Ah, that old, familiar story:

the building work that was only going to take a few weeks that takes six months. Back in February, it was exciting to learn that Peter McKenna and Ivan Stein, who cooked for Michael Caines at the late lamented Abode in Bath Street, were setting up their own place, The Gannet. Abode set a consistently high standard, demonstrating the skill and attentiveness to detail that come from a thorough fine dining training. As the recession hit, it responded by offering great value-for-money deals, but perhaps the perceived exclusiveness of its dining space did for it.

Since the spring, we have been able to follow The Gannet's building works on social media, which has proven moderately diverting. Watching other people's building struggles from a safe distance is much less stressful than witnessing your own first hand. So, how long can it take to do up ground floor tenement premises, especially if they're not even Grade A listed? Ages, apparently. First The Gannet was meant to be opening in July, but it only just managed to throw open its doors at the very tail end of September.

There still is, quite literally, some "snagging" to be done. The Gannet is another of those rustic, dimly lit bars, warehouse-like with exposed brick and timberyard wood. The rough-hewn walls and furniture - be warned - are a trap for wearers of delicate fabrics. You won't need a hard hat, but you might want to come wearing your lumberjack gear, not silk or chiffon.

The strange thing about The Gannet, though, is that despite its studied roughness, the food is refined. For the first time in a long while in Glasgow, the cooking was more or less 100 per cent successful in a holistic sort of a way. Apart from one starter, every dish we ate melded together seamlessly; one well conceived, well executed dish followed another. It was evident that these are chefs who have either learned, or have a natural instinct for, the flavour properties of ingredients.

Let's get the one weak link out of the way. I wasn't blown away by the terrine of Saddleback pork with prunes because the liver element in the meat mix was much too strong. This was the one dish that didn't hang together. The garnish of pickled cucumbers clashed with the tarry sweetness of the prunes and fought against the faintly smoked scent of the crisp, oil-brushed toast. A voluptuous white bean soup, on the other hand, demonstrated the patrician potential of pulses when pulsed to silk with a rich stock. The perfectly poached egg that floated in its emollient depths, and the thyme-kissed crunchy breadcrumbs that finished it, left the dish looking sleekly special and well groomed.

For a moment at least, it seemed inconceivable that any other treatment of Borders lamb could be more roundly pleasing than a main course of rosy discs, reclining on a bed of velvety Jerusalem artichoke puree, and nuzzling up against a quenelle of potato purée, pulsed with parsley to a racing green. A light, lustrous gravy, flecked with black olives, added a striking black, salty, herby note.

Fleshy and evenly tender, with its fine-knit grain, the other main course of venison loin and confit was a dish to convert even the most entrenched game refusnik. Once again, everything else on the plate had been judiciously tailored to flatter and complement this particular meat: red cabbage, so patiently cooked it almost dissolved; toothsome, soothing pumpkin puree, and a port and red wine sauce racy enough to match the thoroughbred meat.

It's worth eating at The Gannet for the ice cream alone. The fragrant clove one was not a usual suspect to partner the meticulously executed tarte tatin, which made its presence all the more thrilling. A near emulsified chocolate delice came arm-in-arm with a palate stroking gelato, deep with that complexity you get from roasting nuts.

At The Gannet, it feels like there are chefs at the stove with enough experience of peers operating at the peak of their art to give them a standard worth aspiring to. Here's hoping it pushes other Glasgow chefs to up their game accordingly.