Restaurant Spy - Scotland

Cafe Roza, 100 Holburn Street, Aberdeen AB10 6BY

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:39:31 +0000

Address:
100 Holburn Street, Aberdeen AB10 6BY

Review:

The blokes are work are keen for a feed for Friday lunches and this place does not disappoint them. They have been raving about it for a while so today I went along to put the nosebag on. Not many other places can you get a homestyle breakfast any time of the day for £4, with a full plate the size of a small island.

Captain Old Timer and his sidekick The Bunnyman certainly polished it all off. I enjoyed my macaroni cheese, but my chips weren't tasty enough to entice me to overeat. Great milkshakes too! Captain Old Timer is a bit of a regular, on top of the breakfast, he also recommends the burgers and sausage butties. The cake selection was impressive, so we might need a re-visit for coffee and cake.

Ferryhill House Hotel, 169 Bon Accord Street, Aberdeen AB11 6UA

Fri, 30 May 2008 16:36:54 +0000

Address:
169 Bon Accord Street, Aberdeen AB11 6UA

Review:

What better way to spend a sunny Bank Holiday afternoon than sitting outside at the Ferryhill House Hotel? As we are new in town, a bloke from work, his fiancee and four month old boy collected us from our flat and took us to one of their favourite haunts for lunch and beers. Considering it was a sunny Bank Holiday, we were lucky to get a table outside with the other punters. We all ordered pub favourites – beef burger, fish and chips, baked potato, causer salad – and no one was disappointed. Great pub grub, beautiful setting, appropriately relaxed service, plus the added bonus of amazingly appointed bathrooms! Always a plus in my book, when the ladies room actually bothers to provide hand cream and proper towels to dry one’s hands on – superb!

Blue Moon 1, 11 Holburn Street, Aberdeen AB10 6BS

Fri, 30 May 2008 16:34:29 +0000

Address:
11 Holburn Street, Aberdeen AB10 6BS

Review:

Wandering around the streets of our new home city of Aberdeen on a Saturday night, Merlin and I were looking for somewhere to eat. We checked out quite a few restaurants and menus before deciding to have a curry at the Blue Moon on Holburn Street. Merlin had heard positive things about it from the work crew so we thought we’d give it a go. Firstly the service was top-notch! All wait staff were attentive but not in-your-face. The menu is huge, covering both traditional favourites and house specials. We decided on a chilli chicken curry, even though it had chilli in the title, it was classed as a medium so we ordered it. Whoa Nelly! That thing was hot! But the flavours of coriander and other spices were amazing. One of the tastiest curries we’ve ever had. It was so hot however, I had to order the raita, which I originally decided against because of the price (£2.75 for a raita – you have to be kidding!), but I ordered it anyway as my mouth was on fire. When it arrived I could understand the price, as it was big enough for a family of five! Considering Merlin is dairy-free, I now had a massive bowl of yoghurt to get through as well as the amazing curry, saag aloo and the naan bread the size of a small planet.

The Three Chimneys, Colbost, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye IV55 8ZT

Fri, 30 May 2008 12:23:08 +0000

Address:
Colbost, Dunvegan, Isle of Skye IV55 8ZT

Review:

We had heard bookings are required months in advance, so when I called on a Monday for a Friday booking I was pleasantly surprised to get in for lunch. When we arrived we were offered to sit in the bar or go straight to the table. Nice to be offered a choice! On offer at lunchtime is 3 courses for £28 or 2 for £23, we chose the 2 courses, I usually have main and dessert and Merlin gets starter and main. The Three Chimneys is well known for seafood and game dishes, so I had venison followed by a citrus parfait and Merlin went with the seafood bisque followed by sole and scallops. The food was amazing, the wine list extensive and the service good, but not as proficient as you'd expect from such an acclaimed restaurant, although bread supplies were replenished frequently. The restaurant itself is quite tiny, two rooms with only a handful of tables in each. We were seated in the smaller of the two rooms and it felt like we were all in the same dining room, we ended up in conversation with the other tables, and everyone said goodbye to each other as they left, very cosy!

Gourmet Kama, 20, Bridge Street, Aberdeen , AB11 6JJ

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 11:03:09 +0000

Address:
20, Bridge Street, Aberdeen , AB11 6JJ

Review:

Me and my friend going around Aberdeen all day were looking for some Indian food where we came across a guy who recommended us to Gourmet Kama and I should say we do not regret going there. Although the decor is not fantastic the food we received was a real authentic taste, no english version of Indian or bangladeshi. Also we were informed that if we did not like it we can return the food back. The boys knew what they were serving. We were suggested a Manchurian with crispy asparagus in it along with Salmon pakora as a starter which was a fantastic option. For main couse we had the Spinachy saagwala chicken along with some recommended stuffed nan bread with keema and grape fruit rice (to my astonishment it was really good). After the meal we were served a 3 in one liquor coffee as their special and a mango kulfi which they said was home made. We enjoyed the whole evening and would recommend this place for a good Indian food experience. good value for money. spywk

Unicorn Inn, Excise Street, Kincardine, Scotland

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:44:56 +0000

Address:
Excise Street, Kincardine

Review:

We ate on a Wednesday evening under a newspaper promotion: 2 courses plus a glass of wine for £10 each.

What should have been an opportunity for the restaurant to showcase their wares turned out to be an exercise in short-sighted penny-pinching. Most of the food was good, although the pate seemed to be plastic stuff from a supermarket, while the sea bass was fantastic. These two cancelled each other out, then.

Bonaventure, Aird Uig, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9JA

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:02:48 +0000

Address:
Aird Uig, Isle of Lewis, HS2 9JA

Review:

My wife and I dined at this restaurant on 23 August 2007. I had been induced to seek it out by the rave reviews on the home page of the restaurant's website and in local tourist brochures. We looked it over on 22 August and we were (or at least I was) enchanted by its position. Anticipating an excellent meal we arrived ravenous having spent the day motoring around the island.

The intrusive piped music that we heard on arrival should have warned us; but it was a wet day and the open fire seemed very welcoming. A table by the window with a view over the sea took our minds off the background noise and we ordered our wine.

Contrast, Glen Moriston Town House, Ness Bank, Inverness IV2 4SF

Sun, 08 Apr 2007 00:14:36 +0000

Address:
Glen Moriston Town House, Ness Bank, IInverness, V2 4SF

Review:

You probably saw this on Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares Revisited. The one where he came back to Inverness, offered a few old ladies a gizzard sandwich and then remarked that the new brasserie seemed to be doing very well. Having been to Abstract (the main restaurant) on three occasions now I'll admit I'm a fan. The food isn't flawless and the chef seems to find desserts in particular difficult, but it's always been interesting, sometimes challenging and generally I've left with a smile on my face. Tonight, feeling a little less flash, I decided to try the cheaper brasserie option, and left a little bemused, somewhat sad and wishing I'd saved money for the real deal.

Cinnamon, 476 Union Street, Aberdeen AB10 1TS

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 10:40:43 +0000

Address:
476 Union Street, Aberdeen AB10 1TS

Review:

I would guess that the success of Cinnamon rests on the back of clever marketing and a massive advertising budget. It is a restaurant of style rather than substance. It is a modern curry house with trendy decor.

On the Wednesday night that we visited, it was also packed to the gunnels (thus we were unlucky enough to be shown to an awful table under a staircase, despite having booked in advance). The menu appears stylish (some attempt at fusing Scottish produce with Indian spices), but at Cinnamon all is not as it seems... We ordered haddock kebabs for starters. Although the fish was beautifully marianated & cooked to perfection, it was accompanied by what tasted suspiciously like Blue Dragon sweet chilli sauce! We then had to wait forty five minutes for our main course to arrive. My main course was a curry of tiger prawns in a fennel and onion sauce. Despite the flash description, this did not tast any better than a bog standard Madras - albiet a very greasy one at that. The prawns were cut into little pieces - whether this was an attempt to make them go further or not, I don't know, but I would certainly have preferred them to be presented whole, as is the norm (especially when the dish cost £14.95, without the rice!). My partner had a lamb curry which was also disappointing. For dessert, we ordered Kulfi. This was not the nice, creamy, homemade Kulfi, such as is served in Karma (Aberdeen), but a horrid, factory made, lurid green version.

The Apartment, 7-13 Barclay Place, Edinburgh

Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:48:26 +0000

Address:
7-13 Barclay Place, Edinburgh

Review:

After booking a table for a pre-theatre meal at 6pm, we turned up to find our table had been given to another party and we were stuck downstairs and forgotten about. It took half an hour for our order to be taken and then no food arrived, despite me going upstairs to complain 3 times. At 7.05pm the waiter then turned up with some food - which turned out to be the wrong order and he took it away again! We then left, complaining to the manager on the way out and did not receive one word of apology. Truly appalling service - I can't even comment on the quality of the food as we didn't get any.

Roo's Leap, 2 Traill Drive Montrose Angus DD10 8SW

Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:29:04 +0000

Address:
2 Traill Drive Montrose Angus DD10 8SW

Review:

Have been going to Roo's now for many years and have yet still to find a fault with anything. The menu is an international menu consisting of a bit of everything from quality steaks to chicken satay or the most tender rack of ribs i have ever had.