Manzil

On an aqueous Friday evening me, my monogamist, her ex-homeboy kinsperson and his consort in marriage scheduled a peregrination to Manzil - an Indian eatery on the Kings Street. The weather holocaust could not 'dampen' one half of the syndicate's spirits since post currith we had contracted seats to witness the next chapter of the apocryphal future historical factoid star trek. I and the consort quavered in fear of the perceived cinematograph debacle.

After being heralded into the first class lounge (a la carte - turn right at the ingress) which was brimming with 2 other bipeds I vexated that we may have blundered into one of the 95% of oriental restaurants in Aberdeen that had fizzled the councils cockroach latency criterion. Mercifully it seems that the only reason this congenial establishment was not replete with the voracious masses was because the gummous condensation on the windows made it look like a brothel.

A congenial attendant took our outdoor robes and vowed to return them at the end of the meal as well as furnishing us with the leatherbound book of pubulum for consumption. I was ecstatic when said carhop also beseeched us for our drinks order pronto - the ice cold pint of Cobra was ambrosial. The milieu of the restaurant is choice and made me confident that this was an upper-crust establishment and that I wouldn't be suffering the trots later in the evening.

The group ordered the typical poppadoms and dips to stimulate our gustatory cells. These were amiable, but any Indian hash slinger who couldn't make this dish should have his hands chopped off and all manner of spices rubbed into the wounds. I then proceeded to order a post-starter starter all for myself. This was the prawn stuffed poori. An meritorious choice by me. The dish could have passed as a main dish such was its voluminosity. The Chapati was wonderfully light and the prawns & sauce were also premium. I can't delineate any more minutia since this all took place 14 moons ago and I'm blessed with a very enthralling life and cursed with a short memory.

On to the main course. After skimming the novel that is the main dish section of the carte du jour I plumped for the Chicken Tikka Tandoori. This too was a great choice. Ample chicken was served on a sizzling adumbral dish with onions, a substantial side of sauce and pilau rice. I poured the whole lot into my sorry stomach which by this time was ready to cannonade. I decided to cease eating, I didn't think the manager would appreciate my internal organs and sanguine fluid festooning the walls. The chicken was nice and supple, the sauce very tasty.

And what of your fellow diners I hear you cry? Truth be promulgated, I didn't hark to them as I was too occupied in the art of overeating. What I can impart is that they too much relished this feast. Unfortunately the ambience of a destitute restaurant could not be further enjoyed as we had to skedaddle to catch the inception of Trekkie's delight, so we left without paying...

...

...just ribbing. Our host bestowed us with a bill for £98 which covered a poppadom starter pack, 2 starters, 4 mains, a fat dough of naan, 3 large white wines and 4 Cobras. I was pleasantly surprised at the price and my bodies pleasantry chemical imbalance was further exaulted when my spouse organized 10 percentage points depreciation due to her status as a novice disciple of beauty. Well done Manzil, i'll be backs.

Table for four at Rustico, Union Row Aberdeen

The in-laws were up, and in a rare alignment of their visiting, it being their anniversary and my wallet feeling flush we decided to treat them to dinner. Rusticos is a long established Italian restaurant whose menu is centred on the cuisine of the Southern regions of Italy.

We’ve been to Rusticos twice before so we had an idea what to expect. Although the wife didn’t expect my ‘knocking a glass of water into her lap’ trick last time. Something I was at pains to avoid during this visit.

We booked an early meal. We arrived slightly early but were greeted warmly and they showed us to our table straight away. We ordered drinks, I went with my usual Peroni which is served in a Peroni glass. I love drinking Peroni out this glass and is one of the reasons I order it when I’m at Rusticos. The shape of it and the fact it holds precisely one bottle is part of the appeal. I want a set of these at home. Now that we’ve established that I have a worrying fetish for Peroni glasses we can turn our attention to the food.

To open I went with the Bruschetta. The bread was crisp, the tomato fresh, and it was infused with garlic with a very generous helping of olive oil. A very tasty opening gambit to the meal, that didn’t last long on my plate. Our plates were whisked away and no less than 15 seconds later main courses were arriving, “a bit much” I thought. Thankfully they were meant for another table, but it took them a moment to get their act together. No harm done, at least it brought a moment of comedy to proceedings.

For the main course I selected the ‘Filletto Pizzaiola’. This was three pieces of fillet steak with roasted vegetables, olives and about three super tankers worth of olive oil. The steak was lovely and overall the meal was pleasant enough. However at £19:99 I’m looking for more than pleasant, I want to be blown away, speechless, in awe. It also seemed familiar, you see on my previous visit I went for the veal and well, it was essentially the same meal bar the choice of meat. My wife went for the steak whilst the in-laws went for the ‘Linguini Marinara’ and the ‘Penne Gamberoni’, from whom I heard no complaints.

For dessert we selected the ‘Sweet Of The Day’ an appealing combination of Chocolate truffle and vanilla ice cream with a shot of brandy over the top. It was lovely but the brandy was too much. Had they added just a dash of brandy it would’ve been better balanced and more enjoyable.

I finished with the obligatory double espresso and the bill that came to a shade over £100.

Overall Rustico’s provides an enjoyable dining experience, however on the evidence of my latest visit they’re falling short of their capabilities. The service was friendly enough, but I felt a little rushed by them. The Main Meals section of the menu is a bit too pricey and could do with a little more variety and a lot less oil. The next time I visit I will endeavour to try out some of their pasta, partly to see how good it is but mostly for the sake of my wallet!


6/10 – Good food and atmosphere, but they are capable of higher standards. Must try harder.

Restaurant 21, Market Street, Aberdeen

We're off to New York in a few days and today was my last day of work so I thought I'd celebrate with the wife and go out somewhere new for lunch. I've been hearing good things about a new restaurant on Market Street called Restaurant 21 - don't let the location put you off because its a surprisingly modern and ambitious place for Aberdeen. It has a welcoming exterior and one entering you are greeted by a modern looking bar and a friendly host. The only thing I will say about the appearance is it is very white... and I mean white! White walls, off-white banquettes, light coloured floors. All very tasteful but it just feels a little bit unfinished - it could really do with a bit of a colour injection to set it off. Despite this it still makes quite a visual impact - lose the old-fashioned golf paintings on the walls though.

So on to the food. We skipped on starters so for a main course I went for the ribeye steak (£12.95). I was also offered a choice of sauces that weren't shown on the menu (peppercorn, diane and blue cheese) but declined as I prefer my steak au naturale or with a garlic butter. It was accompanied by handcut chips, slow roast tomato, baked field mushrooms with a kind of mustard drizzle over them plus some watercress. Also included was what was described as a shallot tarte tatin - a nice idea but the pastry was undercooked and there wasn't really a caramelised top as I'd perhaps expect for something described as a tarte tatin. It was very neatly presented and the steak was, despite being fairly thin (which probably explains the reasonable price), cooked rare and to my taste (something that many of the establishments you visit round here seem unable to do!) We also got a fennel and mascarpone coleslaw side (£2.50) and this was excellent. I'm not the biggest fan of coleslaw especially not when its the mass-produced muck that is usually trotted out. But this was very tasty and more-ish and I could've eaten another helping. The slow roast tomato was very tasty and along with the mushrooms and watercress accompanied the steak very well. The only thing I wasn't too enamoured by were the chips - they were a bit too thick cut which meant they were a little dry (if I wasn't such a 'gutsy bam' as my wife calls me I probably would've left them), nice idea though.

My wife didn't fare so well as I did however. She ordered the tandoori chicken salad with mint and red onion (can't recall the price). She unfortunately found the salad quite bland and the chicken was very dry, it did have quite a nice spicy coating however. It was a bit of a disappointment though.

For dessert I went for a peanut butter and banana mousee, with a crunchy peanut wafer and caramelised banana and a chocolate drizzle. This was very tasty and it all married up to create a very satisfying whole. The only thing I will say about it is to watch the texture of the mousse - it still has some of the 'stringy bits' of the banana throughout which doesn't really make for a satisfying texture. My wife's dessert was also quite impressive. It consisted of an orange, rosemary and poppy seed sponge with a burnt orange custard. The custard was "amazing, beautiful" according to my wife and I'd have to agree, she said she could've drank a glassful of it (and I'm the gutsy bam!). The sponge was tasty and the flavours were just right bit it could do with being made a bit lighter, it is quite stodgy sponge. If it was a little lighter then this would be a pretty perfect dessert.

A welcome addition to the Aberdeen restaurant scene all in all I think. They've got some great ideas - all it needs is a little more care and precision but I think they're on the right track. If a few of my minor gripes were ironed out then I would probably recommend it highly as they have a quite an exciting and adventurous menu. Perhaps once they become more firmly established this will be the case but I think restaurants like this can only be a good thing for Aberdeen if they manage to make others at least attempt to up their game.

Service: Friendly and attentive although we were never shown the specials menu for some reason

Ambience/Atmosphere: OK if you've never been through the probable trauma of being thrown into a psychiatric hospital's padded white room I suppose - could do with some colour just to cosy it a bit and make it a little less clinical looking. Was pretty busy though so thats a good sign.

Food: Great ideas, let down a little in execution - most of it is spot on but its the small touches that really need to be brushed up on.

Price: The overall cost was £40, very reasonable I feel

Overall: 7.5/10

Zara Indian, Dyce (Takeaway)

After a hard day at work sometimes you just can't be bothered cooking up a gastronomic experience. This is when the humble takeaway becomes a tempting proposition. Now you may call me a hypocrite following my diatribe against the fast food chains the other day but I'll admit I'm still partial to a KFC on occasion. But on this occasion a (telephonically ordered) visit to the Zara Indian restaurant and takeaway in Dyce was what was called for. I'd heard rumours that it had been taken over by new management recently so I wanted to see what the standard was like.

First of all we got some free poppadoms along with the obligatory limp salad (why these takeaways all put this in I'll never know!), a yoghurty fruity sauce and spicy onions. The fruity sauce is tasty but I can't quite work out what it tastes of! The spicy onions could've done with being a bit spicier with perhaps more of a sauce as they were quite dry. They are pretty fresh though so thats a plus point. 

We started with Chicken Pakoras (£3.95). Now the pakoras have always been a little bit disappointing from here. They were improved a bit this time from previous occasions, a bit crispier but still quite anaemic looking and pretty low on any seasoning. They also don't come with a chilli sauce which I think is essential for full enjoyment of pakoras - as I said earlier the fruity sauce is nice but something with a chilli kick really set a pakora off. (As an aside, the best chicken pakoras in Aberdeen in my opinion come from the Blue Elephant on George Street. I've never had any to surpass the tastiness of these - and they do a pretty good chilli sauce as well!) Anyway, we also got the Chicken Tikka starter (£3.75) which was better. Nice tender moist chicken with a tasty marinade and fried onions - no complaints on that count.

On to the main course. I always like to try different curries and foods in general if I get the chance so we went for one we've not had before, the Chicken Makhani (£9.95). This is described as chicken barbecued in tandoori, tossed in butter with fresh cream and serviced with exotic sauce. This was very tasty, the chicken was well cooked so as to still be moist and tender. The sauce was nice and, well... exotic. Fruity, perhaps some mango in there somewhere. It was somewhere close to a Korma but not as bland. The only gripe I have is it could maybe do with a bit of some kind of vegetable because it really is just chicken and sauce - but then what do I know, I'm not an expert on all things Indian.

We also got the Saag Aloo (£3.50) side dish, a must in my opinion for an enjoyable curry - and this was among some of the better ones I've tasted. A good amount of spinach and nice soft potatoes. The flavouring was pretty good with a nice kick of spice that can be lacking from some more insipid efforts I've tasted. Aside from that we got a Peshwari Naan (£2.75). This is OK but its more Naan than Peshwari, there is some coconut and fruit goodness inside but not enough to really set it that far apart from a plain naan.

So all in all it was a pretty good experience. I've found this to be a pretty good place to get an Indian meal delivered. I do find the price pretty steep - I'm probably beginning to sound like a bit of a tightwad but just under a tenner for a takeaway curry which is nothing more than chicken and sauce seems a little over the top to me! I would recommend it to anyone in the Dyce area if they've got deep pockets however.

Service: Arrived within the time taken and friendly delivery driver

Food: Good Indian grub - need to up their game in some areas though to justify the price, thinking especially of the chicken pakoras.

Price: As I said above its pretty steep - a bit too steep I think which is why I don't go there more often

Overall: 7/10

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

Moggers view of the 4 Mile Inn, Bucksburn, Aberdeen

The in-laws were up for a visit and were in the mood for an afternoon on the tiles. I could think of no better place to expedite such an
afternoon than the 4 Mile Inn in Bucksburn - mainly as its cheap and close by. After hastily contacting my brother and his wife for moral support we made our way.

On arrival we were struck by the remarkable ambience. I particularly enjoyed the bored looking couple who have probably been dining there every sunday afternoon for the last 34 and a half years staring across at our table whenever I looked up. On to the menu, I fancied some nachos (as I see the Evening Express raving about them in every establishment they visit in their reviews) but we decided to skip on starters this time.

Myself and my wife ordered the fried haddock with chips - hold the peas and add onion rings on my order. The fish
was a whopper and its ends cascaded over the plate. Light crispy batter and tasty chips and they actually remembered not to put peas on my plate (this is a pet hate of mine - you ask for something not to be on the plate in a lot of places and invariably ends up being there when the meal comes). My only gripes were that the onion rings could have been crispier and the batter became soggy towards the middle of the fish (probably through sheer weight of the fish. My father-"outlaw" (guffaw) ordered the Steak pie with chips. It was topped with a flaky puff pastry but I heard cries of "Spot The Meat" - a little game that can be played in all too many bar/restaurants. However, he stated his enjoyment of the dish on completion so it can't have been all that bad. The other 3 on the table ordered the red thai and tikka masala curries - avec mini poppadoms, mango chutney and slices of naan bread. "A lot of chicken" stated my sister in law. My greedy brother mopped up the remainder of his curry with my, by now soggy, onion rings. I have had the chicken tikka masala in this place on a previous occasion and my abiding memory was yes, there was a lot of chicken but they were all suspiciously small pieces and really weren't all that "chickeny". I would like to see a lot of these type of places making the move over to free range chicken which is in most cases much more succulent and tasty. I realise this would add a couple of quid to the cost of the dish but I think its a price worth paying. Rant over.

My brother and his wife then rudely left prior to the end of the meal whereas I ordered the raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake - it was a tasty enough slice of cheesecake but could've done with being a little lighter and with a bit more raspberry flavour, perhaps a raspberry coulis to balance out the sweetness of the white chocolate. My father in law ordered the sticky toffee pudding - his clean plate at the end signalled to all his enjoyment of said pud.

All in all the bill came to just under £60 - for a tenner a head you can't really go wrong. Admittedly you don't expect much with your typical chain pub food but this filled an empty hole at a reasonable price.

Service: Very good, attentive and friendly
Food: Pretty standard chain pub fare but decent considering the price
Price: Very good, cheap and cheerful
Ambience/Atmosphere: OK but I'd probably not enter the staring competition next time
Overall: 6.5/10

Meldrum Arms – The Lower Restaurant – Oldmeldrum Aberdeenshire

It was a Friday, my wife and I had some friends staying with us for the weekend. Since neither of us could be bothered cooking for four we decided to go out for a meal. The Meldrum Arms had been recommended to us by a local, who claimed the food was good and the price reasonable. They should probably go in to hiding.

We arrived and waited; nobody was around. Finally a member of staff spotted us and shouted from the end of the restaurant inquiring as to whether we had a booking. My wife had gone earlier in the day to book a table. We need not have bothered as it became evident upon our arrival that tables are rarely in short supply in this restaurant. Whether that is due to the vast number of tables, or to other issues as yet undisclosed, I leave to the discretion of you the reader.

We were shown to our table next to a bay window that had a pleasant aspect to the road outside. Well it was pleasant in comparison to the décor inside the establishment. We took a look at our menus and wondered if we were in the right place. The décor said ‘pub grub’ the menu, without a sense of irony ‘a la carte’.

We placed our order. I went for the cream of vegetable soup initially. This started off very nicely until I started finding lumps of vegetable towards the bottom of the bowl. Had I been expecting a chunky vegetable soup this might have been acceptable. I was not, and it was not. The after taste of the soup lingered throughout my whole meal. This of course detracted from the rest of the meal. So they can’t do soup. Fair enough, I can’t either but then I’m not running a restaurant.

I should add at this point out that I had an urge to visit the little boys room, not something normally mentioned in a food review. However it does form part of the experience of eating out. The tiles are a lovely shade of brown; reminiscent of those mornings after a curry you’d rather forget. It was a reminder why we should be glad we’re now two decades removed from the 80’s. There was also a nice hole in the wall to investigate should you be so inclined. At least it was clean.

Anyway.

We ordered a nice bottle of red but were somewhat surprised when it arrived having already been opened. This should have been opened at our table. When serving wine in excess of £15 per bottle this strikes me as a sign that the restaurant may have ideas above its station.

On to the main course, we each went for the Char Grilled 8oz Scotch Fillet Steak accompanied with Sauté Mushrooms, Battered Onion Rings & Oven Roasted Vine Tomatoes that at £20.95 each were eye wateringly expensive. I’ve paid less in far more impressive establishments. However, I love my steak and am willing to pay extra for a good one. The steak itself was cooked to perfection. My request for a medium steak had been granted and I savoured the juicy flesh. The vine tomatoes weren’t quite to my liking. They looked quite unappealing and didn’t taste much better.

The menu states “All Dishes where appropriate are served with Fresh vegetables, Baby Boiled Potatoes or Hand Cut Rooster Chips”. What it doesn’t state is that the whole table has to share one bowl of chips. This is unacceptable when paying £21 for a meal.

When one is dining in an establishment for the first time you are very reliant on the knowledge of the waiting staff to guide you through the menu. When we inquired as to whether the Pepper Sauce Boat would be enough to share, we were quickly informed that it was “one per person”. We gave each other quizzical looks because at £3.50 per serving it seemed a little steep. We knew we’d been had the minute they arrived. When they said ‘Sauce Boats’ I wasn’t expecting three Titanics to be wedged on to our table. One would’ve been more than enough between us.

We ordered a second bottle of wine. Had they just slipped up last time? Evidently not, it arrived open once more.

For dessert I decided to go with the ‘Selection of Dairy Ice Creams’. I selected Chocolate. Or rather I would’ve until I discovered that the selection consisted of vanilla, vanilla or vanilla. They should try stocking up, it’s not as if they were really busy and they’d run out due to demand. I skipped dessert in the end but my companions went with the ‘Home made Sticky Toffee Pudding Coated with Toffee Sauce’. This went down a treat; conversation hit a brick wall as they devoured toffee heaven.

So at least the meal ended on a positive note. Err no.

When eating out with friends we usually just split the bill. I have never had a problem with this arrangement in my whole life. Until now that is. When it came time to settle up we were informed that it was not possible to split the bill, and that we had to pay with one card as it is ‘company policy’. It was suggested we could pay cash, but we didn’t have the £140 on us. The response to that was, “Well there’s a bank round the corner.” Yes you read that right. We should’ve taken him up on the offer and just not come back.

We asked to see the manager. The waiter stormed off in a huff. We waited and waited until eventually he returned and would you believe it all of a sudden we could pay with two cards.

So to summarise, the food is reasonable enough but there are real issues surrounding the prices and the quality of the serving staff. They really need to reassess what they are trying to achieve. If it’s exclusive dining then they need to refurbish the restaurant and hire trained staff that know how to treat customers. But in my humble opinion they should stop kidding themselves and stick to good quality pub grub at a reasonable price. That is something they could be more than capable of achieving.

Overall
3/10 (It would’ve been 1/10 but the steak and the toffee pudding earns them two marks).