Northern Bar: George Street, Aberdeen

WITH the doom and gloom of clouds of volcanic ash hanging over Scotland and snow in April, I jumped at the chance to shake off the blues at the pub.

The Northern Bar seems huge, inside but it is tucked away unobtrusively in George Street.

It does a great line in good straightforward grub and a decent selection of beers from around the world.

So, Cruzcampo in hand, I selected a lasagne (£6.49) and my girlfriend went for steak pie (£6.69).

I’ve found that lasagne can often be a dodgy choice. It can arrive either too small to be truly filling or too bland to make an impact on your taste buds.

But there was no such problem in the Northern. This version was creamy, rich and with ample portions of beef lurking underneath the tender pasta.

My girlfriend’s pie was topped with a huge golden puff pastry crust and tasty chunks of meat.

She said it tasted just like her granny’s – and that, by the way, is a good thing.

Of course, we stayed for dessert, a light but rich and flavoursome black forest gateau (£3.59) and a hot chocolate fudge cake (£3.59) which had a gooey sauce and was simply smashing.