Cullen Skink & Sticky Toffee Pudding

The Parade, Alford

2011-06-12T19:34:00.003+01:00

I can't make up my mind about the Parade. On the one hand, it has a clean, modern interior, the "freshest" menu in Alford, and plenty of highchairs (all will become clear...). On the other, you can see right into the kitchen and storage area, the owner/manager rarely has so much as a smile (and can be direct to the point of rudeness), and I was once served a piece of mouldy lemon cake there (once I pointed it out I was quickly brought a replacement, but there was no apology). Anyway, we ended up in the Parade for lunch because the Bistro only has two highchairs, both of which were occupied! My husband and I both had the soup and half sandwich deal; sweet potato and wholegrain mustard soup (a lovely combination I'm going to try at home), a prawn marie rose sandwich for me (it was unusually sweet), and brie and cranberry for him. They were served with a nice side salad drenched in a honey and mustard dressing, and a small handful of plain taco-style crisps. We finished with a pot of tea, a latte, a slice of sultana loaf (served with a pat of butter), and a piece of apple and cinnamon cake (a little bit dry, and not nearly enough apple). All in all a pleasant visit - I had change from £20, and I didn't eat nearly as much as I would've had the Bistro been able to accomodate us!

http://www.paradehome.co.uk/stores.php

Visited 12pm Saturday 11 June 2011

Peckhams, Union Square, Aberdeen

2011-05-15T20:17:00.003+01:00

Before catching the train home I went into Peckham's for tea and a little something. Peckham's does table service so I found a space at the end of a table already occupied by a couple and their daughter, ordered an earl grey tea with lemon, and asked what kind of cakey things they had. The waitress showed me to the counter in the shop and I quickly scanned for something suitable. It was all a bit more decadent than I wanted (alas, no scones here!) so I ordered a slice of an innocuous looking lemon and yoghurt sponge. And what a slice it was! One of the biggest pieces of cake I've ever been served (outside the privacy of my own home, obviously), it was also one of the densest - indeed my fork and spoon were barely up to the job. It was served on a plate "garnished" with two blackberries, a cherry, and a drizzle of maple syrup (which doesn't go at all well with lemon, in my opinion). I should have known what lay in store from the fact that the family group beside me had one plate and three forks between them.... Still, I was up for the challenge and gamely did my best, but my fork was no match for the outside edge of the "sponge" and I was defeated. My sense of defeat was deepened when I took my bill to the main till in the shop (not a good arrangement as you have to queue behind people actually shopping, making a quick getaway to the railway station difficult) and was charged £5.25: £1.50 for the tea (which was, by the way, an unlabelled tea bag served alongside a pot of hot water - my pet hate as you have to add the teabag to the water when it should most assuredly be the other way around) and a mighty £3.75 for the cake! Good grief. So, while the cake was pleasant enough and certainly generously proportioned, it was very pricey, "garnished" with a completely non-complementary syrup, and accompanied by a pot of tea served in completely the wrong way. I won't be hurrying back.

http://www.peckhams.co.uk/USQ1.htm

Visited 4.30pm Saturday 14 May

1906 Restaurant at HMT, Aberdeen

2011-05-15T19:55:00.003+01:00

I always enjoyed eating at The Foyer at HMT, but their contract for this location ended in January of 2011. I wasn't sure how APA (Aberdeen Performing Arts) would handle the restaurant, so gave it a whirl before the Scottish Ballet's Saturday afternoon performance of Alice (really good, by the way!). Not much has changed in terms of decor, and why would you? It's still lovely and open, with a few new discreet screens bearing the distinctive crown logo placed between some tables. The service is just as good as The Foyer's was. The lunch menu is concise but allows for enough choice. In saying that, however, my dining partner and I both chose the goujons of local seafood with a garden salad and aioli dip. It was a nice, neat portion of gojouns, with three different types of white fish, and a small fresh salad of leaves, cucumber and tomato. Very nice and just right for a light lunch. We had time for pudding, so I had the ginger and lemongrass fresh fruit salad - apple, melon, strawberries, grapes and pineapple, with a hint of ginger - served with passionfruit sorbet. It was very good, and accompanied by a feeling of virtuousness. My partner had the ice cream and sorbet selection - mango and passionfruit sorbets, strawberry ice cream, and one other ice cream which neither of us could identify (usually I would ask but I forgot), although it had purple berries and what I would swear was a hint of aniseed in it. We had tea and coffee, which is served with what I suppose is chocolate fudge, but was more like a cube of chocolate icing - still, chocolate is chocolate! Along with a bottle of sparkling water to share the bill came to £30 - very reasonable I thought, so much so that we examined the bill again once we'd taken our seats in the theatre, and discovered we hadn't been charged for our tea and coffee. So, if you're reading this, 1906, sorry and thanks!

http://www.boxofficeaberdeen.com/content.asp?CategoryID=8632

Visited 12.45pm Saturday 14 May 2011

Gadie's, by Oyne

2011-05-07T19:12:00.003+01:00

We decided to nip out for lunch at Gadie's, and were there pretty sharp at 12pm. I really like Gadie's, but sometimes the service is a bit slow - or perhaps it just seems that way when you have a baby in tow! We weren't greeted when we arrived, so I asked at the till/bar if there was a table. I was told we could sit anywhere, but only two tables weren't reserved, and one of those needed to be cleared, so it was a limited choice! I had to go back to the till to ask for menus, but after that we were taken care of more efficiently. The specials board at Gadie's really adds to the standard menu, but today we both stuck to the menu and ordered old favourites - an Ugie smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich for me, and "the Duke" burger for hubby. I also ordered a bowl of the lovely chunky, skins on, chips - yum! The sandwich was good (although made with white bread, whereas I prefer brown), and served with a small dressed salad on the side. Hubby's burger looked lovely, a proper homemade burger on a toasted cibatta roll, served with chips and salad. The bill for our food, two soft drinks, a latte and a pot of earl grey tea came to £27.20. If you haven't been to Gadie's I really would recommend it - they are open through the day for teas, coffees, cakes, and lunches, and sporadically (or so it seems) for dinner, so definitely phone ahead to book for dinner. It's a lovely place, light and airy but cosy at the same time, and the food very good, and all locally sourced. The round sunroom would make a lovely setting for a private function, too!

http://www.touchedbyscotland.com/gadies.php

Visited Saturday 7 May 12pm

Tinderbox, Union Square, Aberdeen

2011-05-04T10:16:00.003+01:00

My Tinderbox receipt proclaims "Coffee In Aberdeen Just Got Better". I don't know about the coffee but the tea and cakes are pretty good! My friend and I visited Tinderbox twice on the same day, first for a quick lunch, and later for tea/coffee and cake. Lunch was a pre-prepared roast vegetable and mozzarella panini, chosen from the chiller cabinet and toasted. Food and drink is normally collected from the end of the "bar", but the staff very kindly took our orders to the table for us, as we each had babies and buggies. The panini was served with a small pot of mayonnaise and, rather oddly, an unmarked silver foil bag of crisps - I wonder if it was supposed to be opened and served on the side of the plate? Whilst paying for lunch I spotted the lovely looking cakes and waffles, and we came back later to sample them. I had a pot of earl grey tea - turns out it's Suki tea they serve - and a piece of apple and spice tray bake, which was very nice. Tinderbox is quite "grown up" in both decor and the food and drink they offer, and I think attract a slightly more mature customer than Starbucks. It's somewhere I'll be happy to visit again for tea and cake, but perhaps not lunch - anyway, I definitely want to try a piece of that decadent red velvet cake! My tea and cake cost £4.80, and my lunch around £7.

http://www.unionsquareaberdeen.com/website/Modules/StoreDirectory/StoreListing/StoreDetails.aspx?retailunitid=355983f4-faa6-4e8b-993a-8c8d1cec92a0&pageid=10

Visited 12.30 and 2pm Tuesday 3 May 2011

Castle Hotel, Huntly

2011-04-11T21:12:00.004+01:00

I once had a pretty uncomfortable experience at the Castle Hotel (see here) but have been back a couple of times since with much better results (see here for one such occasion). Happily this visit was another winner. A table for six plus highchair was booked in the dining room, and we were shown to the bar first for drinks and to peruse the a la carte menu. When our table was ready we moved through to the dining room, although it was a wee while before our starters actually arrived. I had the traditional Greek salad; feta cheese, black olives, tomatoes, cucumber and salad leaves, and it was just fine. Other starters sampled included Gressingham duck breast, served with relish and a slice of gingerbread (apparently a very good combination of flavours), and "devilled" whitebait with tartar sauce (it didn't look particularly devilled to me but then I wasn't eating it). For my main course I had salmon fillet on crushed new potatoes, served with a fresh salsa and not-so-fresh green beans (they were a bit overdone for my taste). It was a huge fillet of salmon by restaurant standards, and in fact I couldn't quite finish it. A delicious dish. The roast beef and lamb options were also declared to be top notch. No-one had room for pudding, but teas and coffees all round. I asked for lemon with my earl grey tea and was brought a fairly hefty slice rather then the thin slices I usually expect - I suspect it came from the bar stock for plonking into glasses. Picky but there you go - sometimes the little things really count. I did also notice there was a large platter of delicious looking tablet and chocolates on the big sideboard where the staff served the food from, but sadly we weren't offered any with our teas! I can't tell you how much the bill in total was as I was lucky enough not to be paying, and in fact there were no prices printed on the a la carte menu either. Having had a few good experiences after my first unfortunate visit, I've really warmed to the Castle Hotel. It's a genuine family affair too, and the owners, Linda and Andrew, usually make a point of stopping by for a brief chat. One member of our party was celebrating a birthday so Andrew brought in an elaborate cupcake, complete with candle, and sang Happy Birthday. Afterwards we all enjoyed a walk in the sun down to Huntly Castle, where hubby and I broke off from the group and wandered round the castle with two tubs of Rizzas ice cream....a lovely day out.

http://www.castlehotel.uk.com/cuisine/therestaurant/ (on a side note, I'm loving the musical notes that chime out as you hover over the website's navigation bar!)

Visited 1pm Sunday 10 April 2011

Jaff's, Dunecht

2011-04-04T19:53:00.003+01:00

Mother's Day - that'll be a table for six plus highchair, and a hopelessly set menu. I had a shortlist of candidates to phone on the Monday of the week, and Jaff's, being conveniently located for all guests, and suitable for all palates (ie not too adventurous), was at the top. They could fit us in at noon so in the end I didn't have to call anywhere else. When we arrived it looked as if they were fully booked, and we were shown to our table and given the menu. It wasn't as "set" as I had anticipated - there's nothing worse than a limited menu - so everyone found something they wanted. I went for the full three courses, starting with prawn and melon salad, which consisted of a generous portion of prawns and fresh melon and salad. For my main course I had Thai fishcakes, two, large, and served with salad and lime aioli (though I couldn't taste the lime). For pudding I went for the white chocolate and lime cheesecake with chocolate "pouring sauce". Again, I couldn't really taste any lime or white chocolate, just cheesecake, but it was nice all the same. The "pouring sauce", though, was about two teaspoons-worth in a tiny jug, and was actually too thick to pour (I used the teaspoon from my tea to scoop it out). But it wasn't unpleasant - it's chocolate, so it's a winner anyway. What was unpleasant was my pot of tea, which tasted mildly of coffee. Not sure how they managed that! The Mother's Day menu was priced at £14.50 for two courses, or £18 for three - I don't know what happens if you only want one course. I've had issues before with the handheld electronic thingies Jaff's use for taking orders, but on this occasion there were no mix ups. All in all a pleasant and efficiently handled meal.

http://www.jaffsbarandrestaurant.co.uk/

Visited 12pm 2 April 2011

The Acorn Restaurant, The Millers, by Echt

2011-03-28T16:42:00.006+01:00

Timing it right to avoid a big queue at the Millers is a fine art, or perhaps just serendipity. On this occasion - 2.30pm on a Saturday afternoon - there was no queue and we were shown to a table by the window. Lots of bird feeders strung up outside mean there's always plenty of plump, well-fed birds to look at. We saw sparrows, chaffinches, and great, blue and coal tits, but we have seen a woodpecker there on a previous visit. But I digress. Now, the cake trolley at the Millers is a well-managed thing of beauty. Cakes and cupcakes (whatever happened to plain old fairy cakes?) on the top tier, tray bakes and slices on the middle, and the whole thing grounded by sizeable scones on the lowest tier. The Millers likes to mix things up with the scones too; you'll be offered not just plain and fruit, but some other interesting flavours too. We had a pot of earl grey tea (Twinings) with lemon on the side, a cafetiere, a cherry and sultana scone (packed full of cherries), and a big slice of what can only be described as a robust Victoria sandwich, and our bill came to £7.90. Cake trolleys; the stuff of dreams....

http://www.millersmidmar.co.uk/Restaurant/Restaurant.htm

Visited 2.30pm Saturday 26 March 2011

The Place to Eat, John Lewis, Aberdeen

2011-03-22T10:47:00.005Z

4pm, time for tea! Starbucks (never my first choice anyway) was full, so we tried John Lewis instead, and it was practically empty. As an aside, I'm never going into town at the weekend again - it's so much quieter during the week! £6.05 bought us a bottle of J20, a pot of earl grey tea (with lemon on the side), and a generously proportioned date and ginger slice. John Lewis are actually pretty generous with their portions; the scones, cakes, and traybake slices are pretty big, and their sandwiches are huge! But this is not the cheapest place to eat either, so it all balances out. Service wasn't exactly "with a smile", in fact it was dismissive, but otherwise it was a civil affair - as you would expect from JL.

Visited 4pm Monday 21 March 2011

Wagamama, Aberdeen

2011-03-22T10:24:00.006Z

We arrived just before noon on a Monday, at which time only one table was occupied - no need to worry about queuing then! Although you can get individual tables or booths, most of the seating is around long bench-style tables. So a couple might sit facing each other between two other parties. In common with many Japanese and tapas restaurants, food is ordered and arrives as and when it's ready, you can order something else at any time, and table turnaround is pretty quick. Wagamama specialise in big bowls of noodles with different toppings and miso-style broths - yum. I usually go for one of the ramen noodle bowls, but decided to try kare lomen, noodles with prawns in a coconut soup. It arrived in a nice big bowl with a ladle-style spoon, with a fresh coriander garnish. It was a lot spicier than I'd anticipated, comparable with a Thai red curry, and there were just five prawns in it, but I enjoyed it. There's something very comforting about such a big bowl of noodles! Meanwhile hubby had the yaki udon, served on a plate rather than in a bowl, and in a smaller portion. On the side we had edamame beans in salt, two fresh fruit juices, and one green tea. We also tried to order flowering tea but they were out of stock. The bill came to £27.60. Ideal for lunches and quick dinners, and my kare lomen kept me going until 4pm, which is of course tea and cake time.....

http://www.wagamama.com/locations/showlocation/672

Visited 12pm Monday 21 March 2011

The Black Faced Sheep, Aboyne

2011-03-20T20:06:00.004Z

Tea and cake was the intent today, and what a choice of lovely cakes - at least a dozen sweet treats on the menu. I went for the pear and honey cake, while hubby had spiced apple. We were both served a lovely big wedge of moist cake, with a small pot of whipped cream on the side. Hubby had a cafetiere of coffee - not too bad, perhaps a little strong, was his opinion - while I had earl grey tea, served in a pot, and with lemon on the side (I asked for the lemon). In contrast to the coffee, I found the tea (Twinings) a bit weak, and wonder if the teabag would be better suited to a cup rather than a pot. Anyway, it was all very nice, and the menu on the wall looked good - lots of interesting sandwich fillings as well as lunch options, such as a seafood platter, and a board advertising a "buffet evening" caught my eye too. We were charged £12.23 for our fare, so on the pricy side, but the cake was worth it. Mmmmm, cake....

http://www.blackfacedsheep.co.uk/

Visited 2pm Sunday 20 March 2011

Fennel Restaurant, Inverurie

2010-05-27T14:45:00.003+01:00

My dad and I headed to Inverurie for lunch, and as he hadn’t been to the Fennel I thought it was worth trying it again. We had no trouble getting a table downstairs, and started by sharing two starters: olives and feta cheese, and homecut chips with dip. The olives and feta were good, but a bit overpriced at £3.95, while the chips were really lovely – we should just have had a portion of chips each! To follow, I had the watercress, pear and goats cheese salad, while my dad had the paprika chicken salad, which came with a whole chicken breast rather than the usual chicken strips you would expect. They were both good, although perhaps a little skimpy on the portion side. My dad was of the opinion that the paprika chicken salad “wasn’t revolutionary”, but I guess a restaurant that wants to survive in Inverurie can’t necessarily afford to be too “revolutionary” with its food. I think the Fennel does well enough to offer the basic items like fish and chips alongside some more imaginative dishes. Tea and coffee were served with little shortbread biscuits. Along with two soft drinks, the bill came to around £35 – a reasonable enough price. Still one of the only (or perhaps even the only?) viable options in Inverurie for a fresh and modern evening meal.

http://www.fennelrestaurant.co.uk/

Visited Tuesday 25 May 2010

Baxters "Highland Village" restaurant, Fochabers

2010-05-27T14:43:00.002+01:00

We stopped off here on our way home from Elgin; there is what is advertised as a “speciality tearoom” within the Baxters "Highland Village" (shiver), but it was closed for refurbishment, so we went into the main restaurant. I remember visiting Baxters while at school, and having pancakes in this restaurant – these are still available, served with Rizza’s ice cream, but as we’d had pancakes for breakfast we settled for two teas and two scones (£6.40). Being a bit of a tourist attraction it’s a bit canteen-like, but pleasant enough. We helped ourselves to jam from the selection available, and the tea and scones were fine, but we didn’t linger any longer than necessary. A good enough place to stop but nothing special.

Visited Sunday 23 May 2010

Bar Leo, Linlithgow

2010-05-27T14:41:00.001+01:00

We were hungry but it was a bit early (5.30pm) for one or two of the restaurants in Linlithgow to be open for dinner, so we wandered along the high street until we came to Bar Leo, an Italian restaurant and bar. The décor is modern and clean, and it seems to be very popular with families – there was a kid’s birthday party going on, but it was tucked away somewhere and we weren’t disturbed by it at all. I had a thin-crust pizza with mushrooms, courgette, pepper and aubergine, which was tasty; while my partner had the “pollo Sophia Loren” – chicken breast in a tomato and cream sauce, served with asparagus and sauteed potatoes. He enjoyed it but I think my pizza was the better option. On the side we’d ordered a mixed leaf salad, but we got a salad with some iceberg lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and olives – ok, but not “mixed leaf” and not worth the menu price. For pudding I went for the tiramisu, which was nice but far too heavy on the cream for me, while my partner went for the chocolate fudge cake, which was fine enough. Tea and coffee were served with fudge. With two soft drinks, the bill came to £44.80 in total. Not exactly fine dining, but pleasant enough!

www.barleo.co.uk

Visited Tuesday 11 May 2010

Hopetoun Stables, Hopetoun House, by South Queensferry, Edinburgh

2010-05-27T14:37:00.000+01:00

Hopetoun House is a privately run stately home, and is worth a visit if you’re in the Edinburgh area. It bills itself as “Scotland’s finest stately home”, but as I haven’t visited all Scotland’s stately homes, I can’t comment on the validity of this (rather bold) claim! The restaurant in the old stables is quite posh (the tables are set formally with white linen), and would lend itself nicely to a wedding or corporate event, but we didn’t feel out of place in our jeans and walking boots! They offer a nice menu, including an afternoon tea with champagne, which sadly wasn’t an option for us on this particular occasion… We each had tea, and the soup and sandwich combo; lentil soup with a cheese and tomato sandwich for me, and a ham and tomato chutney sandwich for my partner. This came to £11, but didn’t include the two teas, as we were given a voucher for a complimentary tea or coffee when we paid to see inside the house.

http://www.hopetoun.co.uk/

Visited Tuesday 11 May 2010

Bonsai Bar Bistro, Edinburgh

2010-05-27T14:28:00.001+01:00

This was our second visit to Bonsai; the first time was as part of a large group but this time we were on our own. I had booked ahead but when we arrived there was only one other table occupied, so we were able to choose our table. We ordered in two “lots”, and had miso soup, edamame beans, vegetable tempura, tuna sashimi, salmon nigiri zushi, californian gaizin zushi, deep fried tofu, and seared beef, all of which was lovely. The tuna sashimi and the deep fried tofu wasn’t as tasty as I’d hoped, but were still good. We finished with mango and lemon sorbets, which were really nice. With two soft drinks the bill came to £47.60 in total; really good value, and the friendly waiter gave us a loyalty card to save 20% on our next visit (you need to spend £50 or five lots of £10 to qualify) – I’m not sure when we’ll be back unfortunately! The lunch specials look like particularly good value so if you are in Edinburgh then I highly recommend trying it.

http://www.bonsaibarbistro.co.uk/

Visited Monday 10 May 2010

St Giles Café, Edinburgh

2010-05-27T14:25:00.005+01:00

I remember this café as Café Florentine, and was pleased to find it is still open, with very little change except for the name. It still strikes me as pleasantly French in appearance and atmosphere, but I guess they want to capitalise on the tourist draw, hence the renaming. We had earl grey tea (served with milk and no lemon, tsk), a latte, an almond croissant and a raisin croissant. The croissants were served warm, and were huge, and in fact the raisin croissant was really a Danish pastry. Very nice; on reflection we should have come here for our cream teas!

Visited Monday 10 May 2010

Forsyths Tea Room, Edinburgh

2010-05-27T14:22:00.000+01:00

The yellow sign on the Royal Mile for this tearoom has always caught my eye, and has been here for at least 10 years, so we went in to try it. I had hoped for a traditional tea room, but it was more like having tea at your Granny’s than anything else – think dated and eclectic. We had two cream teas at £4.75, and were brought a big pot of tea to share, and a scone, jam and cream each. The scones were ok, but a bit industrial looking (I overheard the owner placing an order for cakes so they are obviously not made on the premises), and were microwaved before being served, while the cream came from a can – we know this because the owner asked my partner to take the lid off the can for her! It wasn’t particularly bad but it was disappointing – far better is on offer in Edinburgh. Still, my curiosity is now satisfied!

Visited Monday 10 May 2010

Café Dun, House of Dun, by Montrose

2010-05-27T14:21:00.000+01:00

A National Trust for Scotland property, which is well worth visiting, especially if you have time to visit the café! We stopped off for lunch and enjoyed both soups of the day – garden vegetable, which was really tasty, and pea and ham – followed by cake from the tempting assortment of cakes, scones, and tray bakes. We both went for cakes that we hadn’t tried before – my partner got the last slice of Carolina Gold cake, while I went for the Auchenoats cake. Both cakes were baked from recipes from the family of the friendly Amercian lady who was running the café, and were delicious, especially the Carolina Gold! I highly recommend trying it. £12.60 for two soups, two teas, and two lovely pieces of cake.

http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/32/

Visited Sunday 9 May 2010

Deeside Activity Park coffee shop, by Aboyne

2010-05-03T10:15:00.003+01:00

Craigevar Castle has now reopened after extensive external renovation - it looks like a big pink cake! We went along to see it in all its glory, but were in desperate neeed of a hot cup of tea afterwards - sadly this is one National Trust for Scotland Property that doesn't have a tearoom. We headed towards Aboyne and pulled in at the Deeside Activity Park, where we found a nice tearoom/cafe housed in a log cabin. We had tea for two, which came in a nice big ceramic pot with a generous jug of milk, and carrot cake from a selection of homebakes on a trolley, including lemon drizzle cake, coffee and walnut cake, scones and panckase, and tray bakes. The cake was lovely, light but moist, with plenty of carrot and banana in it, topped with frosted cream cheese and walnuts. £7 for the two of us.

www.deesideactivitypark.com/restaurant.htm

Visited Sunday 2 May 2010

Moonfish Café, Aberdeen

2010-04-30T13:34:00.000+01:00

My friend and I went for a bit of a celebratory lunch here; sadly, we were on our lunch break from work so couldn’t celebrate too much! The lunch menu is lovely, offering a starter and main for just £9.95, with mains individually priced at £8.95 and puddings at £3.95. We went for mains and puddings, and I ordered the salmon croissant – smoked salmon and herby cream cheese in a croissant with a nice green salad on the side. My friend went for the special dish of the day, a risotto with saffron and chorizo sausage. Both dishes were beautifully presented, and very tasty, but we were a bit disappointed with the portion size. My croissant was a standard rounded croissant about the size of a fist – although it was generously filled with lovely flaked smoked salmon and cream cheese, I expected something a little bigger. My friend’s portion of risotto, topped as it was with a plump chorizo sausage, was also on the skimpy size. So full steam ahead for pudding! We each had the lemon tart served with crème fraiche; again, a delicious tangy pudding, but looking a bit lost on the huge white plates it was served on. To finish, I had earl grey tea – leaf tea served in a nice pot with Japanese-style cup, a slice of lemon, and a small square of chocolate sponge on the side. Lovely place, lovely food, great service, reasonable price – bigger portions would make it perfect!

www.moonfishcafe.com

Visited Thursday 29 April 2010

La Lombarda, Aberdeen

2010-04-30T13:30:00.001+01:00

I visited as one of a group of nine, eating early at 5.30pm after work. I was apprehensive about going, as I’ve heard bad things about La Lombarda in recent years. However, I thought the food was quite good, although I probably wouldn’t bother going back in a personal capacity. To start with we shared some plates of bruschetta, which, although nice enough, were not really bruschetta but garlic bread with tomatoes on top. For my main I went with mushroom ravioli in a tomato and cream sauce, which was nice. For pudding I had the tiramisu which was probably the nicest part of the meal. It was a perfectly sized portion, not the big square of sponge and cream that is often passed off as tiramisu, but a rather more delicate and light offering. The menu described the sponge as being soaked in liqueur; however I have to say I couldn’t really taste any - there was a nice hint of hazelnut though. Teas and coffees were served with Lotus caramelised biscuits. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food, and, apart from a fair bit of socialising between staff and friends who dropped in to see them, the service was good. On this occasion I wasn’t paying, so I can’t tell you what the bill came to; but a starter, pasta dish and pudding will set you back about £20. So, a nice enough meal, but nothing to make me want to go back in a hurry.

www.lalombarda.co.uk

Visited Tuesday 27 April 2010

Castle Hotel, Huntly, Aberdeenshire

2010-04-26T12:09:00.001+01:00

Six of us booked a table in the bar (best to keep it simple, see the previous review…) for 6pm. We were presented with both the bar and the a la carte menu, and decided to order from the chef’s excellent special menu – three courses at £19.50 a head. For my starter, I decided to try something I would normally avoid; chilled melon and mint soup with sorbet. I’m not a fan of “cold soup”, but I did want a light and refreshing starter, which is what I got. I found the best way to approach the dish was to view it as a scoop of sorbet served on a second, melted, scoop of sorbet. It was nice, a bit like a pudding really, but I probably wouldn’t order it again. Other starters sampled (and enjoyed) by my companions were the soup of the day – tomato, served with malted brown bread rolls – and crab and cod fishcakes, served with a fresh tomato and avocado salsa. On this occasion the vegetarian main option was Chickpea, bean and lentil chilli, almost exactly what I’d made for dinner the night before, so I went for the fish; seabass and king prawns with chorizo oil served on crushed potatoes, with asparagus on the side. On request, chef kindly omitted the chorizo oil from the dish, which was much appreciated. It was a lovely dish, the fish and prawns (two nice big ones) were perfectly cooked, and the whole thing beautifully seasoned and presented. Round the table my companions had the seven hour braised beef (a very generous portion of meat which my partner couldn’t finish) and the roast Inverurie lamb. Puddings all round; I enjoyed my warm raspberry and pistachio tart, served with ice-cream (Rizza’s, hooray!), while others had the selection of Rizza’s ice-cream (scoops of strawberry, raspberry and mint choc chip ice cream, and one of lemon sorbet), and tiramisu. All in all it was a lovely meal, beautifully presented and enjoyed by all, and the chef’s special menu makes it good value for money. The only realistic option (in my experience) for eating out in Huntly, and a very good one too. Front of house (who was totally on the ball; I wish he’d been there on our previous visit) could do voice-over/cinema trailer work, but that’s another story……..

www.castlehotel.uk.com

Visited Saturday 24 April 2010

Nawaabs Tandoori, Aberdeen

2010-04-09T16:04:00.000+01:00

Five of met outside Nawaabs to discover the only one who’d been before had actually been a little bit on the tipsy side on the one occasion he was there……….as soon as we stepped inside, though, our apprehension disappeared – it’s a very nice restaurant, and the impressive (and extensive) menu soon convinced us that this was going to be a meal to enjoy. It actually turned out to be an excellent meal, certainly the best Indian meal I’ve ever had. I was delighted to find lots of well-thought out veggie options, including the vegetarian Thali for one, a sort of tapas-style offering of various different veggie dishes, accompanied by pilau rice and a whole naan bread. We were brought poppadums and chutneys with our drinks, and three of the party went on to order starters. I’m afraid I can’t quite remember what they were, but looking at the menu I think one was tandoori trout - certainly it a lovely piece of fish in dry spices - and another was duck, possibly the tandoori duck. For the mains, I had to have the vegetarian Thali, which turned out to be a real bargain at just over £12 for five little dishes centred round chickpeas, lentils, and mushrooms. In my experience vegetarians sometimes get a very raw deal in Indian or Chinese restaurants, often being palmed off with a handful of frozen veg in whatever sauce, but the quality of this meal was excellent! I really enjoyed it. Round the table everyone enjoyed the various dishes they’d ordered. Once the table was cleared we were brought a plate of refreshing cut orange, and to finish we had tea and coffee, served with wrapped squares of orange chocolate. We were brought the bill before we’d asked for it, but otherwise the service was fine. The total bill came to around £120; this included two glasses of wine, two or three Cobras, two soft drinks, four hot drinks, three starters, the veg Thali, four main mails, two portions of pliau rice, and two naan (not including the one I got as part of my meal). I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Nawaabs for a really enjoyable meal. I’m looking forward to going back!

www.nawaabs.co.uk

Visited Thursday 1 April 2010

The Stage Door, Aberdeen

2010-04-09T16:03:00.000+01:00

We booked an early table for 6pm, and before we were seated, the waiter checked what time we were going to the theatre – we were actually going to the Music hall, and not until 7.30pm. He told us that the performance at HMT was starting at 7pm instead of 7.30pm, so he was just checking no-one got caught out – very helpful! The pre-theatre menu is restricted, naturally, but still has something for everyone, and is very reasonable priced at £14.90 for two courses, or £18.90 for three. We started by ordering starters and mains, but the waitress pressed us to order our desserts at the same time, explaining that there was often a rush to order desserts. We decided we’d rather not be pushed into ordering desserts, so said we wouldn’t order them. We were brought bread rolls; they were a bit hard, but we still ate them! Service was prompt, as you’d expect in a restaurant specialising in pre-theatre dining, and we soon had our starters – soy glazed herring fillet with a fennel and pea shoot salad for me, and Chicken satay salad with spring onions, coriander & julienne vegetables for my dining partner. Both starters were good; my herring fillet was a particularly nice portion size, although a bit light on the soy glaze for my liking, while the salad tasted fresh and slightly peppery. I had the veggie option for my main - potato gnocchi with artichokes, olives & sun blushed tomatoes. It wasn’t a light dish, being liberally tossed in olive oil, but was tasty, although too heavy for me to finish. My partner had the Toulousse sausage (two actually), Dijon mustard mash, buttered kale and shallot gravy, which he enjoyed, although I think some vegetables on the side would’ve been appreciated – we could have ordered these as a side dish. Unfortunately we were brought the bill (and chocolates!) as we were halfway through our main courses and deep in conversation. I told the waitress that we hadn’t asked for the bill, and she explained she’d brought it as we were going to the theatre. I told her we weren’t going to the theatre, and asked her to take it away. It’s nice that the Stage Door wants to help its customers get to the show on time, but it is a bit pushy to bring you the bill without being asked, and certainly when you’re still eating. Neither of us could manage pudding, so we had hot chocolate and coffee, which was served with a couple of wrapped squares of chocolate each. All in all a good menu, good price, good food, but perhaps a bit pushy on the service side.

www.pbdevco.com/stage_door/index.cfm

Visited Monday 29 March 2010

Castle Hotel, Huntly

2010-02-16T13:48:00.002Z

Our Valentine’s lunch at the Castle Hotel initially threatened to become a comedy of errors; thankfully the quality of the food shone through what would otherwise have been quite a bizarre experience….. This review is split into two parts: one dealing with the food, and one dealing with the confusion about tables and menus.

The food:

For my starter I ordered the baby beetroot and goats cheese tartan, a lovely little pastry case topped with tangy beetroot and creamy cheese; just right for a starter, and beautifully presented with a tiny salad garnish and thyme oil. My husband had the smoked salmon with soft-boiled quail egg – actually he was served three halves of quails eggs, what happened to the fourth half I don’t know! The salmon was lovely, and a nicely sized portion too. For my main course I had the fillet of rock turbot served on a clam and mussel broth, and it was delicious. There were two big pieces of turbot, cooked beautifully, and the broth was very tasty and light. My husband enjoyed the saddle of venison with red cabbage; again, beautifully cooked, and very tasty. We were both up for pudding, and so were brought both the bar and the a la carte menu, from which we ordered the warm chocolate fondant with hazelnut ice cream (a la carte) and the treacle tart with banana toffee ice cream (bar menu). The chocolate fondant was lovely, and went really well with the roast hazelnuts it was served with. The treacle tart was nice and light, but didn’t have a particularly treacly flavour, while I suspect the accompanying ice cream was white chocolate (it definitely wasn’t banana toffee, anyway). We finished with tea and coffee, each served with a wrapped white chocolate ball, and then requested the bill. On this occasion I was being treated so didn’t have to pay, but for three courses each, tea and coffee, three soft drinks and a glass of wine, the total was just under £70. It was a lovely meal, but was marred by the surrounding confusion and having to sit in isolation in the chilly restaurant – see below!

The confusion:

My husband had booked ahead for lunch in the restaurant, initially trying for a table at 1pm. He was told that it was very busy that day but they could fit us in earlier, and was offered a table at 12.30pm, which he accepted. When we arrived just before 12.30pm, then, we were directed to the bar for drinks and to place our order, before being shown through to the restaurant. But, once in the bar, we were shown to a table laid for lunch. We explained we had a table in the restaurant, and were advised that they would see if they could fit us in. No, we said, you misunderstand, we have already booked for the restaurant. So, we sat in the bar and ordered drinks, and were brought the menu – for the bar. Sorry, we said, could we see the restaurant menu? The only menu on offer that day, we were told, was the bar menu. But, we explained, we’ve booked a table in the restaurant (by implication, to eat from the a la carte menu). As we were debating whether to stay, the waiter (all the staff were very nice, by the way) went away to speak to someone, returning to say he was happy to be able to offer us the option of the a la carte menu after all. Hoorah! We ordered, and were soon shown through to the restaurant. It was set for Valentine’s Day (i.e. tables for two with single red roses on them) and otherwise totally empty – even the lights hadn’t been switched on (it was technically daylight outside, but rather dull and chilly). It will soon fill up, we thought, having had to accept an earlier booking to accommodate for their popularity. Meanwhile, our starters arrived – actually, someone’s starters arrived, but they weren’t ours. We sent them back. Ours arrived. Another couple were shown into the restaurant, and to herald their arrival the lights were switched on. They were seated, and like us, were initially given the bar menu. They queried this and, on being told it was the only menu on offer, moved back through to the bar to eat (where it was warmer). So we were still in splendid isolation in the restaurant. In due course another couple were seated, and it became obvious that they’d gone through the same menu confusion and had, like us, stuck to their guns and requested the a la carte menu. But the whole time we were there, there was only ever one other couple in the restaurant – so much for being very busy. I can imagine that what happened was this: someone took the decision that, aside from the special Valentine’s menu to be offered in the evening, only the bar menu would be offered during the day, and only the bar area would be filled. Fair enough, but only if this is explained to people specifically booking to eat in the restaurant. As a result we spent our Valentine’s meal sitting in the far corner of the otherwise empty and chilly restaurant (although my husband did manage to switch a nearby heater on – good man). At least there was plenty of privacy!

www.castlehotel.uk.com

Visited Sunday 14 February 2010

Handmade Burger Co, Aberdeen

2010-02-16T13:47:00.001Z

Four of us met for lunch at 12pm; I’d booked ahead for a table for six (adults), and when we arrived one setting was for a highchair! It didn’t matter as there were only four of us in the end, but it was a bit odd. Anyway, this was my first visit to the Handmade Burger Co. I don’t eat meat so had checked the menu online beforehand, and was pleased to see there were five veggie and two fish options. Meat eaters are of course spoiled for choice! A word of warning about the veggie options on the menu though – whilst in the restaurant I noticed several of them are marked with an asterisk, the comment for which reads “All of these burgers are sealed in our fryer before they are grilled”. I think this probably means the veggie burgers are initially fried on the same hot plates as the meat ones, so actually not veggie at all! The service here is a bit odd, as if someone couldn’t make up their mind whether to run it like an actual burger bar or a restaurant. Once you are seated, you look at the menu and then get up from your table and order at a counter, paying up front. Your food is brought out to you when it’s ready. I went for the vegetable and bean burger, while my dining partners ordered the cheese and bacon burger, the avocado and bacon burger, the Caribbean burger, and two sides of chips. I enjoyed my veggie burger, the beef burgers went down well, and the chip portions were generous. One diner expressed the opinion that the beef burger was a little bit dry, but otherwise good. I don’t think we’ll be in a hurry to go back though; two burgers, a portion of chips and two soft drinks came to just under £20, so quite pricy for what you get. Especially when you’re not paying for full table service!

www.handmadeburger.co.uk

Visited Saturday 13 February 2010

The Beautiful Mountain, Aberdeen

2010-02-01T12:55:00.000Z

I stopped going to the Beautiful Mountain when the prices got a little bit too high and, crucially, they stopped opening on a Sunday. However, we were walking down Belmont Street at 7pm on a Saturday looking for somewhere to eat, and spotted that it was open and serving tapas from an evening menu. Apparently they’ve been doing this since October, which shows you how long it is since I was last on Belmont Street on a Saturday night….. Between two of us we shared the seafood platter, vegetable kebabs, patatas bravas and Moorish carrot salad. The seafood platter was lovely, and ideal for two to share, with a generous serving of smoked salmon, a couple of king prawns, a risotto fishcake (which appear on the menu in their own right), some calamari, tiny silver fillets on cocktail sticks with gherkins, and (I think) soused herring; all served with salad and a basket of mixed bread (including two bits of bagel, presumably left over from the day’s trade!). The (two) vegetable kebabs were served with soft flatbreads, fresh salsa, a small portion of rice, and some lovely grilled haloumi. I’m not normally a fan of haloumi as it can be very tough and chewy, but this was soft and very tasty. Patatas bravas came with salsa on top (you can have aioli instead), and the moorish carrot salad had a spicy chilli kick to it. This was plenty for two, so we finished with coffee and hot chocolate. In total the bill came to less than £26. I really enjoyed this meal and look forward to going back. It’s nice to see the Beautiful Mountain branching out like this, and the tapas menu is certainly better value (in my opinion) than the daytime menu.

www.thebeautifulmountain.com

Visited Saturday 30 January 2010

The Foyer at HMT, Aberdeen

2010-02-01T12:54:00.000Z

My dining partner and I slid our way across the untreated pavements and arrived just a few minutes late for our 6.30pm booking. The pre-theatre menu had a nice selection of dishes, although vegetarians are limited to just one main course. We skipped starters and went straight for the mains – I had risotto with roasted Mediterranean vegetables, feta cheese and saffron oil, while my partner had salmon served on a seafood linguine. The risotto portion initially looked a bit small, but actually it was just right. The vegetables could have done with a bit more in the way of roasting, but otherwise it was very nice dish. The salmon, meanwhile, went down well and was beautifully cooked. We both had the delicious lemon chiffon tart for dessert, lovely light pastry filled with a creamy yet tangy lemon filling and served with a spoon of chantilly cream, a sharp red fruit sorbet, and a drizzle of red fruit sauce. Tea and coffee was served with a small square of fudge, which was very soft and may have had white chocolate in it – far too sweet for both of us though! Two courses from the pre-theatre menu cost us £16.50 (a pound more than the current price on the website), while two soft drinks (we weren’t charged for the tea and coffee) brought the total to about £37. As always, the service was great. Friends of Aberdeen Performing Arts get 10% here, as do Friends of The Belmont Picturehouse. A lovely meal, and best of all we didn’t have to slide our way back outside to get to the theatre!

www.foyerrestaurant.com/hmt.html

YO! Sushi, Aberdeen

2010-01-18T13:43:00.002Z

I love sushi but have never been to a YO! Sushi before. We walked past on Saturday and as there was no queue, decided to treat ourselves to lunch. We were seated at the conveyor belt and the waitress explained how it worked. Before doing anything else we ordered miso soup and green tea, and then we began…… The conveyor belt system is great, you can see exactly what’s coming and pick and choose as you please. Within a minute we had lifted four different plates, including one of edamame beans. I thought the quality was good, although the tuna sashimi I had didn’t have the same awesome quality as that served in the likes of Yatai (or Japan!). The green tea was pretty flavourless, but the miso was good, and with free refills you can’t really complain! Plates are colour-coded and range in price from £1.70 to £5 (but we didn’t see any £5 plates when we were there), and you can of course order from the menu. After we’d sampled a few dishes we did a quick add up and discovered we’d already racked up nearly £30 – time to think about stopping. In short, it’s good, and as quick as you want it to be, but it can be pricy. Looking at the website I see there are a couple of offers, so we’ll make use of those next time.

www.yosushi.com/restaurants/aberdeen-union-square

Visited Saturday 16 January 2010

The Square, Aberdeen

2010-01-18T13:42:00.002Z

In town not long after 5pm on a Saturday, we decided to try a couple of restaurants for an early dinner. Our first stop was The Square, where there was no problem getting a table for two – it was empty and remained so until we left just before 7pm! Fortunately we were seated round a corner from the bar so didn’t have that “being watched by the staff” feeling. We ordered from the early evening menu; in fact this was the only menu we were given. I had the soup of the day, spicy butternut squash with mango and coconut, which came in a large bowl with a small basket of bread. The soup was good, just a tiny bit too spicy for my tastes, and there was certainly plenty of it. The bread was a bit disappointing though, slices of baguette reminiscent of the part-baked type you get in the supermarket. My partner had the chicken liver parfait, another generous portion, wrapped in bacon and served with oatcakes and chutney. For my main course I tried the salmon and chive fishcakes, served with French fries and salad. The fishcakes, while tasty enough, seemed to have been deep-fried, which I didn’t expect. There wasn’t much salad, it was more of a garnish than anything, so together with the chips this made rather a heavy meal which I didn’t finish. Unfortunately I have to report that I was sick later on that same night, and although I can't be sure that it was the fishcakes, I can't think what else it might have been. My partner, meanwhile, had the pork and apple sausages with spring onion mash and red wine gravy; four big sausages on a pile of mush surrounded by gravy, this was another heavy (but enjoyable!) meal. Neither of us was up for pudding, so we had tea and coffee, both of which came with little Lotus caramelised biscuits. At £15.95 for two courses, or £18.95 for three (tea or coffee included), the early evening menu is a good bet – and getting a table is easy!

http://www.1thesquare.com/

Visited Saturday 9 January 2010.

David Bann, Edinburgh

2009-12-14T12:45:00.000Z

I love going to vegetarian restaurants (actually, this is only the second I’ve ever been to), simply because as a non meat eater there are very few occasions on which you can choose anything from the menu, so I was looking forward to eating at David Bann’s. The interior is very nice, quite modern but at the same time atmospheric. We’d booked ahead for a table for two at 6.30pm, and were only one of three tables when we first arrived, although a big party turned up afterwards. When we sat down we were brought little homemade bread rolls and a jug of water. For our starters we both chose the homemade hummus with tomato chutney and homemade bread, which was delicious. For my main course I had the Udon noodles with ginger red pepper sauce and home smoked tofu. I expected the noodles to be served in a miso-like broth, but they actually came in quite a thick sauce. The sauce was full of flavour, and the smoked tofu was the first “smoked” item of food I’ve ever had that actually tasted of the smoke! It was delicious; a meal to savour and take time over. My dining partner had the tart of Jerusalem artichoke and celeriac which was served with vegetables and a sauce. It was really tasty, and I would challenge a meat-eater not to enjoy it as much (if not more) than any meat pie! We turned down pudding in favour of a walk along Edinburgh’s Christmas gardens followed by hot chocolate. We were so busy talking we never got round to ordering drinks, so the meal only cost us £30. Next time I’m in Edinburgh I’ll make a point of going for a repeat visit.

www.davidbann.com

Visited Tuesday 8 December 2009.

The Muggarthaugh Hotel, Muir of Fowlis, by Alford

2009-12-07T13:08:00.000Z

It’s a while since we were at the Muggarthaugh, so I phoned ahead by half an hour and managed to get our favourite table for two in front of the fire – the restaurant can be a bit chilly. There was Christmas crackers and napkins on the tables, which was a nice touch! The specials board is the place to start at the Muggart; it’s easy to order your whole meal from here rather than from the actual menu. Unfortunately vegetarians are not particularly well catered for; in fact I think there are only two veggie mains on offer, both in the standard menu – Thai green vegetable curry and the standard pasta dish. If you’re a meat and/or fish eater, though, you’re spilt for choice! For my starter I had orange, melon and strawberry cocktail, which was served in an unexpectedly large dish – almost a day’s worth of fruit! My partner had the Cajun prawns, served in a rich tomato sauce with a side salad and warn bread roll – a very generous starter. I had the baked halibut with garlic stir-fried prawns for my main, which came with rice. The fish was nice, the prawns tasty, but I didn’t bother with the rice as there was plenty of roast potatoes, chips, and vegetables on the table. My partner had roast turkey with all the trimmings, including sausages wrapped in bacon (or pork wrapped in pork), a true indication that Christmas is approaching. With two soft drinks, a pot of tea and a coffee (chocolates on the side), the bill came to £42.60.

Visited Saturday 5 December 2009.

The Acorn Centre, Inverurie

2009-12-07T13:07:00.000Z

We’ve tried to get into the Acorn Centre for lunch before, but it’s always been too busy. This time, though, we were in luck and got a table just as someone was leaving. The menu is a little bit restricted but there is still a good choice, especially with the daily specials. I had the carrot, courgette, and roasted garlic soup, served with a swirl of cream on top, and an egg mayonnaise sandwich. The soup was lovely, really tangy and tasty, and the sandwich was good too. There was a nice little portion of salad on the side. My partner had the hot roll of the day, roast beef, which contained an impressive amount of proper thick slices of beef cut from the joint. It was served with a little dish of mustard and a side salad of mixed rice and cranberries. There was a nice selection of scones (including mincemeat) and home bakes available, but we didn’t indulge. Together with a pot of tea and a carton of apple juice, the bill came to £16 (I think). Very nice, and worth waiting for a table!

www.inveruriewestchurch.org/theacorncentre.html

Visited Saturday 5 December 2009.

The Foyer at HMT, Aberdeen

2009-12-04T16:09:00.000Z

Another lunch out! I’ve had dinner at the Foyer HMT but never lunch. We sat downstairs in the café bar, which at this time of year is just a little bit chilly with all that glass. I had the soup of day (vegetable - quite tomato-ey and a little bit spicy, perfect for winter) and a toasted mozzarella, tomato and pesto panini. Friends of Aberdeen Performing Arts get discount here (to be honest this is really the only advantage I can see to joining, but that’s another story…); for two soft drinks, a coffee, two soups and paninis, and a sandwich, the bill came to £16 something (with discount).

www.foyerrestaurant.com/hmt.html

Visited Friday 4 December

The City, Aberdeen

2009-12-04T16:08:00.000Z

I wonder if The City is struggling a bit – whenever I’ve been in recently I’ve noticed the top floor, the restaurant, is often shut, and the menu downstairs in the café is a lot more restricted than it used to be. Still, there’s a reasonable selection of sandwiches, soups, baked potatoes and so on for lunch. On this occasion the soup of the day was cream of mushroom, but on asking we found that there was in fact a second soup on offer, broccoli and stilton. I had the broccoli soup with prawn sandwiches on the side, which was very nice. The sandwich fillings are quite generous! We didn’t wait long at all for our food, so, with a bit of time to go, we ordered coffees (and a chai latte for me). However, our order got lost and I eventually had to go up to the bar and re-order. Still a good lunchtime option. I was lucky enough not be paying on this occasion so can’t give a bill total. Oddly, The City are not offering a Christmas lunch or dinner menu, which is a strange given their excellent city centre location (and proximity to the Cooncil offices).

www.thecityaberdeen.co.uk

Visited Thursday 3 December 2009

The Millers Acorn Restaurant, Midmar

2009-11-24T12:42:00.002Z

There’s always a queue here on a Sunday, even at 3pm after the lunch rush. However, a table for two is a lot easier to get than a table for a larger party, and we’ve been invited to skip the queue a few times, which is exactly what happened on this occasion. We were in for tea and cake, specifically scones, so the trolley was brought out for us to choose from. By this time there were only three types of scone left - plain, orange and coconut, and cheese and sausage. We both went for the orange and coconut scones, which were generous in proportion and tasted great with the raspberry jam we were brought. At £6.30 for two teas (one pot of tea and one of hot water), this is pretty good value for money.

www.millersmidmar.co.uk/Restaurant/Restaurant.htm

Visited Sunday 22 November 2009

Aberdeen Art Gallery Café

2009-11-24T12:41:00.000Z

The café has been redecorated; thus it no longer resembles a 1970’s school staff room. Instead, it is bright, modern and clean looking, with some artwork on display - a major improvement. The menu is the same, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as there’s a good range of sandwiches, paninis, baked potatoes, salads, and cakes on offer. I had a baked potato with prawns, and a bottle of Cox’s apple press. I suspect the potato may have been microwaved, as the skin wasn’t crispy, but it may just have been pulled out of the oven a bit too soon. It was served with a side salad but it wasn’t very generous - a small handful of sliced iceberg lettuce, a piece of yellow pepper, some red onion, three slivers of cucumber, and a single cherry tomato, halved. There was a small dish of coleslaw, but it wasn’t homemade. Everything was tasty and fresh, but at £6.90 I felt it was a bit pricey. Still, it’s a good bet for a busy Saturday lunchtime in town.

Visited Saturday 21 November 2009

Castle Hotel, Huntly

2009-11-16T16:16:00.001Z

I’ve never been to the Castle Hotel so I was quite excited about going, as I really like big old Scottish country houses. Actually, I really like imagining I live in one, but I’m prepared to wait for a few more years before my dreams are realised. Anyway, five of us were greeted on arrival at 6pm by a very vocal owl hooting away in the dark, which was a lovely, if slightly spooky, start to the meal. We were eating in the Distillery Bar from the bar menu rather than in the restaurant itself. The bar is very cosy, and the menu is quite good, with a lovely selection of sandwiches; however the main meals on offer were a little bit limited for my liking – there were only three veggie options across the whole menu, and one of those was a cheese and egg salad. Three of us had the battered haddock and chunky homemade chips with coleslaw and side salad, while the two rebels had sautéed garlic prawns and tortellini. For pudding I had a fresh fruit pavlova, which looked arrived as an impressive-looking tower – unfortunately most of the tower was cream, with just a base of meringue (crispy not chewy), whereas I would’ve preferred more meringue. The STP was sampled and enjoyed, but it’s not the best available (apparently); still, there’s a lot of competition for that accolade. The mixed ice cream was apparently delicious. We finished with teas and coffees (no sweet “something” with them though). I’m not sure how much the bill was but I don’t think it was any more than I would expect to pay, say, in The Globe. Incidentally, I noticed the restaurant was offering a set menu of three courses for £19.50 that looked very good, so I’ll have to go back to try that. Lovely surroundings, cosy bar, good food, vocal owl – great.

www.castlehotel.uk.com

Visited Saturday 14 November 2009

La Bonne Brasserie, Aberdeen

2009-11-11T16:20:00.001Z

My friend and I booked ahead for lunch on a Wednesday. On a cold day I fancied some comfort food, so, in the absence of any baked potatoes, I went for the Welsh rarebit – grilled cheese, sautéed leeks and tomatoes on toast, served with a generous side of dressed salad and thin French fires. It was great, and the portions at La Bonne Brasserie are always generous. My dining partner went for the club sandwich, made with toasted bread and a variety of fillings, and served with the same sides as my rarebit. Afterwards my friend had coffee, and I had an earl grey tea which was served with sliced lemon (as requested). The bill came to just over £22 which is perhaps a little pricey for what was, essentially, cheese on toast and sandwiches, but the quality is very good so we didn’t grudge it. Plus that included two soft drinks and two hot drinks. My only other niggles with La Bonne Brasserie are that they pack the tables in fairly tight, and service can be a little slow, so it’s not a good option if you’re looking for a quick lunch.

Visited Wednesday 11 November 2009

Jaff’s, Dunecht

2009-11-09T16:40:00.003Z

Four of us met at Jaff’s for Sunday dinner, having only booked our table (for 7pm) earlier that same afternoon. After some complication and a couple of mix ups with the order (Jaff’s use a handheld electronic device for their staff to send orders to the kitchen from, but our waitress was struggling with it), I started with the Cullen skink, which was excellent. The bread roll that accompanied it was a bit dry, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment of the soup! Around the table my dining colleagues had the battered tiger prawns (three, to be precise) with a chilli dip, garlic cream mushrooms, and another Cullen skink. For my main course I went for the pasta special of the day, spaghetti with smoked salmon in a cram and dill sauce. It was good, but very rich, and after the Cullen skink I perhaps shouldn’t have chosen another creamy fish dish! Unfortunately I found a couple of sizeable pieces of plastic wrap, presumably from the smoked salmon, in the pasta. When I pointed this out to the waiting staff, though, someone came to apologise and assure us that my main course would be free of charge. Other main courses sampled were the venison, which both diners enjoyed, and the haddock and prawn mornay served on mash, which was a huge portion. None of us could manage pudding, but we all had tea or coffee, which come with chocolate mints. I had ordered an earl grey tea but got standard tea – never mind! For five soft drinks, one pint, three coffees, one tea, four starters and three mains (my meal was indeed free) the bill came to just over £80. I really like the food at Jaff’s, but I think the electronic ordering system could safely be ditched in favour of a more straightforward (and less prone to errors) system (such as a notepad and pencil - revolutionary, I know!). I think the choice of veggie options has improved slightly, and there is kid’s menu available.

http://www.jaffsbarandrestaurant.co.uk/

Visited Sunday 8 November 2009

The Globe, Aberdeen

2009-10-30T13:52:00.002Z

For some reason it was uncomfortably warm in The Globe. I just thought I'd mention this. The food was pretty standard pub fare, as is the menu (standard veggie options apply). I had scampi but with a baked potato instead of chips. It was fine, and came with a mountain of pub peas, but the potato wasn’t great. My partner ordered a cheeseburger, but got a bacon cheeseburger – nevertheless he seemed to enjoy it. Had it not been so warm we would’ve had coffee (and again, possibly pudding) but instead we paid the bill and left. Fine for a pub meal but not particularly inspiring. In addition to my question regarding crisps being a standard accompaniment to sandwiches, I would now like to ask the following: why does macaroni cheese always come accompanied with garlic bread (and not, say, a nice fresh green salad, which would partner hot cheesy carbohydrates perfectly)?

www.the-globe-inn.co.uk

Visited Thursday 29 October 2009

Café 52, Aberdeen

2009-10-30T13:52:00.001Z

Another great lunch here! The food and prices are still great, but the one negative is that the service can be a bit slow – not ideal if you’re on a lunch break. Ok, there was only one member of serving staff on when we visited, but waiting at least ten minutes for the bill (eventually having to go to the bar to get it) is a bit much. We would’ve had coffee, and possibly pudding, if service had been quicker. Anyway, as I say, the food and price are still great – I had the smoked haddock rarebit, a nice big slice of toasted bread with a tasty fish topping, served with chutney and salad. I shared a bowl of chips, the size of which has increased from what I seem to remember were nearly eggcup-size servings! My dining partners had herring in oatmeal, and the Café 52 burger. At £5 for each meal, it can’t be beaten - just don’t expect to be in and out in under an hour.

www.cafe52.net

Visited Thursday 29 October 2009

Fennel Restaurant, Inverurie

2009-07-26T17:17:00.003+01:00

We had a table for four booked for an early lunch at 12, and we were shown upstairs to a table by the window. My partner and I shared calamari for our starter, which was actually very good - a lovely, light, tempura-like batter. I went for the grilled halloumi salad with roasted tomatoes and a houmous dressing. Curiously, there were no roasted tomatoes, and while the salad was nice, it was missing something - I think the tomatoes would have given it some "zing"! Around the table, my companions had the shredded duck and rocket salad, and the battered haddock and chips. The haddock looked like it shared the lovely light batter with the calamari, while there was a good portion of duck with the salads. We all went for puddings; sticky toffee pudding - of a pretty good standard - for me, and blueberry and cinnamon cheesecke with a white chocloate sauce or chocolate souffle with Bailies cream sauce for the others. My tea came with a small shortbread biscuit, hooray! I don't know how much the bill came to in total, so I can't comment on value for money I'm afraid.

www.fennelrestaurant.co.uk

Visited Saturday 25 July 2009

Sand Dollar Evening Bistro, Aberdeen

2009-07-26T17:00:00.005+01:00

When I lived in town I often went for a walk along the beach, and if I could find an excuse to visit the Sand Dollar for tea and cake, or a cooked breakfast, then so much the better! I'd been meaning to try the evening bistro for ages, and with tickets to the circus in hand, this was the ideal opportunity. The Dollar rings the changes between the cafe and the bistro by setting the tables formally with white table linen and flowers, and the childrens play area is screened off from view. The changes weren't obvious enough for some people though, with a group of women coming in, sitting down, and reading the menu before deciding it wasn't for them and leaving, while a couple also left having been given the chance to read the menu before they sat down. Anyway, back to our meal. I started with the soup of the day, the gloriously coloured red cabbage, beetroot and thyme soup, which was delicious. My partner had thinly sliced venison which was served with redcurrant chutney (I think) and some salad garnish. I was happy to see that the pot roasted fish casserole I'd spotted on the online menu was available, so I had it for my main course. It actually came in a casserole dish, the lid of which the waitress lifted off once she'd set it in front of me. It was very good; nice chunks of white fish and salmon, and king prawns and scallops in a rich tomato and vegetable sauce. Yum! Meanwhile, my partner enjoyed his chicken leg stuffed with minced pork and sage, and served with vegetables and potatoes. We didn't have time for pudding but did manage a coffee and a tea - sadly, there was nothing sweet to accompany the tea. Together with a glass of wine and two soft drinks, the bill came to just over £43. I definitely recommend this one!

www.sanddollarcafe.com

Visited Friday 24 July 2009

Shabaaz Tandoori, Aberdeen

2009-07-22T13:29:00.001+01:00

I’m not qualified to comment on the authenticity (or otherwise) of the food at Shabaaz, but I really enjoyed my meal and would be happy to go back. We were in a group of eight and were brought plenty of popadums with chutney to snack on; I’m not sure if these were complimentary though as I didn’t get to see the final bill. Having eaten so many popadums we ordered a selections of just three starters between us – chicken pakoras, vegetable samosas (apparently very spicy), and onion bhajis. The menu is fairly extensive so for me it was a case of reading through the descriptions of each dish and picking something that sounded like my cup of tea. I went for prawn dil bahar, which I hoped would have the fresh, tangy taste I like in spicy food. I expected the sauce to have chunks of tomato in it but it seemed to have been blended to a smooth puree; nevertheless, it was very tasty. It was described as “sweet and sour” in the menu which nearly put me off, as I abhor the kind of sweet and sour dishes you get in Chinese restaurants – the dil bahar, though, was nothing like those. My partner had the reshami prawn masala, which was a little too sweet for my taste; and we shared the obligatory pilau rice and a peshwari naan. We skipped puddings and had teas and coffees before asking for the bill, which arrived with After Eights (why didn’t these come with the tea and coffee?). There were some confusion as to how much it was per head, but I think it came to (very approximately) less than £25 each, and this included several soft and alcoholic drinks.

www.shahbaaztandoori-aberdeen.com

Visited Saturday 11 July 2009

The Portcullis Hotel, Stirling

2009-07-13T16:50:00.002+01:00

The Unicorn Café in the Castle itself was packed full, so we left the castle (keep your ticket for re-entry!), strolled round the corner and went into the Portcullis for lunch. The décor is definitely a-little-bit-tired-traditional-pub, but we had a good lunch there. I went for a tortilla wrap filled with brie, caramelised walnut, sliced apple and salad, which was served with a salad garnish. It was very tasty and packed full of filling, and had obviously been freshly made. Round the table other orders were soup of the day (tomato and spinach), baked potato with chilli and cheese, and toasted mozzarella paninis. For my wrap, the baked potato, and two teas we were about £15. A good option if you want to escape the corwds (and pre-made sandwiches) of the Unicorn Café!

Visited Sunday 12 August 2009

www.theportcullishotel.com

Bonsai Japanese Bar Bistro, Edinburgh

2009-07-13T16:50:00.001+01:00

Large groups are always difficult to cater for, especially when some members of the group are slightly tipsy, but the Bonsai Bar Bistro was an excellent choice! It has a far more casual atmosphere than a Japanese “restaurant” and the staff were friendly and patient. My partner and I shared several dishes: miso soup (it never tastes so good at home, I think it’s the bowls they serve it in), takoyaki (octopus dumplings), Takuan (pickled radish) maki zushi, tuna and salmon sashimi, and the impressive “dragon” gaijin-zushi made with tempura prawn, avocado and cucumber. While I didn’t feel the sashimi quite matched the quality served at Yatai, it was still tasty good, and I particularly enjoyed the dragon gaijin-zushi. Being served green tea in a mug instead of a pot with Japanese-style cups was a (minor) disappointment, but not one to dwell on! Everyone enjoyed their meal, including those who hadn’t eaten Japanese style before, and I think the pick and mix element of the menu contributed to this. Unusually, there were puddings on offer, so I had the chocolate tart served with chestnut ice cream – the ice cream was lovely but the tart itself was (predictably) a little heavy. Tables of 8 or more are charged 10% for service, so we were £28.75 a head, and this included a bottle of sake – very good value. I look forward to visiting again!

Visited Saturday 11 August 2009

http://www.bonsaibarbistro.co.uk/

Has Beans, Edinburgh

2009-07-13T16:49:00.000+01:00

We stopped for a quick lunch here but I wish we’d had more time to sample the cakes, teas, and coffees! It was too hot for me to have tea but my dining companions had two lattes and a coffee; the coffee being served in a proper cafetiere. For lunch I had the tomato, mozzarella, orange and basil salad bowl, which was delicious – for the record, basil and orange go together very well. It was a generous bowlful as well and kept me going for the six hours until dinner, and that included a walk up Arthur’s Seat! My companions had coronation chicken and tuna mayo wraps, which were also very tasty. Sadly, we had to leave before I had a chance to sample the cakes and try a cup of tea. Pricewise it was comparable to most Edinburgh city centre cafes (around £8.50 a head) but with friendly staff and a welcoming atmosphere it was definitely worth it.

Visited Saturday 11 August 2009

Hula Juice bar, Grassmarket, Edinburgh

2009-07-07T12:28:00.000+01:00

Four of us were wandering around the Royal Mile/Grassmarket area and struggling to find somewhere to get some lunch, and ended up in here. The menu on the board inside the door looked good and the prices seemed reasonable, but once we sat down we discovered you pay quite a premium to “sit in”! But with hunger growing, and lacking the local knowledge of where else to go, we stayed put. I had the toasted smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, while others had wraps with Cajun chicken or houmous. The bagel and wraps all came with a side salad which included home made coleslaw. We waiting longer than I would’ve liked for simple bagels and warps, but it was good quality (although my salmon and cream cheese bagel was rather liberally seasoned with pepper; fine for me but perhaps not to everyone’s taste). Teas and coffees came with little squares of dark chocolate, which always earns bonus points. For two cups of tea, a bagel and a wrap, my partner and I were charged just under £14, which I think is a wee bit steep. Still, I guess they’re capitalising on their touristy location!

www.hulagood.com/

Visited Sunday 5 July 2009

Café 52, Aberdeen

2009-07-07T12:27:00.000+01:00

My friend and I treated ourselves to lunch here on a Friday. The service was a bit slow but the quality of the food more than made up for it! We both ordered exactly the same food; the soup and sandwich combo with Cullen skink and a brie and beetroot sandwich, followed by the Far Breton, described as “a custardy cake from Brittany with calvados soaked prunes”. The Cullen skink was not quite as good as it has been on previous occasions, but was still very enjoyable, and the sandwich was really tasty. The Far Breton was very nice, kind of like a sweet egg custard tart baked with prunes, and served warm. With two soft drinks and a tea and coffee, the bill came to just under £26 – not exactly credit crunching but still great value!

www.cafe52.net/

Visited Friday 3 July 2009

Café Coast, Aberdeen

2009-05-28T12:17:00.001+01:00

This is a small café, within Inspire’s building, which is run as a social enterprise. The menu doesn’t offer a lot of meat-free choices (although they do a Vegetarian Breakfast but unfortunately only until 11.30am – Falling Down moment anyone?), and as I didn’t fancy a heavier main meal of fish or pasta, I went for a toasted mozzarella, tomato and pesto panini. The panini was served with a salad garnish, coleslaw, and the traditional crisps. My dining partner had the chilli con carne, served on rice in a big bowl with melted cheese on top. I am told that the chilli was hot (spicy hot) and very good. We both went for a slice of the carrot cake and tea or coffee – on reflection, one slice of cake would have been plenty to share! It’s a nice place and the prices are quite reasonable - even more so when you’re not paying…

http://www.cafecoast.com/

Visited Tuesday 26 May 2009

Auriga, Aberdeen

2009-05-20T13:33:00.001+01:00

Six of us were looking for a table at about 8pm, and after trying a couple of places on Summer Street we ended up in Auriga, a Mediterranean restaurant which I didn’t even know existed. They have a nice selection of tapas, which you can order as tapas or individually as starters, and main meals. I had some olives to start with and then grilled whole sea bream with vegetables and potatoes, which was very nice. Orders around the table included venison steak, lamb shank, and a pasta dish. Along with two bottles of wine, a couple of soft drinks and beers, and some coffees, it came to £30 a head. It was good; but come ten o’clock we were the only table in, and the staff were desperate to get rid of us – they were even vacuuming other parts of the restaurant while we were finishing our wine and/or coffees! So while the food is Mediterranean, the attitude certainly is not. Worth a repeat visit though, as long as we don’t linger…

www.aurigarestaurant.co.uk

Visited Saturday 16 May 2009

Pizza Express, Belmont Street, Aberdeen

2009-05-20T13:32:00.001+01:00

We went to a teatime showing at the Belmont and, despite popcorn, left hungry, so we went next door to Pizza Express for express pizza. I had my favourite, the Giardiniera pizza (929 calories according to the “calorie tables” in the Nutrition section of the website), while my partner went for the Pollo ad Astra (786 calories; I’m amused by the calorie tables concept, people). We both had Gelato for pudding; two flavours for me (lemon and pistachio at 219 calories) and just lemon (347 calories; wow, that “chocolate straw” really makes a big difference) for my partner. It was very good, very quick, and very reasonably priced - £22.47 for 2181 calories (food only). Hoora!

http://www.pizzaexpress.com/our-restaurants/3270/aberdeen-belmont-street.aspx

Visited Friday 15 May 2009

The Garlogie Inn, Westhill

2009-05-14T16:06:00.002+01:00

We stopped in on the way home from town for an early Sunday dinner (and beat the rush) and got a table in the conservatory which was nice and bright. The menu is good but definitely biased towards meat eaters. My partner had the special roast beef and Yorkshire puddings, while I went for the grilled lemon sole. Both of these came with seasonal vegetables and choice of potatoes; the vegetables were a little overdone for my tastes, while the roast potatoes looked a little bit ready-made, but it all tasted fine. The fish was good, and my partner enjoyed his roast beef (although it looked slightly school dinner-ish) and the big Yorkshire pudding it was served with. For puddings, my partner had the STP and I went for the peach brioche from the specials board. The puddings were great, nice and moist, and the brioche was like a luxury bread pudding – yum. We’ll go again but not for while, as the menu is a bit restricted if you don’t eat meat.

www.garlogieinn.com

Visited Sunday 10 May 2009

Rock Salt & Snails, Aberdeen

2009-05-14T16:06:00.001+01:00

It’s almost two weeks since I actually went here, so I’m afraid I can’t remember what the prices were (this in itself indicates they were neither particularly low nor high, however). I’d heard about RS&S ages ago, but never got round to visiting, partly because of its not-quite-city-centre location. Anyway, it was busy this Saturday lunchtime, so we joined the queue and read the wall-mounted boards as we waited. The list of paninis looked good, but almost all of them had olives in them. Unfortunately the paninis and sandwiches are not made to order, so you can’t ask for the olives to be left out (I like olives, by the way, but not everyone does). There was a limited selection of paninis available, but we ordered and picked up bottles of pink ginger and elderflower cordial as well. The paninis were toasted and brought to the table, but arrived without any salad garnish or anything, which was a bit disappointing. I felt it was my duty to sample some cake, so I tried the carrot and banana cake, and we each had tea served in nice comfy mugs. RS&S was nice, but I wouldn’t bother making a special detour from the city centre to go there.

Visited Saturday 2 May 2009

The Creel Inn, Catterline

2009-04-24T16:55:00.002+01:00

Any excuse to go here is always welcome, and on this particular occasion there was no excuse, we just fancied going – hoora! We’d booked ahead for a table for four and spent some time mulling over the great menu and the specials board. Once we’d ordered, a selection of bread was brought to the table. I had the steamed Shetland mussels from the specials board to start, as did my partner; they were served with a white wine, garlic and cream sauce, and were delicious. For my main course I went with the hot smoked trout and tiger prawns in lemon, again from the specials, which was also delicious. My partner had the French fried rock turbot with a mint and tomato salsa, while one of our friends had the dressed crab. The mains were accompanied by a dish of potatoes and vegetables, including the lovely red cabbage the Creel always seems to serve. The puddings looked so lovely it was impossible to resist, so I had the warm Bakewell tart, which was more like a Bakewell sponge cake than a tart, but still lovely, while my partner had the hot chocolate fondant with an espresso sauce – possibly the richest chocolate dessert I’ve encountered. Teas and coffees were served with shortbread, but I couldn’t eat mine after three such lovely courses. The bill came to around £30 a head, very reasonable for such a fantastic meal. Still one of my absolute favourites!

www.thecreelinn.co.uk/

Visited Saturday 18 April 2009

Café in Sinclairs of Inverurie

2009-04-24T16:54:00.004+01:00

We’d tried to get into the Acorn Centre (I think that’s what it’s called) but it was very busy, so we wandered down the road, having rejected the café in the Mitchells shop as too canteen-like, and the coffee shop in the gift shop as not having enough choice of food, and found ourselves in the café at Sinclairs (the jewellers) – it may have been the lure of diamonds, I’m not sure. Anyway, we both went for the soup and sandwich combo – I had cream of broccoli soup with a tuna mayo and sweetcorn sandwich on brown bread, while my partner had the minestrone soup with a bacon brie sandwich on white bread. Ant tea for two, of course! The food was good, and the café was very stylish, but I think it’s maybe just a wee bit pricey – we were about £17 for our fairly simple lunch. Sadly, no diamonds were involved.

www.sinclairsofinverurie.co.uk/

Visited Saturday 18 April 2009

Foyer at HMT, Aberdeen

2009-04-24T16:54:00.003+01:00

We had a table booked for 5.45pm but didn’t make it until after 6pm; however, the friendly waitress assured us that we had time for two courses. Planning ahead - ice cream in the theatre for pudding - we went for starters and mains. I had the haddock, leek and potato tart to start with, which was like thick Cullen skink spooned into a shortcrust pastry tart – lovely. My partner had the honey chilli chicken and noodle salad, which looked lovely and fresh, unlike a lot of honey-chilli dishes. There was a bit of a wait for the mains which made me a bit nervous, but it was worth the wait. We both had the grilled sea trout with buttered new potatoes and wilted spring greens (great minds think alike) which was delicious – simple, fresh, clean and very tasty. I cannot fault the Foyer, the quality of both the food and the service is excellent, and the pre-theatre menu is very good value for money – two courses for £15.50 a head.

www.foyerrestaurant.com/hmt.html

Visited Friday 17 March 2009

Cinnamon, Aberdeen

2009-04-14T13:25:00.002+01:00

I’d been to Cinnamon when it first opened, when I was impressed with the food but not the service, and it’s pretty much the same this time round. We had booked a table for five people earlier that same day, having tried but failed to get one at Bhan Thai, which has come highly recommended. Anyway, back at Cinnamon we were presented with poppadoms and chutneys, which we ate as we read the fairly extensive menu. We ordered a different main course each, two servings of pilau rice (some dishes come with rice), and a peshwari and a plain naan bread. I apologise, but I can’t remember the names of any of the dishes except for the Bangladeshi fish curry and the Tak Tak bhoona, and the Cinnamon website doesn’t seem to exist any more, so I can't even cheat. However, my king prawn dish was really lovely, the herbs and spices tasted fresh and the prawns were considerable in size. The fish curry came in the form of two fish steaks, cut on the bone, with sauce over them and rice on the side. It was very nice but we had to ask to find out what kind of fish it was – ayre, apparently. A small platter of fresh cut fruit – grapes, melon and orange slices – was brought to the table once the mains had been cleared. Only I managed a pudding, always a folly in a Chinese or Indian restaurant! I had the pistachio kulfi but I couldn’t really taste any pistachio, and it was presented on a plate drizzled with the kind of acidic-bright and sickly sweet strawberry sauce kids get on ice cream. Not great, but it serves me right for being greedy. With a bottle of wine and assorted alcoholic and soft drinks, the bill came to just over £121. It was handwritten and a little difficult to work out, to be honest, but the amount seemed about right. The service was very disorganised, with several different waiters sharing responsibility for the table. Every couple of minutes someone asked if we wanted more drinks, or if we were ready to order, or whatever, which got a bit overbearing after a while. We had to ask twice for water for the table, and when it did come we had to specifically ask the waiter to leave it on the table rather than just pouring us each a glass. The wine was opened and poured, and the bottle left on the table, but it was quickly picked back up again by another waiter who poured out the rest of it and then asked if we wanted another. I wish the service had improved since my last visit many years ago, but sadly it hasn’t, and it is for that reason I won’t hurry back to Cinnamon.

Visited Saturday 11 April 2009

The City, Aberdeen

2009-03-27T13:02:00.002Z

This is the fourth time I’ve been to The City in recent weeks, but the first time I’ve had an evening meal there. It was nice and quiet so there were plenty of tables available. We were served warm bread rolls with butter and olive tapenade while we considered the menu. For my main course I had one of the specials, spaghetti with queen scallops and king prawns in a fennel and Pernod sauce. I swithered over ordering it as a lot of pasta and fish/seafood dishes can be very heavy, especially when they have a creamy sauce. This, though, was lovely – the pasta was nicely cooked (not swollen and sticky), the scallops and prawns very tender, and the creamy sauce was actually very light. Very nice. My partner went for the lasagne, which came with a couple of slices of toasted garlic bread and a salad garnish. We both ordered puddings; warm dark chocolate and walnut torte with Chantilly cream for me, and good old STP for him. Both were delicious, and, like the main courses, surprisingly light. I particularly liked the texture and taste of the finely chopped walnuts combined with the chocolate in the torte. We had tea for tea, which was served with an After Eight for each of us. Along with two soft drinks, the bill came to just over £36. Very reasonable for such a nice meal.

Visited Thursday 26 March 2009

So Strawberry Caffe, Linlithgow

2009-03-23T13:48:00.001Z

This little café is very convenient for Linlithgow Palace, so after a cold and windy walk round the Palace itself we repaired here for lunch. There’s a great selection of toasted sandwiches and, crucially, a nice selection of cakes! There are also a few “slimmer’s choices” available, which is a nice idea, as well as both cream and afternoon teas. Five of us (plus baby again!) round the table had three lattes, two cups of tea, one macaroni cheese, one tuna melt toastie, two soups of the day (lentil), one strawberry and cream meringue, and two pieces of cake – coffee and walnut, and lemon. I had the soup, and then sampled the two cakes, of which I thought the coffee and walnut was the best. Anyway, it came to £32-something altogether (I think). It’s a nice place, and the service was great, so don’t be put off by the slightly twee name!

www.sostrawberry.co.uk

Visited Sunday 22 March 2009

The Abbot's Kitchen Café, Abbot House, Dunfermline

2009-03-23T13:47:00.000Z

We were visiting Dunfermline Abbey with friends (plus baby) and couldn’t miss this remarkably pink house, plus lovely little courtyard garden, next door. On investigation it became clear that the chances of getting a cup of tea and a fine piece were high; so, after we’d admired the apparently resident peacock who was sunning himself in the garden, we got a table in the garden. Between us (not counting Baby who’s apparently not old enough for tea or cake yet, poor thing) we had two lattes, two cups of tea, two treacle scones, one plain scone, and one rocky road slice, all of which was very good. The treacle scones were lovely, and actually (somewhat unusually for most “flavoured” scones) tasted treacly. The only thing that let the Abbot’s Kitchen down was that there was no “real” milk to be had, only those little plastic pots of long-life milk. Still, the lovely surroundings and sunny weather more than made up for that! Prices are standard; it was £12.10 for our table.

www.abbothouse.co.uk

Visited Saturday 21 March 2009

Inn at the Park, Aberdeen

2009-03-09T13:09:00.002Z

It's a carvery on a Sunday at Inn at the Park, not my first choice, but a good bet for keeping a large family party happy. There is am additional, somewhat limited, menu available, but I would say that the vast majority of people go for the carvery. It does look good, with a choice of three meats (turkey, beef and gammon on the day we went), roast and mashed potatoes, cocktail sausages, skirlie, various veg, and a big pot o' gravy. I ordered haddock in a soda batter with a baked potato (instead of chips) from the alternative menu, whihch was good - the fish tasted fresh and the potato was baked, not microwaved, and I think the tartar sauce (which I requested) was homemade. Not everyone was up for pudding, but I went for profiteroles, expecting that they would come in lots of nice, possibly even warm, chocolate sauce. I was a bit disappointed because there wasn't a lote of chocolate sauce, and it tasted a bit "out of a bottle", but still, it was nicely garnished and presented with fresh fruit. Some people had starters, everyone had mains, some had puddings, there was an even split between alocholic and soft drinks, and the total per head was £18. There is a kids menu available. Inn at the Park does not make much allowance for vegetarians on a Sunday - the only veggie dish available was the everlastingly boring penne pasta in tomato and basil sauce with garlic bread. Still, a good bet for large parties and to cater for all - albeit meat-eating - tastes.

http://www.innattheparkhotel.co.uk/

Visited Sunday 8 March 2009

Nargile, Aberdeen (Skene Street)

2009-02-22T17:09:00.002Z

This is my first visit to Nargile, and we had a table for four booked for 8.30pm on a Saturday night. It was busy, with a couple of big tables in. Flicking through the menu, we decided to take the easy option and sample the set meals. We ordered two that catered for meat and fish eaters, and two of the vegetarian meals, so we could mix and match between them. Before I go any further, let it be known that I'm not going to try and remember the correct names for all the dishes! The meze starters arrived fairly quickly, and were delicious - beetroot and dill, houmous, green beans, tomato salsa, halloumi cheese, and leeks and rice were all included, along with many more that I can't remember, and were accompanied by warm pitta bread. There was quite a wait between the meze and the main dishes, but we weren't in any hurry so it wasn't a problem. The main dishes included aubergine stuffed with minced lamb or feta, lamb and chicken pieces, swordfish, king prawns, a chicken and a mushroom and pitta bread special, chickpeas and carrots, and stuffed vine leaves, and were accompanied by roasted vegetables and rice. For "pudding" we were brought three varities of baklava, small sweet pastries - pistachio, almond and chocolate - which were the perfect sweet finish to the meal. A choice of Turkish coffee, tea or apple tea was also included, and Turkish Delight was brought with the bill. It was a good meal, and the set menu was definitely a good introduction to the cuisine. The vegetarian set meal was £20-something, and the fish and meat meal was £25-something, so it's also a good option if you want to avoid falling into the trap of ordering a few rounds of lots of little dishes and then realising that the cost of all those little dishes soon adds up! Very enjoyable, I look forward to going back.

Visited Saturday 21 February 2009

Horsemill Bookshop & Cafe, Crathes Castle

2009-02-17T13:05:00.004Z

Following a walk (in wellies) round the Castle grounds, we were in need of a cup of tea and a piece of cake. We chose the cafe in the Horsemill Bookshop rather than the larger, canteen-style, Courtyard restaurant, which is generally full of family groups. I had a piece of the lemon cake whilst my partner had a slice of fruit loaf. At £2.50 and £2 respectively, the cakes were perhaps a little steep in price, but they were nice. The scones, though, are individually wrapped in plastic - never a good sign. And although we were brought a pot of tea for two, we weren't provided with an extra pot of water. Not a patch on the tearooms in some of the other Trust properties, don't you know!

Bistro Verde, Aberdeen

2009-02-17T13:05:00.001Z

I was treated to lunch here on Valentine’s Day (lucky me), and was glad to go back. I haven’t had lunch at Bistro Verde before, and I was pleased to see they offer an impressive “Express Lunch” menu, which is very reasonably priced, as well as an a la carte choice, including the full range of specials from the board. On this occasion, though, we chose from the a la carte menu, and I started with the delicious Cullen skink which was tasty but not too rich and filling – just right for lunch. My partner had a smoked salmon and crawfish tail salad, which looked very fresh. For my main course I had the grilled halibut fillet with crawfish tails in a lemon butter sauce. I was in two minds about ordering this, as I thought the sauce might be a bit rich, especially following the Cullen skink, so I was pleased when it turned out to be a very light sauce after all. My partner had grilled seabass fillets served with a radish and fennel salad and lemon-roasted potatoes. A dish of sautéed potatoes and seasonal vegetables was brought to the table. As expected, the quality of the fish was excellent, and everything was cooked and presented beautifully. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to sample the puddings, or for tea or coffee either, but we can always go back!

Visited Saturday 14 February 2009

The City, Aberdeen

2009-02-17T13:04:00.000Z

Last time I had lunch in the restaurant, but this time I was downstairs in the bustling café, which was much livelier. My two dining companions both went for the soup of the day (cream of tomato) and sandwich deal, while I had a prawn and avocado ciabatta, which came with the (apparently obligatory) accompaniment of crisps. But the real purpose of adding an entry for The City so soon is to alert you, dear reader, to the fact that they serve delicious little squares of chocolate tiffin with their teas – hooray! They were lovely too, which means I must make time to sample some of the other cakes and pastries available….

Visited Tuesday 10 February 2009

Meldrum Arms Hotel, Oldmeldrum

2009-02-07T15:02:00.005Z

The Meldrum Arms offers food in the dining room or the lounge, and four of us had a table booked for 7pm on a Friday in the lounge. I was surprised to see that we were the only table in, with just one table occupied in the dining room as well. However, there was a lot of snow on the roads so that may explain the lack of diners – the food certainly wasn’t the reason for empty tables! I thought the menu was very good, with lots of choice, particularly with the addition of the daily specials. The veggie options were a step ahead of the usual offerings, and a kid's menu is available. I chose the mackerel pate for my starter from the special menu, but it turned out we’d been given the wrong specials menu, so I had melon served with berries and a port coullis instead (a cunning move as it meant I was fit for pudding later). My fellow diners had the soup of the day (cream of cauliflower), prawn cocktail, and chicken liver pate. I also ordered my main course from the special menu – roasted pumpkin and chestnut pie, which was absolutely delicious. The tasty, savoury filling was topped with puff pastry, and a lovely selection of seasonal vegetables and potatoes were brought to the table. Round the table, the other main courses sampled were steak pie (x2) and prawn cocktail (again, but not the same person who had it for a starter!). No one else was up for pudding but I rose to the challenge and ordered the Trio of Sweets, a taster selection of banoffee panacotta, ginger and rhubarb parfait, and steamed marmalade pudding. They were the nicest puddings I’ve had for a long time, the parfait and the marmalade pudding being especially good. I can’t say how much the meal cost as I was lucky enough not to have to pay, but I can safely say I would be delighted to go back to the Meldrum Arms as I thoroughly enjoyed what was, in my opinion, a very good standard of dining.

http://www.meldrumarmshotel.co.uk/

Visited Saturday 6 February 2009

The City Cafe & Restaurant, Aberdeen

2009-02-05T15:43:00.002Z

Four of us from work went for lunch one day, and decided to try The City, which is fairly new. The entrance is very minimal to the point of being a little bit sterile, but don't let this put you off. Downstairs is a cafe serving soups, paninis, homebakes and so on, while upstairs is a restaurant serving more substantial fare. We'd booked a table in the restaurant but really didn't need to, as there only three other tables were occupied! The decor is modern with a touch of 50's diner style to it. The lunch menu isn't extensive, and there was only veggie option (macaroni cheese), but it looked good, and prices were reasonable, with most dishes being £6-7.95. Round the table we had: the macaroni, which came with garlic bread (I have to ask, just I always do when sandwiches are served with crisps, when was garlic bread nominated as the most suitable accompaniment to macaroni cheese? Is there any particular reason or did one place start doing it and now they all do?); fish and chips (when served, the fish was aptly described as a "whale" by the waitress); chilli bowl with nachos and sour cream; and (my choice) prawn and avocado salad in a marie rose dressing. The portion sizes were good, not too much for lunch, and everything tasted fresh and was nicely presented. My only gripe is that I asked for salad without onions, but it came with onions anyway. It also came with olives, though, so that made up for it! With two soft drinks (one of which was a detox option) and two coffees, the bill came to £38 something. Good value, fresh food, good service, and handy for work - there's no doubt we'll go back!

Visited Wednesday 5 February 2009

Jaffs, Dunecht

2009-01-26T12:21:00.002Z

We were on our way home from town on Sunday and decided to see if we could get a table in Jaffs for our dinner. It was no problem, and in fact the restaurant was half empty while we there – the end of January seems to be a quiet time for shopping and eating out generally. The menu is good but very “meat heavy”, offering just three, fairly standard, vegetarian options: vegetable fajitas, a three cheese, olive and tomato salad, or pasta. I skipped a starter, even though Cullen skink was on offer, but my partner had the pate of the day served with oatcakes and a salad garnish. We never found out exactly what kind of pate it was, but I’m told it was very nice. I went for the haddock and prawn mornay served on creamy mash with vegetables, which was delicious, with a generous portion of fish and prawns and just the right amount of sauce. My partner had one of the specials, lamb in a rosemary and mint sauce with mash and veg, which he enjoyed very much – the lamb was very tender. Neither of us could finish our meals so we just had tea afterwards (we did manage the chocolate that came with the tea though!). Along with two soft drinks, the meal came to just over £35.

Visited Sunday 25 January 2009.

Haddo House tearoom, by Ellon

2009-01-12T12:51:00.002Z

The sun had come out so we decided to go for a walk round Haddo. To our surprise, and delight, the tearoom was open! Cream teas for two, at £6.20, were duly enjoyed. It seems that the tearoom here is trialling some winter opening, and will therefore be open at the weekends, although this is weather-dependant.

www.nts.org.uk/Property/73/

Visited Sunday 11 January 2009

Ross’s Coffee Shop, Inverurie

2009-01-12T12:51:00.001Z

We were (briefly) visiting Anderson’s, the big furniture saleroom outside Inverurie (I now know where rich people in the Garioch buy their overpriced and terribly modern furniture), and spotted - well, we could hardly miss it - a similar sized building across the road which seemed to be run by J.G. Ross the bakers. Having legged it from Andersons (but having cheekily left the car in their carpark - ha!), we went into Ross’s for lunch. We each had soup, chicken and rice, and vegetable. Although it’s a bit canteen-like, the service was great, the soup was tasty, and the bread (as you would expect from a baker) very nice. £8-something for two soups and two teas. Obviously a popular place to get a hangover cure in the form of a cooked breakfast – we even spotted a young lady in her boyfriend’s tracksuit bottoms and no shoes! Note to self: this is an extremely unflattering look.

Visited Sunday 11 January 2009

The Muggarthaugh Hotel, Muir of Fowlis

2009-01-12T12:50:00.000Z

A return visit to the Muggart was prompted by my failure to think of something I wanted to either cook or eat, so we called an hour or so ahead to make sure we’d get a seat in the cosy bar area. Cosy we certainly were, because we managed to grab the table in front of the fire. I started my meal with the “Prawn Platter”, which is actually good old prawn cocktail, rearranged on a plate with small triangles of buttered brown bread. It brought back memories of Mum’s dinner parties where PC was always the starter (although this was replaced with broth in the colder months), and was served in glass ice cream goblets – the height of sophistication. My partner had a starter from the specials board, Cajun Prawns, which was a lovely, tangy, mildly spicy stew of prawns and tomatoes. We both ordered our main courses from the board; I had grilled halibut with a garlic and herb crust, which was very good but came with prawns and vegetables in a sweet and sour sauce, and rice, which seemed an odd choice of accompaniment. My partner had duck breast, which was garnished with sliced orange and strawberries. Potatoes, chips, and vegetables were brought to the table. With three soft drinks and a tea and a coffee, we were just under £43, not including a tip. A bit of a pricy solution to my what-to-cook dilemma, but a very enjoyable one nonetheless!

Visited Saturday 10 January 2009

Moonfish Café

2009-01-07T13:13:00.000Z

This place never seems to be open, so I didn’t hold much hope of anyone answering the phone when I called at 10.30am. To my surprise, however, someone did answer, and I booked a table for lunch later that day. Moonfish is quite small, and when we arrived there were just three other tables occupied. We had a table by the window, and once we had ordered drinks we were brought some roasted nuts to nibble on. For my starter I ordered the honey roasted vegetable, goats cheese and houmous bruschetta, while my partner went for the duck breast and goats cheese salad. The bruschetta was lovely, a very generous portion served with a nice fresh salad. The duck salad was also good, but chef could have been a little more forthcoming with the duck meat. My main course was a seared sea bass fillet on sautéed potatoes, served with a tomato and pesto sauce, which was delicious. My partner had chicken breast roasted with herbs, which came on a creamy risotto with fresh chillies (perhaps a little too much) through it. We had tea to finish, which came with a chocolate biscuit on the side. The food at Moonfish is lovely, but is perhaps a little bit overpriced for what you get – it would have been nice to get a small dish of vegetables to flesh out our mains. Our lunch cost just under £38, not including a tip – okay for special occasion but not for a standard lunch. The menu was a bit restricted too, with just one vegetarian option (linguine in a creamy parmesan sauce). Still very good though, and worth visiting again - on the next special occasion, perhaps!

Visited Tuesday 6th January 2009

Briggies, Newburgh

2009-01-02T12:11:00.002Z

After a bracing walk on the beach, we went into Briggies for Sunday lunch. I enjoyed the battered haddock, served with salad and coleslaw, while my partner had the steak pie, which came with seasonal vegetables. We both requested potatoes instead of chips, and a generous bowl of tasty boiled tatties was brought to the table. The food was good, but what we were really there for was the sticky toffee pudding - I was tempted by the sweet of the day, apple and mincemeat crumble (I'll give this one a go at home I think), but followed my instinct and went for STP. I am happy to confirm that Briggies still does the best STP - a lovely moist pudding with dates in it, and a great toffee sauce which is not too sweet or too buttery (two common pitfalls in sticky toffee sauce), and generously portioned (as opposed to an artful little square in the centre of a massive plate) too.

www.ythanhotel.com

Visited Sunday 28 December 2008.

The Old Schoolhouse, Aberdeen

2008-12-15T16:46:00.000Z

Five of us, plus baby in buggy, arranged to meet on Saturday for lunch, and we ended up here because a) it’s central and it was raining, b) it’s baby/kid friendly and c) there was a table free when we went in. I’m not a big fan of the food here but as a venue to meet friends for a break from Christmas shopping and the rain, it was fine. We placed our order at the bar and one dish (a chicken and bacon panini) arrived at the table before the person who’d ordered it had even sat down again – very odd! Although it’s great to be served so quickly, it did mean that he had to wait some 15 or 20 minutes for the rest of the orders to arrive before starting his. We did wonder whether it was a “spare” panini that had been prepared in error and was just hanging around waiting to be ordered – best not to think too hard about that though. I kept it simple with a baked potato with prawn Marie Rose, one person had sausages and mash, and the remaining two had the chilli bowl. Nothing spectacular then, but cheap and filling. There’s a kids menu, as you’d expect, and I think we were roughly £6-7 a head.

Visited Saturday 13th December 2008.

Foyer at HMT, Aberdeen

2008-12-01T13:11:00.001Z

I don’t know what I was looking forward to more – the theatre show or the meal we’d booked beforehand! The pre-theatre menu at the Foyer is always good, and on this occasion we hoped to have time for all three courses. We both started with the soup of the day, cream of winter vegetable, which was a generous bowlful served with a slice of lovely dense homebaked bread (with, I think, a hint of pepper in it) – just right for such a cold day. For my main course I went with the grilled salmon and Thai noodle broth, a beautifully cooked piece of fish on a pile of noodles and vegetables in a delicate but tasty soup-like sauce. My partner had the roasted pork fillet on parmesan mash with braised red cabbage, which he said was delicious. There was plenty of time for pudding, so I had the selection of sorbets - mango, pear and coconut – and my partner had the rice pudding with fruit compote. Tea and coffee came with a square of fudge; and with one alcoholic drink and one soft drink, the bill came to around £46. So, booking a table for an hour and a half before the start of the show left us with time for three courses. Highly recommended – and the show was good too!

www.foyerrestaurant.com/hmt.html

Visited Saturday 28 November 2008

Cellar Café, Provost Skene’s House, Aberdeen

2008-11-20T16:21:00.000Z

This café is on the ground floor of Provost Skene’s House, and a section of the floor is tiled in glass so you can see down into the cellar, which is a quirky idea. The menu is based around homebakes, soups, sandwiches and paninis. Soup of the day when I visited was cream of chicken, so no choice for veggies. I went for the smoked salmon and cream cheese baguette, which came with a nice side salad, coleslaw, and crisps. My dining partner just had a scone, which was served with butter but no jam. The other homebakes on offer looked good, but I didn’t have room for anything else after my generous baguette. Two teas brought the bill to £7.70. There were lots of staff but several of them walked past us more than once as we waiting to pay, so points off for not acknowledging us – in the end we had to ask to pay and the lady seemed a bit annoyed to be asked. Still, don’t let that put you off! If you have time, it’s worth going around the rest of house while you’re there (it’s free).

http://www.aagm.co.uk/code/emuseum.asp?page=buildings_provost_skene

Visited Thursday 20 November 2008

Chi, Aberdeen

2008-11-17T12:50:00.000Z

It seems that the menu never changes in Chi; however, there’s so much choice that it’s not a problem. We went as a group of four on a Saturday evening, when the restaurant was fairly busy. I started with tempura asparagus, which went really well with the Kikkoman (soy) dipping sauce it was served with. Others had the Thai fishcakes and the rather alarmingly red-coloured Chi chicken shreds, all of which went down well. I was pretty much set on red Thai prawn curry for my main, but changed my mind at the last minute when I spotted salt and garlic pepper monkfish on the back of the menu – I didn’t realise, however, that this dish was (like my starter) fried in a light batter, or I would’ve stuck with my original choice! It was very tasty though, just a bit too much batter in one meal for my liking. Round the table, the other main courses – malay satay chicken and Thai green beef curry - were enjoyed. Standard ice-cream based puddings were on offer, which I didn’t bother with, and there were fortune cookies to finish with. The only quibble with the meal was that we ordered two portions of steamed jasmine rice, and only one was brought, but when the bill came it was quickly altered once we pointed it out. For four starters and mains, three accompaniments, three puddings, various soft and alcoholic drinks, and two teas/coffees, we were about £23 each which wasn’t bad at all. By this time the atmosphere at the next table, a party of middle-aged woman on a bit of a “night oot”, had progressed from jolly to raucous, so we moved into the bar and had a couple of lovely cocktails.

Visited Saturday 15 November 2008

Bugles, Inverurie

2008-11-10T13:17:00.002Z

The first thing you see when you open the menu at Bugles is a written lecture, outlining the dos and don’ts of the restaurant – not exactly the warmest of welcomes. However, the three of us were hungry and already seated, so forged ahead with our Sunday meal. Soup of the day was broth, but this wasn’t suitable for vegetarians, which is annoying considering it was the only soup option. I skipped a starter and my two companions both had the soup, which they enjoyed. On my way to the toilet, however, I couldn’t help but notice that the soup pot sat on a table in open view next to a microwave – a bit cheeky if you ask me! I had the spiced haddock goujouns with a baked potato and peas for my main course, which was nice (although the menu did point out that the goujouns were supplied ready-made, and thus Bugles is denied any praise for this dish – supplying a potato and peas and assembling the meal doesn’t count). My companions had the chicken curry and chilli bowl, neither of which looked great but seemed to go down well. The pudding menu was quite heavy so we skipped it and had tea and coffee instead – unfortunately the coffee was almost undrinkable, apparently tasting like it had been stewing all day. At just over £45 for two starters, three mains, soft and hot drinks, the price was reasonable, but Bugles would be pushing it to charge any more. Taking out the lecture at the front of the menu would also make a much better first impression. A kids menu is available.

Visited Sunday 9 November 2008

The Vale Hotel, Alford

2008-11-04T17:38:00.004Z

We hoped to get a quick and tasty meal here on our way home from an overnight stay away. The food – haddock in beer batter and chips, and steak, medium rare, in a mushroom and Drambuie cream sauce - was tasty enough, but neither dish merited the 45 minute wait. When we asked if there was a problem with our order, we were told that everything is cooked from fresh –I should hope so, but I’m not sure it takes that long to batter and fry a fish and cook a steak medium rare. We didn’t dare order pudding for fear of being in the Vale until closing time. Other tables seemed to be experiencing a similar wait, although there were only about 12 diners at the busiest point of our visit. Maybe they did have a problem with our order - I would have preferred them to say so - but I’m sorry to say I wouldn’t recommend the Vale, unless you have lots of time to spare. Try the Alford Bistro instead!

Visited Monday 3 November 2008

Crieff Hydro Hotel, Crieff

2008-11-04T17:38:00.003Z

Four of us dined in the hotel’s Meikle restaurant, and dinner was included in our hotel stay. The table d’hote menu changes every night in the Meikle, and is always very good. There’s a choice of about five dishes per course, some of which have a supplementary charge, although not on this occasion. I started with steamed Shetland mussels in a rustic tomato sauce, which was served with herb bread. It was nice, but I think the sauce overpowered the taste of the mussels. Other starters sampled included smoked salmon and potato cake, melon and fruit coulis, and smoked chicken salad. For mains, the table was evenly split between grilled sea bream fillet, served on wilted rocket with a fresh tomato salsa, and the venison dish (details of which I can’t remember). The main course was accompanied by a selection of vegetables. The sea bream was excellent, very tasty and full of flavour, and the venison seemed to go down well too. Puddings were brandy snap baskets with seasonal fruit, stilton cheese with handmade oatcakes, mango chutney, and grapes, and the chef’s recommendation, a delicious crepe with local berries and a vanilla and ginseng infused sauce. The food was great, service was friendly and efficient, the dining hall itself is lovely, and to top it all off, the champers was flowing! I really like Crieff Hydro, and intend to go back just as soon as I can find an excuse.

www.crieffhydro.com/index.asp?cat=Dining%20::%20Bars

Visited Sunday 2 November 2008

Taste, Braemar

2008-11-04T17:38:00.001Z

Braemar’s a funny place; it’s difficult to find somewhere nice to have something to eat, and even more so when it’s off season. But we were delighted to find Taste was both nice and open on a Sunday off season! There was a choice of two vegetarian soups, carrot and marjoram, and spinach, broccoli and pea, both of which were lovely and served with seeded brown rolls. We couldn’t resist the lovely looking display of home bakes, including star-shaped scones, and went for ginger crackle (a flapjack-like base topped with ginger frosting) and carrot cake (which was very light and banana-y). Prices are very reasonable, and the café itself is large and light; with plenty of seating options and a nice little kid’s corner. If you visit, pop into the toilets and have a look at the fantastic photo on the wall there! Highly recommended.

www.taste-braemar.co.uk/

Visited Sunday 2 November 2008

The Square, Aberdeen

2008-10-20T12:28:00.003+01:00

We went for a pre-theatre meal so had a fairly early table booked for 6pm. We planned on having two courses and then ice cream at the theatre, but service was so swift we had time for three! I started with prawn and smoked salmon parcels, served with a lime crème fraiche dressing, which was good, although I admit I expected the salmon and prawns to be parcelled in pastry, rather than the prawn mousse wrapped in smoked salmon that I got. A bit of an ambiguous menu description perhaps? The goats cheese tart was also enjoyed as a starter. I went for the seared tuna in a pesto dressing, served with sauteed potatoes and green beans for my main course, which was lovely. I wouldn’t have thought of pairing tuna with pesto, but it worked nicely. My partner had a steak served with seasonal vegetables and lovely, crisp looking, french fries (or chips, if you prefer!). Puddings were cranachan, which came with a shortbread biscuit, and the totally calorific chocolate mousse and caramel tart. The tart was chocolately good, even if I couldn’t detect any caramel in it. I couldn’t finish it either. There is an early evening menu (which we didn’t order from) with two courses for about £14, and three for £17; our meal, however, came to about £56.

http://www.1thesquare.com/

Visited Saturday 18 October 2008

The Shepherd’s Rest, Westhill

2008-10-20T12:28:00.001+01:00

This totally fake "ye olde worlde" style restaurant is actually part of the Premier Inn hotel chain, so I wasn’t expecting much, but we wanted something after work that was quick and on our way to visit some friends. However, the menu was actually very good, and the daily specials help it along. There’s a kid’s menu and a snack menu for lunchtime too. I had the fish pie, which was a mix of salmon, prawns and white fish topped with cheesy mashed potato. It was tasty but the fish layer was a bit oily. My partner had half a roast chicken with diablo sauce, which was spicy but not particularly hot, despite its name – just as well, as the sauce came in a small soup bowl! We didn’t have pudding but we did have tea and coffee, which was served with a little Italian-style hard biscuit. Not bad at all for £22.88.

Visited Thursday 16 October 2008

Pizza Express, Belmont Street, Aberdeen

2008-10-10T13:12:00.005+01:00

If you're going to the Belmont Cinema and fancy something nice (but not pubby) to eat first, then this place is very convenient! There's been a Pizza Express on Union Street for years but I've never bothered to visit - I suspect a lot of people are the same. We were a hungry party of five, and had booked ahead, and we had a large table on the top floor (there are two, plus the entrance hall on the ground). It's actually the second time I've been here, and on both occasions I felt it was a bit chilly. However, the food was good: I had olives for my starter and then a mushroom pizza on a Romana (thin) base, which was pretty big and quite tasty. Other starters included dough balls (basically pizza dough) served with garlic butter, garlic bread with mozzarella, and bruschetta (again, the garlic bread and the bruschetta base was pizza dough rather than bread). The choice of pizzas is good, with plenty of interesting veggie options, and of course you can always choose your own toppings. We didn't have time for pudding; luckily the Belmont sells Ben & Jerry's ice cream! The bill came to £17 each, including a tip.

http://www.pizzaexpress.com/

Visited 9 October 2008

Fern Cottage Restaurant, Pitlochry

2008-10-07T16:03:00.003+01:00

This was a chance find, as we were basically wandering around Pitlochry in the drizzle looking for somewhere that a) was open and b) looked fairly nice but wasn't overpriced for dinner. The waitress managed to "find" us a table, although the restaurant was never actually more than half full when we were in, so I'm not sure what that was about. Anyway, Fern Cottage is literally an old cottage that has been gutted and tunred into a restaurant, and the two wood burning stoves and wooden beams add to the cottage atmosphere. The food was good: leek and potato soup and pan-fried haggis were our starters; tuna steak on crushed potatoe with mediterranean vegetables, topped with mozzarella, and venison medallions were our main courses. The tuna dish looked messy, but was good, although the mozzarella was entirely superfluous. We had raspberry cranachan (which came in a glass in seperate layers - raspberries, cream, oats) and belgian waffles with maple syrup and ginger parfait (although I couldn't taste any ginger) for our puddings. My one criticism would be that Fern Cottage is trying too hard - we were served by no less than three separate people, and the bill was served in a wooden box (!). But at £61.95, it was a pretty good meal.

http://www.ferncottagepitlochry.co.uk/

Visited 1 October 2008

Robin's Nest Tearoom, Taynuilt

2008-10-07T15:57:00.002+01:00

Cream teas all round! This is lovely cosy tearoom that, again, we found an advert for and made sure we stopped in by. We had both a plain and a fruit and cinnamon scone, served with individual pots of clotted cream and raspberry or rhubarb and ginger jam -yum. Lovely! I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were a great selection of homebakes available too.

Visited 1 October 2008

The Pierhouse Hotel and Seafood Restaurant, Port Appin

2008-10-07T15:48:00.002+01:00

We were lucky enough to be staying in this lovely hotel, and had a fantastic evening meal here on our second night. Starters were buffalo mozzarella and tomato salad, which was lovely and light, and a generous helping of smoked fresh salmon and parma ham. We both went for the Pierhouse Seafood Platter, a selection of beautifully presented local seafood - a bowl of mussels, one spectacularly delicious scallop, an oyster, smoked and fresh salmon, langoustines, and a rollmop herring. I didn't know where to start! It was suberb, really fresh and very tasty. My particular favourites were the scallop and the herring. And I discovered that the best thing about this kind of meal is that it doesn't leave you feeling too full, so there was room for pudding - hooray! We had fruit salad in ginger wine, and a selection of three local cheeses, including one smoked and one blue, served with grapes, green apple, celery and gooseberry chutney. Champagne can be bought by the glass - chin chin!

www.pierhousehotel.co.uk/

Visited 30 September 2008

Oban Chocolate Company, Oban

2008-10-07T15:42:00.002+01:00

It's surprisingly difficult to find somewhere that does a traditional cream tea in Oban. So, we ended up in the Oban Chocolate Company where we had tea/coffee and cake instead - every cloud has a silver lining! Every hot drink drink is served with a piece of the handmade chocolate, but there are plenty of very generous cakes and bakes to choose from. I had a really lovely pot of Earl Grey Blue Flower Suki Tea, which I liked so much I bought a packet to take home! I also had a rather massive Bakewell slice which was almost a meal in itself. My partner had a coffee and a rather crumbly currant slice - we could've done with forks to eat our slices with, but that's a fairly minor quibble. For the two of us, the cost was about £7.50.

www.oban-chocolate.co.uk

www.suki-tea.com

Visited 30 September 2008

Coast, Oban

2008-10-07T15:31:00.002+01:00

The obvious choice for an evening meal in Oban is Eeusk, but we spotted an advert for Coast purely by chance and decided to go there. We phoned ahead to book a table but when we arrived it was obvious we needn't have! But we were really pleased with our lovely meal in Coast, and I'm glad we tried it. The Light Bites menu is exceptionally good value (three courses for £15, order before 6.30pm), but we chose from the main menu. Bread and butter was brought to the table in advance of our starters. I had a "small" portion (actually it was a generous bowlful) of Loch Etive Mussels in shallots, white wine and cream, which were fantastic. My partner had the scallops, three lovely big ones at that. For my main I went for cod fillet on a potato and cheddar cheese cake, which was served with vegetables and a fresh tomato salsa - it was delicious. My partner's monkfish tail with duck confit was also very tasty. Puddings were a roasted plum tart served warm with cinnamon ice cream, and a selection of sorbets. It was all delicious, and served by friendly waitresses in a quiet and modern restaurant. The bill came to just under £70 in total. Highly recommended!

www.coastoban.com

Visited 29 September 2008.

The Tavern, Fort William

2008-10-07T15:26:00.003+01:00

Our lunchtime stop in Fort William wasn't as successful as the previous day's in Aviemore. However, it was bucketing with rain so we didn't spend too long looking for somewhere to eat. We went into The Tavern largely because it looked warm and dry, and came out remarking on it's warmth and dryness - in other words, it was fine, but not great. We both had soup (carrot and coriander, the only option) and tea, which came to £10.40. The sandwich/panini options were pretty limited, so it may be that The Tavern is a better dinner option.

Visited 29 September 2008.

Clachaig Inn, Glencoe

2008-10-07T15:20:00.003+01:00

This is very much a walkers' hotel, and the food in the bar restaurant reflected that - yes, the portions were huge! I had vegetarian haggis, neeps and tatties with onion gravy, which was absolutely delicious - in fact, I think it's the nicest veggie meal I've had in a restaraunt. Sadly, I couldn't finish it. Perhaps if I'd been on an all-day walk I might've done it more justice. My partner had the venison burger, which came with chips and salad, and was of similar gigantic proportions. He particularly enjoyed the little pastry dish of redcurrant jelly it came with. There was a kids menu and the veggie options were very good. Just make sure you bring a big appetite to the Clachaig!

www.clachaig.com/p/v/the-food/

Visited 28 September 2008.

Coffee Corner, Aviemore

2008-10-07T15:15:00.002+01:00

This little coffee shop is beside Waterstones (I'm taking a risk in guessing there is only one Waterstone's in Aviemore) and was perfect for our lunchtime stop. It's a very cosy place with a fantastic range of soups - there were five on offer when we visited! There's also a board which shows what type of stock is in each soup, very handy for vegetarians. Two teas and two bowls of soup - one pea and ham, and one mushroom, which was delicious - cost £9.90. I was impressed by the "cake cabinet", which is, as you may have guessed, an actual dresser-type cabinet stocked with a lovely range of cakes. I didn't sample any but they all looked lovely. Highly recommended!

Visited 29 September 2008.

Rendezvous@Nargile, Aberdeen

2008-10-07T15:03:00.003+01:00

Five of us in this party, we ended up with a table at 6pm which we had to vacate by 8pm - oh, and it was right besdie the door too. But we can deal with this! The decision to dine here came out of the blue, and it was an interesting meal. They have a very reasonable early evening menu but four of us particularly wanted to try the meze starters which weren't included, so we ordered from the main menu. The meze were great, really tasty and plenty of them too. Warmed pitta bread was served on the side. By the time we'd finnished the meze, I had a sneaking suspicion I should've ordered a second starter as a main course, as they were quite rich and filling. My main was a vegetarian dish of layered vegetables in a tomato sauce, with feta cheese on top. It was good but drenched in oil, and was really far too rich and oily for me to eat even a third of. Around the table, there were similar stories as everyone struggled to finish their very rich main courses. We wisely passed on pudding. I'm fuzzy about the final bill but I know that we got one bottle of red wine free, as the waitress had poured the whole bottle out in one go - oops. In short, the meze were great but the mains were just too rich. If I went back I would have meze as a main - that way I might manage pudding too!

http://www.rendezvousatnargile.co.uk/

Visited 27 September 2008.

Mossat Tea Room, Mossat, by Kildrummy

2008-09-20T21:59:00.004+01:00

En route to Kildrummy Castle we stopped off at the Mossat Burn Garden Centre to visit the tearoom. It's a nice place, and there were four other parties in already, so it's obviously a popular choice. I had a cream tea with a nice, warm, plain scone, whilst my partner had the carrot cake. Tea was served in a large teapot, which is always a bonus! A gentleman at another table was heard to declare the pea and ham soup as "the best in the north east", but I can't vouch for that. Other menu options include a variety of soups, sandwiches, and omelettes, and today's special was mince and tatties. Our bill came to £6.15, very good value. Well worth a visit, as is the antique shop next door, which contains more furniture, knick-knacks and missing persons (potentially) than the owner can possibly keep track of.....

www.mossatburn.co.uk/

Visited 20 September 2008

Cafe 52, Aberdeen

2008-09-19T13:59:00.000+01:00

Stop press! I have found the ultimate lunch option in Aberdeen – Cafe 52’s fantastic Credit Munch lunch menu. I’ve just returned from a work lunch out here, and cannot fault it. Best of all, all the lunch dishes are just £5, ridiculously good value for the quality of food served (and the portions aren’t tiny, as you’d be forgiven for expecting, given the price). I had the soup and sandwich combo and went for the delicious Cullen Skink with a brie and olive tapenade sandwich, which came served with a little pot of lovely couscous. My colleagues’ orders included carrot, coconut and cinnamon soup, baked ham and apple chutney sandwiches, chargilled courgette with houmous and mixed bean salad, and bratwurst hotdogs, served on lovely slate platters. It was all pronounced delicious, presentation and service was great, and the price unbeatable. Cafe 52 has really come up trumps with this brilliant menu!

www.cafe52.net

Visited Friday 19 September 2008

Fyvie Castle tearoom

2008-09-16T12:51:00.004+01:00

The lunch we had here on Sunday was excellent. We intended to just go for a cream tea, but by the time we arrived we decided to order sandwiches too. I had a very generously filled smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich on brown bread, while my partner had roast pork and spiced chutney. They came with side salad, and, yes, you guessed it - crisps. The sandwiches were so big I couldn't finish mine and have room for a cream tea, but my partner gallantly stepped in to help me. Cream teas consisted of a pot of tea (and an extra pot of hot water, which I requested), a fruit scone, jam and a little dish of cream. It was lovely. Two sandwiches and two cream teas came to about £16. Highly recommended, and everything you spend in the tearoom goes towards the National Trust for Scotland, ultimately supporting the upkeep of these beautiful properties. Sadly the properties are winding down for the winter now, so do check opening times before you head off.

http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/51/

Visited Sunday 14 September 2008

Poldino’s, Aberdeen

2008-09-16T10:37:00.000+01:00

I visited Poldino’s in a party of nine, and we chose to order from the early evening menu, which was good value at £11.50 for two courses. Being a party of women, we decided to go for mains and puddings. I ordered the vegetarian Pizza Paesana, a thin-crust pizza with the usual tomato, cheese, mushroom, pepper and red onion topping. It was good, but not great, but pizza is pizza really, so there’s nothing wrong with that! Round the table, the most popular choices were Pizza Quattro Stagioni and Lasagne Casalinga. I narrowed the pudding choice down to fresh fruit salad or tiramisu, went for fruit salad, and was glad I saw the tiramisu – it was massive and looked a bit stodgy, with too much cream for my liking. The house red wine was apparently very good for the price. In the end we were £16 each, which I think is very reasonable. It was a nice meal, and I would go back, but probably wouldn’t order pizza again.

www.poldinos.co.uk

Visited Friday 12 September 2008