Celebrate the re-opening of Glasgow’s favourite small plates restaurant with these delicious recipes from Ox and Finch head chef, Craig Nelson

Bib Gourmand restaurant Ox and Finch has re-opened its doors after a six-month closure. In its tenth anniversary year, this local favourite shut up shop to overhaul the interiors, fit a new kitchen and transform the British-Mediterranean small plate menu that Glasgow foodies have come to love so dearly.

The restaurant was first opened by Jonathan MacDonald (who now also owns Ka Pao and Ka Pao Edinburgh under the Scoop Restaurants group) in May 2014 in Glasgow’s Kelvingrove neighborhood, spearheading informal, mix-and-match dining in Scotland.

Whilst the Ox and Finch doors closed for renovation in October 2024, Jonathan and his team opened Margo, a bustling addition to Glasgow’s city centre that serves up a satisfying syntheses of Mediterranean cooking and Scottish produce, borne out in dishes like red prawn agnolotti and ham hough croquettes. Within weeks, Sebb’s cocktail bar and DJ venue also opened, situated just below Margo on Miller street, welcoming guests who have a penchant for good food and dancing.

Now, in spring 2025, the focus is back on the Scoop blueprint as diners are once again welcomed through the doors of Ox and Finch.

The interior has been thoughtfully re-designed by Stuart Black of Mosaic Architecture and Design, who also led the original interior concept. In a continuation of the restaurant’s design legacy, several of the original contractors and specialists returned to work on the build. Stuart has curated an ambience of comfort and calm despite Ox and Finch’s impressively high footfall (the team can welcome up to 300 people per day with anywhere between 100 to 138 covers seated at one time).

The new interiors hark back to Ox and Finch’s original rustic design with strong lighting and art deco-inspired industrial wine racks above the bar. Splashes of colour appear in green entryway tiling, blue tabletops and red table legs, and the addition of intricate upholstery across banquet seating creates an undertone of refinement that the restaurant was maybe lacking before.

The overhead lighting is kept low, complemented by a mixture of ambient and task lighting around the tables. Candles illuminate each corner of the restaurant when daylight fades to night.

The kitchen has been expanded and refitted, giving chefs the tools and the space they need to be creative, crafting menus that are produce- and flavour-led.

Craig Nelson is at the helm of the Ox and Finch kitchen and has crafted a menu that retains the restaurant’s seasonally-driven approach. With this seasonal mindset comes the freedom to experiment with the freshest produce, blending innovative new dishes with much-loved Ox and Finch classics.

A few highlights you can expect include cod cheeks with chorizo, tomato and morcilla on sourdough with signature Ox and Finch chips with roast garlic aïoli; whipped cod roe, furikake and endive; duck liver parfait, negroni marmalade and brioche; and Skate wing, crab, capers and pickled chilli.

A daily-changing specials board highlights prime cuts of Scottish beef, and a standalone selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes are available too.

Whet your appetite before an in-person visit by making these three recipes at home, written by head chef Craig Nelson.

1. Skate wing, crab and pickled chilli sauce

By Craig Nelson, head chef at Ox and Finch

Serves two skate wings

Ingredients

For the crab stock

2 crab shells

1 onion

1 fennel

1 carrot

1 red pepper

5 tomatoes

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

For the sauce

Fish stock (cube is fine)

100g butter

1 red chilli

Handful of pickled chillies

Handful of capers

Juice of half a lemon

Method

1. Roast the crab shells, onion, fennel, carrot, red pepper, and tomatoes in a large pot.
2. Once caramelised, add the coriander seeds and fennel seeds, and roast until aromatic.
3. Cover with water and simmer for 1 hour and then strain, keeping the liquid.
4. Add equal quantities of the crab stock with fish stock, the butter butter and red chilli.  Reduce by three quarters and then blend until smooth.
5. Slice some pickled chillies and chop some capers, mix with the sauce and season with lemon and salt to taste.
6.  Roast the skate wings for 10-15 minutes until cooked and serve with the sauce.

2. Steak with peppercorn sauce

By Criag Nelson, head chef at Ox and Finch, who says, “This is our classic peppercorn sauce recipe, which pairs perfectly with a steak of your choice.”

Serves one dish

Ingredients

1 shallot, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 tbsp brined green peppercorns

Knob of butter

Splash of brandy

300ml beef stock

Splash of cream

Splash of sherry vinegar

Method

1. Roast any steak of your choice. While the steak rests you can make the peppercorn sauce.
2. In the same pan as you cooked the steaks in, start by sweating down the shallot, garlic cloves and brined green peppercorns in a knob of butter until soft.
3. Deglaze with a generous splash of brandy and reduce until dry, then add in 300ml beef stock and reduce by half.
4. Add a splash of cream and simmer for 5 mins until you get your desired consistency, season with salt and a splash of sherry vinegar.

3. Barbeque bream crudo

By Craig Nelson, head chef at Ox and Finch

Serves one dish

Ingredients

500ml rapeseed oil

Splash of soy sauce

Splash of mirin

100g salt

2 fillets of sea bream

For the dressing

50ml dashi vinegar (Tosazu)

50ml fresh orange juice

80ml olive oil

Method

1. Place the rapeseed oil into a container along with a splash of mirin and soy sauce, then pop inside your freezer.
2. Dissolve the salt into 1 litre of warm water then chill in your fridge.
3. Once cool, place the fillets of sea bream into your water/brine solution for 10 minutes.
4. Remove the bream from the brine and pat dry, then place in the fridge uncovered for 30 minutes.
5. Light your barbecue or grill, and barbecue the bream until the skin is crispy but the fish is still raw.
6. As soon as the skin is crispy, place the bream fillets into your freezer oil for 20 minutes.
7. Whilst you wait for the bream to cool, make your dressing, by mixing together the dashi vinegar, orange juice and olive oil.
8. Take your bream out of the oil and gently pat dry, the cold oil prevents the skin from going soft.
9. Place the bream skin side down on your chopping board and slice thinly top to bottom.
10. Place the bream on a plate and pour the dressing on each side of the fillet.

Would you like to create more restaurant-standard dishes at home? Try these recipes from Margo.

Bring restaurant dining home with these fragrant recipes from Margo