The Beautiful Mountain, Belmont Street, Aberdeen

A short review of this popular sandwich shop in the centre of Aberdeen.
I was looking for something a little different to the prepacked sarnies that abound in shops throughout the centre of town and having tried this previously I knew exactly where to head. The Beautiful Mountain has a takeaway section downstairs which I am reviewing, and also a seated section upstairs which I have not yet frequented.
I found a reassuring mark of quality as I saw baskets of freshly baked bread being brought into the shop and knew I'd come to the right place for a quality sandwich. You get a choice of white or brown baguettes, rolls, sliced bread and bagels. I went for the white baguette with a tandoori chicken topping. I was offered a yoghurt and mint dressing which was a nice touch and goes perfectly with tandoori chicken (which also looked as though it had been properly cooked rather than the ghastly "chicken" pieces you get in some places). I was also offered a choice of butter or mayo but declined on this instance not wanting to give the waistline any further case for expansion. You also get a choice of salad (rocket salad, cucumber, red onion and the like) - and I particularly like the fact that the rocket salad is crisp and fresh looking with a variety of decent salad leaves. One other nice touch is the offer of salt and pepper, something I've not been offered at another sandwich shop in my memory.

I accompanied the baguette with sea salt and cider vinegar Tyrells crisps (80p), a bottle of Fentiman's Curiosity Cola (£1.20) and a slice of chocolate tiffin (£1.15 I think). The baguette cost £3.05 - not bad for this town but I find across the board sandwich prices have crept up to a pretty high level perhaps with the exception of McLeish's (perhaps a contributing factor towards their unfortunate demise).

But altogether I find this a good place to go for a quick lunchtime snack. You don't have to wait around long and everything is fresh and vibrant. I feel a little bit of a rant coming on (only a small one though). I wish that this type of shop could be the norm when it comes to lunchtime sandwiches and salads/snacks. Look down union street and you're greeted with a plethora of unhealthy chain takeaways - Maccy D's, KFC, Burger King, Subway, the list is pretty long. Now if these were all replaced with places of the quality of The Beautiful Mountain this country may be a healthier place and we certainly wouldn't be so accepting of the mediocrity served up by the aforementioned big chains. Just one of my mental ramblings. Rant over.

Service: Good, friendly and helpful staff
Food: Excellent quality, fresh
Price: A little high like most places of its ilk (although I will mention I was given a loyalty card for 10% off until the end of June so thats a plus point
Overall: 8.5/10