50% off the bill for the first three days at Ka Pao

January 14, 2020 | Eating Out

There’s just over a wee to go until the opening of Ka Pao, a new restaurant in Glasgow with a menu influenced by South East Asia.

The new restaurant – named Ka Pao – will open within the historic, Category A-listed Botanic Gardens Garage on Vinicombe Street, which is located off Byres Road in the heart of Glasgow’s West End, and is the sister eaterie to Ox and Finch.

Housed in the basement of the distinctive white and green tiled, West End landmark, Ka Pao – the name derives from the Thai word for Holy Basil – will accommodate 120 covers and with a separate bar area.

Bookings for Ka Pao are now being taken, and will open to the public seven days a week from Tuesday, 21 January.

A spokesman said: ‘We will aim to deliver up the full Ka Pao experience from day one, however whilst we get into the full swing of things, guests visiting us over the course of the first three days – 21, 22 and ‪23 of January‬ – will receive 50% off their food bill.

‘All that we ask in return is for some valuable feedback, which will allow us to ensure that Ka Pao proves every bit as good as our guests expect.’

The new restaurant and bar features the same core management team who opened Ox and Finch in 2014. Headed by Jonathan MacDonald, Daniel Spurr will oversee the operation of the open kitchens at Ka Pao and Ox and Finch, whilst Andy MacSween will manage the front of house and bar teams at both locations.

Jonathan MacDonald, owner and chef, said: ‘I have had an enormous amount of respect for the approach to food in South East Asia for as long as I have been cooking. The fascination was really ignited when I spent a lot of time working and travelling in that part of the world in my twenties.

‘Living and working in Melbourne was also a big inspiration, as South East Asian flavours and influences are uniquely interwoven in Australian cooking.

‘Some of my most memorable cooking and eating experiences have been in Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand; sometimes in impressive restaurants, but more often on plastic stools by the side of the road.’

Daniel Spurr added: ‘Ka Pao is not about trying to be authentic or replicating the food of any particular region or country. The guiding principle will be more about taking inspiration from dishes, ingredients and flavour combinations that we have encountered, that have influenced us and combining them with our own local produce.’