The jewel in Glasgow’s crown

The Honours, named after Scotland’s crown jewels, has gone from also-ran to thoroughbred

When Edinburgh’s much-feted Michelin-starred chef Martin Wishart first moved westwards, it wasn’t at all clear that his expansionist streak would serve him well. His restaurant in Cameron House on Loch Lomond took a while to fly, and as I found when I visited shortly after its launch almost 18 months ago, his city-centre spin-off of his upscale Edinburgh brasserie, The Honours, took time to come up the standard of its namesake at the other end of the M8.

Times have changed, however. Wishart’s Loch Lomond restaurant has rightly gained a Michelin star, the only one within spitting distance of Glasgow (unless you can spit all Clockwise from top left: The menu offers classic brasserie staples that are well executed; the interior style gives a nod to the building’s ecclesiastical roots; dishes are beautifully presented; the starters score highly; the sleek, contemporary bar area. the way down to the marvellous Braidwood’s in deepest, darkest Ayrshire), while the Glaswegian offshoot of the The Honours has finally come of age.

Nestled in the basement of The Malmaison Hotel just off Blythswood Square, and just around the corner from both the M8 and the King’s Theatre, the surroundings of The Honours are swish and contemporary. Malmaison occupies an impressive stone monolith that was once a Greek Orthodox church and with its 72 rooms it provides a ready source of diners for The Honours, which is handy given that the place is just a ten-minute walk from the heart of the city, but far enough away not to attract