What: A contemporary European restaurant that highlights the best local ingredients from Scotland.
Who: Margo is the newest venture by Scottish restaurant group Scoop, known for its Glasgow venue Ox and Finch and the southeast Asian brand Ka Pao, which has locations in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Managing director Jonathan MacDonald leads Scoop, while Margo’s kitchen is overseen by Robin Aitken, who originally joined the group as a chef at Ox and Finch in 2014. After a period of travel and work abroad, he returned to Scoop as a senior team member at Ka Pao Glasgow. Front of house is managed by Paige Wilson, who has successfully guided Scoop through various achievements, including the opening of Ka Pao Glasgow in 2019 and the restaurant earning its first Michelin Bib Gourmand, as well as the launch of Ka Pao’s second location in Edinburgh.
The food: Margo’s menu features a range of snacks, small plates, and sharing dishes that prioritize seasonal ingredients, particularly Scottish seafood, in-house butchered meats, and freshly made bread and pasta. Diners can start with snacks like smoked haddock churros with manchego and saffron or focaccia with prawn head butter. Starters include beef tartare with grilled onion salad, crispy potato, and crème fraîche; beetroot, Yellison goat’s curd, and cocoa tortelloni; and a west coast crab tart with bitter leaf salad. For the larger dishes, Aitken presents an inventive selection including skate wing with kumquat kosho, trout roe, and green peppercorns; lamb faggot with seared liver, bonnet polenta, and salsa verde; and red prawn and fennel agnolotti. There are also feasting-style plates available, such as dry-aged sirloin with café de Paris butter and half Creedy Carver duck with liver parfait, marmalade, and toast.
To drink: Margo’s beverage menu features cocktails crafted to pair well with Aitken’s dishes, including their signature frozen martinis, yoghurt punch, and classic cocktails with a unique Margo twist through techniques like fat-washing and carbonation. The restaurant boasts Scoop’s most extensive wine list to date, featuring classic fine wines and natural, biodynamic selections from small producers in countries like Portugal, Romania, Chile, Spain, Georgia, Greece, Germany, and Italy. A large selection of wines by the glass is also offered.
The vibe: Margo accommodates 138 diners in a spacious main dining room and an upper mezzanine. The design includes an open kitchen with counter seating for guests to observe the chefs in action, complemented by banquettes and booths. The aesthetic blends industrial chic with architectural metalwork, traditional clay render, ceramic and terracotta tiles, and eclectic salvaged light fixtures.
And another thing: Below Margo, Scoop will open another restaurant and bar called Sebb’s, led by head chef Danny Carruthers. Sebb’s will feature a grill-focused menu designed to pair well with drinks, offering dishes like grilled Carlingford oysters with spiced lamb fat, pakora with Lord of the Hundreds cheese and piccalilli, chicken wings with fermented hot sauce and ranch, and jerk-spiced pork neck with celeriac and apple.
68 Miller Street, Glasgow, G1 1DT
margo.restaurant
