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