of juicy steaks, fresh seafood and, rumour has it, one of the city's finest Sunday roasts, so we went down to suss out the truth of the matter.
The Grill on the Corner interiors offer a slick but casual space to enjoy some delicious food.
On a Sunday afternoon, the vibe was buzzing, not packed to the rafters but with a happy hum of diners crafting the ideal backdrop to a cosy Sunday lunch. Expect to be spoilt for choice when perusing the menu, particularly if you’re visiting on the day of rest, when, alongside the a la carte collection, you’ll find their mouthwatering roasts menu offering a very purse-friendly three courses for £25. Both front a wide variety of dishes and styles, spanning from traditional Scottish influences to distinctly more exotic items.
To start, we chose the peppered lemon calamari (£7.25) and the Goan chicken skewer (£7). The portion of calamari was hefty, served with garlic aioli, but lacked punch; it was crisp and light, but didn’t quite live up to its promise of being noticeably peppery or lemony. However, the Goan chicken skewer, was rammed with flavour and spice. Great chunks of vibrant chicken were speared and laid on a tortilla, packed with pickled red cabbage and zingy pico de gallo.
Dig into a classic Sunday spread with all the trimmings.
Grill on the Corner is very proud of its steak offering, so, swayed by our server, my partner chose the sirloin (£26), with béarnaise sauce and fries. Unfortunately the sirloin didn’t quite meet the high expectations we’d been bestowed with; it was large, juicy and well-cooked, but lacked seasoning and that deep charred flavour you come to crave from a great steak. However, the bearnaise was velvety, rich and made an addictively dippable companion to the crisp, salty fries.
With a Sunday roast menu on offer, I ordered the garlic and sage rubbed roast pork loin (£15). In contrast to the steak, this dish far and away exceeded my expectations, with a lovely home-cooked feel that many restaurants spend years trying to perfect. My dish comprised several large slices of herbaceous roast pork, flanked by crunchy crackling, golden, fluffy beef dripping roast potatoes, beef gravy, rosemary-roasted carrot (particularly good), sausage stuffing and an enormous Yorkshire pudding, as well as a dish of steamed greens. Every element was beautifully cooked, dense with flavour and wonderfully comforting - easily one of the best restaurant roast dinners in Glasgow.
The dessert menu promises something for every sweet tooth.
Dessert, as always, feels indulgent and unnecessary at this point, but we ordered anyway. The selection of ice cream (£5.50) was again, large in portion at three scoops, but silky and delicious - the salted caramel ice cream was particularly good. My partner chose the Smokey Old Fashioned Affogato (£4.95), which went down a storm: satin-soft vanilla ice cream, strong dark espresso and a whisky cocktail, served in a smoke-filled receptacle, to be mixed together and enjoyed as a boozy dessert with panache.
Alongside dinner, we both sipped on refreshing, zingy cucumber mojitos (£8) - a brilliantly balanced cocktail which was the perfect way to perk up a sleepy Sunday afternoon. The cocktail menu, wine list and beer list are all very comprehensive, so even the fussiest drinker will find something to quench their thirst.
You can't miss the pretty exteriors of this Bothwell Street spot.
DesignMyNight Digest
The Grill on the Corner has built a reputation for being a well-heeled destination serving good food - and it’s not hard to see why. Balancing a casual, friendly atmosphere with a distinctly glitzy vibe, it’s an oasis in the throng of the city centre, and somewhere we wouldn’t hesitate to visit again.
In terms of the food, not every dish was perfect, but even those in need of a tweak more than passed muster. The great ones, however, really are something to write home about. We’d come back here for one of their roast dinners any given Sunday - and we’d definitely be staying for dessert.
