Reviews

Over the years we've had many reviews, letters and feedback from our customers, some of which are reproduced here...

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The multi-award winning Ubiquitous Chip is quite simply, according to to many repeat visitors, the best restaurant in Scotland and it is hard to argue. From the leafy interior to the cobbles and glass roof, every touch is perfect. Here, a traditional Scottish cook would scream in horror as the chefs work miracles with the fine raw materials that Scotland provides. Carnivores will be up in arms at the thought of a starter of vegetarian haggis, while the cod speckled with salmon and vanilla cream potatoes is devine. Main courses see Aberdeen Angus Steak and Argyllshire venison given the same irreverent treatment. Another highlight is the home-made ice cream which the serving staff suggest you savour with a single malt whisky.
(GNER: Livewire - Oct/Nov 2001)

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"Ronnie,
Thank you for the best meal I've eaten in Scotland! Each mouthful was delicious, a revelation. In four weeks of journeying all over Scotland I've had many meals in fine restaurants and hotels, but, honestly, nothing to compare with this! I can see now why you and your 'Chip' are so highly regarded. I will have the greatest pleasure in telling all our readers in Australia and New Zealand that this is the place to eat in Glasgow. Well done. The whole thing reflects very great credit on Scotland and her wonderful food."
(Customer Bruce Stannard - November 11th, 1998)

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Tucked away in the artsy walkway behind Hillhead underground station, the Chip is one of Glasgow's finest. In keeping with its academic locale the ambience pulls off a fine balance of informed conversation in the spring-fresh, jardiniere restaurant, and boozy insouciance upstairs at the bar.The food is the trump card. An inventive menu that may cause a minor case of wallet strain but remains worth every penny. An unsurpassed Epicurean experience. And the ladies love it.
(The Express - April 6th, 1990)

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Glasgow is a Cinderella among British cities, long derided as a tourist destination, but now a magnet for international travellers. When I first visited in 1974, I found what I expected - fabulous architecture by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and 'Greek' Thompson, threatening-looking pubs and the grim legacy of 60's urban planning - and much more besides: like the Hunterian Museum, the City Museum and Art Gallery at Kelvingrove and what I can only call Clydeside joie de vivre. As a regular visitor for than 20 years I have been delighted to see glasgow getting better, more confident, more interesting all the time. The great buildings and museums have been joined by better hotels, restaurants and shops. The city hums with creativity.
One constant on the Glasgow scene is The Ubiquitous Chip, whose name reflects Glasgow's culinary preoccupation when the restaurant was set up by Ronnie Clydesdale (still in charge) in the early 70's. The decor also belongs slightly to that era, with its plain pine tables, flickering candles; white painted brick walls and profusion of jungly plants. The main dining room is an airy skylit space, but I dined in the balcony café. Here, the short, well-priced Upstairs menu is proof of The Chip's dedication tolocal and regional produce from throughout Scotland. Long before it was fashionable to know the provenance of your potatoes or the birthplace of your duck, The Chip was noting the source of many of its dishes
On the evening I visited there was traditionally cured Ayrshire ham with Buchan beans, Troon-landed lemon sole baked and served on the bone with lemon butter and cherry tomatoes, and Loch Fyne kippers with garlic scrambled eggs on offer, I began with that old bistro standby, chicken liver pâté, presented on a big white plate with a handful of designer leaves and a blob of glowing, 'come-hither' Cumberland sauce. The pâté was suavely delicious, the sauce warm and tangy with orange zest and the leaves well dressed. My main course was a spectacular tasting construction of a perfectly baked fillet of Uig-landed ling (a junior member of the cod family) perched on a cushion of Kailkenny potatoes (mashed potatoes with cabbage rather like an unfried bubble and squeak) topped with a quenelle of tapinade. The whole edifice was set in a shallow pool of toasted garlic, tomato sauce. And it worked: an outstandingplay of contrasting flavours and textures in which none of the ingredients was devalued or overshadowed. I could have ordered Mull of Kintyre truckle Cheddar or bread pudding with fruit fattened in Rutherglen muscat, but went for a more modest compote of summer pudding fruits with vanilla ice cream. Service is youthful, friendly and efficient; the wine list features 14 wines by the glass, strong on Germany and the Antipodes; single malts range from Aberfeldy to Tuillibardine and ranges over three ages. Full marks to The Chip for lack of pretension and commitment to a cookery based on Scottish produce and traditions, but modern and ungimmicky. After 26 years, still excellent news and value for eating out in Glasgow.
(Loyd Grossman - October 1997 - "High Road to Clydeside")

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Updated Scottish dishes made with prime local produce are served by chummy waitresses at this cobbled courtyard. Menu includes Aberdeen Angus fillet with stovies, venison haggis, whisky-marinated salmon and superb cheeses and wines.
(The Week - March 25th, 2000)

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...another West End motherlode is The Ubiquitous Chip restaurant in Ashton Lane, the nearest wendy equivalent to The Ivy in London. Founded in 1971, its existence has traced the arc which moved the west end from being the raffish locale of vaguely artistic alcoholics to some kind of cultural respectability. The Chip has weathered the changes, as proud today of its Oban-landed squid and clapshot as it was when it introduced such dishes to a bemused, pie-addled Glasgow public.
Founder Ronnie Clydesdale has learnt to live with the restaurant's reputation as the home of louche Cava-drinkers who affect to support Partick Thistle in order to demonstrate their vestigal proletariat sympathies. "The Chip would never have worked outside the west end," he says. "After London, the west end is the next oasis of sophistication you come to. I don't mind the jokes, but they are fairly wide of the mark.
(Sunday Times - Ecosse - January 30th, 2000 - "West End Attractions")

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Ronnie Clydesdale is the chef-proprietor of the Ubiquitous Chip, which has become a Glasgow institution since it opened in 1971 with a mission to bring Scotland's endangered cuisine out of the home and into the restaurant. The dishes Ronnie has chosen for GNER emphasise how well eclectic ingredients can work together: Cauliflower Crème Caramel - a savoury starter based on the traditional dessert that is made with cauliflower, eggs and cream, and finished with Scotch bonnet chillies; and Free-Range Chicken Marag Gheal - roasted chicken breast rubbed with lemon juice and accompanied with white-meal pudding and a sauce of saffron, garlic and fresh tarragon.
(GNER: Livewire - April/May 1999 - "Cool Caledonia")

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A confidential e-mail from John McCormick, controller of BBC Scotland, to chum known only as Stuart has been forwarded to us. Being keen respecters of privacy, we print only the juicy bits:
"Anyway Stuart, since Donald has told us to relocate from Kelvinside to Govan, here are the essentials we'll be insisting on. If these aren't forthcoming, we'' go public on the Edinburgh option.
"We need: a world-class restaurant called The Ubiquitous Chib (Goav joke, Stuart, geddit?), a subway station, some secure parking, agreeable bars within staggering distance, well-appointed family homes with granny/nanny flats nearby, and that old G12 ambience.
"In return, we'll make an offensive sitcom sending up the habits of West End layabouts, probably called Robert C Nesbit PhD.
"I'm sure that your boys can make us feel as at home in Govan as we do in Kelvinside. Maybe just put up a stockade and a light railway over Bell's bridge and up Byres Road.
"That should do. We wouldn't want anybody in Govan actually benefiting from our big move, would we? That might give the game away."
(The Sunday Herald - February 14th 1999 - "Chip Building")

The Ubiquitous Chip Restaurant

12 Ashton Lane
Glasgow
Scotland
G12 8SJ

Tel: 0141 334 5007
Fax: 0141 337 6417

Email: Here