So, how much would you pay for a smelly restaurant in the middle of Glasgow?

One of Glasgow's landmark restaurants is up for sale at an asking price of £7 million. The Rogano opened in 1935 and became a Glasgow institution with its Art Deco design (the interior bar is modelled on that of a luxury cruise liner). It became well known for its seafood and became a haunt of local businessmen. These days, it has been accused of resting on its laurels, with slow service and high prices - main courses cost around £20.

I've only walked in there once, for a visit to see the Art Deco interior. Fortunately, you can take in the view fairly quickly, as the smell of rotten fish that pervades the place will soon send you back outside for some fresh air. It's beyond me how anyone could sit in there for an evening, and actually enjoy a meal. They'd have to be pretty dedicated seafood fans.

£7 million???

Well, she finally went for somewhere over £6 million.

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/67068.html

I wonder how long it will be before all the incumbents are gone:

"Our team of chefs plan to work closely with the existing Rogano chefs to bring exciting new menus and dishes to the table. We will also be introducing our speciality Scottish beef. We aim to ensure that Rogano will be the hub of Glasgow for the next 70 years."
Beef in a fish restaurant

Having been in a smelt the interior of The Rogano, I'm afraid I (personally) can't see the smell of a major fish restaurant, and the mixing of roast beef and gravy being conducive to attracting more customers through the door. The place reeks of all the seefood it's ever seen in its life, and addng an unrelated odour to it seems, well, just plain unapetising.

I will watch this one over the years to see if the beef, or the fish, or both, or Italian, Thai or Japanese (why didn't he add sushi if he wanted the place to go trendy?) or something else (sell out to the big M dogpile? - that would pull in all the punters from Borders across the lane!) lasts the distance.

I see from the Flickr feed that there is a new book published about The Rogano.

Even though it's many years since I made my one trip through its doors, just seeing the mention was enough to bring back the smell of the place...

A seafood restaurant with the smell of the see, or at least thousands of dead fish impregnated into its fabric.

Although I do happily enjoy the odd piece of fish, I guess I'm not a "seafood" person, and even develop "smellyvision" in the Columbo films where chowder makes the detective ill every time he comes up against it :o

Chowder seems to be little more than an excuse to collect all the fish scraps from the table, and floor, boil them up until they're unrecognisable, then dish it out the unwary a "treat"" - but that might just be me. Sitting across from someone as they devoured a bowl of mussels was enough to put be of both them and my own meal one day :B