Anthony Bourdain was a prolific traveller, a wandering chef finding human connection through shared food and drink. Scotland occupied a special place in the late chef, writer and broadcaster’s affections.
He first explored the country for A Cook’s Tour, his debut television travelogue series, in 2002 before returning to Edinburgh for No Reservations in 2008 and then Glasgow and the Highlands for Parts Unknown in 2015.
Bourdain declared Glasgow “one of my favorite cities on earth”, praised its pubs as being “among the finest anywhere” and embraced contrasting forms of Scottish dining with characteristic enthusiasm.
He was just as comfortable eating lobster in one of Glasgow’s grandest dining rooms as he was confronting deep-fried pizza, haggis and a fish supper smothered in cheese and curry sauce.
Here are the Scottish restaurants and pubs he praised on screen or later recommended to travellers.
University Café, Glasgow
Of all Bourdain’s Scottish stops, the University Café has perhaps the strongest claim to being a genuine favourite. The broadcaster visited the Byres Road institution twice, first for A Cook’s Tour and again while making Parts Unknown more than a decade later.
During his original encounter with the Glasgow chip shop, he sampled fish and chips, battered pizza, a deep-fried Mars bar and a deep-fried pickled egg.
When he returned in 2015, Bourdain ordered fish and chips covered in grated cheese and curry sauce, deep-fried haggis with more curry sauce and a bottle of Irn-Bru. People still stop by the cafe to order this epic combination in Bourdain’s honour.
He described his haddock as “battered and floating, adrift in a sea of mysterious oil” before contemplating the accumulated flavours of the fryer.
The University Café opened in 1918 and remains in the same family, combining the traditions of a Scots-Italian ice-cream parlour with the dependable restorative qualities of a Glasgow chip shop. It can still be found at 87 Byres Road.
The Oxford Bar, Edinburgh
Bourdain introduced the Oxford Bar as his favourite pub in Scotland when he visited Edinburgh for No Reservations in 2008.
The unpretentious Young Street bar was an ideal fit for a presenter who preferred places with character, regulars and a well-worn counter to anything conspicuously designed for tourists.
Bourdain shared a Guinness with crime writer Sir Ian Rankin and discussed the darker side of Edinburgh which inspired his Inspector Rebus novels.
The Oxford is also the fictional detective’s favoured drinking den and has been a real-life haunt of Rankin for decades. Bourdain admired its stripped-back, unaffected atmosphere.
The Category B-listed pub is at 8 Young Street, tucked between Queen Street and George Street in Edinburgh’s New Town.
Mother India, Glasgow
For his 2015 visit to Glasgow, Bourdain went to Mother India’s original restaurant on Westminster Terrace rather than chasing the latest fashionable opening.
He ate lamb curry simmered in a spicy tomato gravy with naan bread while talking to John Carnochan, a former head of Strathclyde Police’s homicide unit, about violence and the city’s history.
“Typical Scottish fare, Mother India,” Bourdain observed, reflecting his understanding that curry was as much a part of modern Glasgow’s food culture as haggis or fish and chips.
Mother India was opened by Monir Mohammed in 1990 with a focus on Indian home-style cooking. The restaurant is at 28 Westminster Terrace and proudly records Bourdain’s visit as part of its history.
The Kitchin, Edinburgh
At The Kitchin in Leith, he watched Tom Kitchin apply classical French technique to produce from Scotland’s farms, estates and coastline.
His meal included sea urchin soup with razor clams, grouse and seasonal mushrooms, haggis with neeps, tatties and foie gras, and langoustine served with pig’s head and scallops.
Bourdain later personally recommended the restaurant to visitors, describing it as serving “really great modern Scottish cuisine”.
The restaurant opened on Leith waterfront in 2006 and earned a Michelin star within six months. It remains at 78 Commercial Quay and is included in the 2026 Michelin Guide.
Jinty McGuinty’s, Glasgow
Bourdain began one of his earliest Scottish television adventures with a pint of Guinness at Jinty McGuinty’s on Ashton Lane.
“Is there anything more beautiful? I don’t think so,” he said as he admired the pint, declaring Guinness to be “brain food” which would ensure great thoughts for the rest of the day.
It was the kind of location that would become a Bourdain trademark: a busy, straightforward local bar offering a way into the life of a city.
Jinty McGuinty’s is at 29 Ashton Lane. The pub has been run by the same family since 1991.
Rogano, Glasgow
Bourdain experienced a very different side of Glasgow at Rogano, the city’s famous Art Deco seafood restaurant. He shared Scottish oysters and lobster thermidor with comedian Janey Godley in the dining room inspired by the Queen Mary ocean liner.
Rogano closed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 and was subsequently damaged by flooding and an electrical fire. It remains closed. A long-running legal dispute between its tenant and landlord was settled immediately before a Supreme Court hearing in Glasgow in May 2026, but no reopening date has been announced. There are hopes that it could now return after the legal settlement.
The Old College Bar, Glasgow
Bourdain opened the Scotland episode of Parts Unknown with a pint of Tennent’s in the Old College Bar on Glasgow’s High Street. The pub claimed to date from 1510 and was frequently promoted as the oldest in the city. That claim was repeated in the episode but doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.
Bourdain was more interested in its atmosphere. He appreciated that the light was right, the room was not too crowded and a person could enjoy a drink there in a dignified fashion without being troubled.
Sadly, this stop on the Bourdain Scottish trail can no longer be recreated. The pub was damaged following a fire in a neighbouring building and demolished in 2021.
The lost Edinburgh restaurants
Several more places featured during Bourdain’s visits have also disappeared.
At the Mermaid Fish Bar on Leith Walk, he ate deep-fried haggis with salt and sauce alongside that particular Edinburgh chip-shop creation, the king rib. The takeaway closed in July 2020 after around 30 years in business.
Bourdain also visited Dubh Prais, a basement restaurant on the Royal Mile, during A Cook’s Tour. There he tried a more traditional plate of haggis, neeps and tatties, comparing its comforting texture to a heartier, oatier shepherd’s pie. The restaurant has since closed.
His journeys also took him beyond the cities. At Drynachan, near Nairn, he ate wild salmon with whisky cream, while a meal on the Cawdor Estate included a poacher’s stew made with rabbit, venison, mushrooms, leeks and herbs.
Years later, filming Parts Unknown at the remote Letterewe Estate in the north-west Highlands, Bourdain ate grouse with bacon, parsnips and beetroot before sitting down to venison seared in duck fat with his friend, the late restaurant critic AA Gill.
Together, the visits captured what Bourdain admired about Scotland: magnificent seafood and game, great pubs, serious restaurants and food that was frequently comforting and often surprising.