Slains Castle: Belmont Street, Aberdeen

NO ONE could accuse Slains Castle of underplaying their spooky theme.

From the gothic, higgelty-piggelty interior to the cocktails with names like heretic and fiery witch, they certainly stick to their ghoulish guns.

Thankfully, the gruesomeness of the decor doesn’t extend to the menu.

I couldn’t resist the option of cow pie (£8.95) from the big plates section and it lived up to its billing.

Served in a large bowl, the handfuls of diced beef and chunky vegetables were doused in a thick, tasty gravy – although it came topped with scones, cobbler-style, rather than the advertised puff pastry.

My wife’s appetite was a bit less monstrous, so she opted for a lemon and pepper sole goujon wrap (£4.25, £1 extra for chips), which was tasty with a real zing.

I was pretty stuffed after my bovine banquet, but my better half managed to twist my arm with the two-for-one desserts.

She’d had her eye on the chocolate brownie ice cream cake (£3.50) from the beginning and it didn’t disappoint, with a thick layer of brownie topped by layers of chocolate ice cream.

My Jammie Dodger cheesecake was a devilish delight to finish off a wicked meal.