Food Reviews

DID you hear the one about the South African restaurant, with a Tex Mex theme in the heart of Aberdeen?

IT’S always a good sign when you walk into a restaurant and there’s hardly a table to spare.

AFTER a hard week of getting her flat packed up, my friend was in need of a good feed.

SEE me, see names, I’m absolutely terrible at remembering them.

THE atrium of a major shopping mall might not seem the ideal place for dinner with a pal.

IT’S not like I need a huge amount of persuasion to order takeaway pizza.

THERE must be some kind of special sensor at the Ferryhill House Hotel because whenever I set foot in its beer garden the sun magically disappears in an instant.

WITH a wedding to save for, I’m under strict orders to spend less than a skint miser during the credit crunch.

HO LOK: North Deeside Road, Peterculter

PERCHED on a waterfront wall with the salty sea air breezing in – it is one of my favourite places in the world.

TIDYING up the flat before putting it on the market is tiring work.

MY LAST stop on a night out never alters – the kebab shop. However, as I’ve been behaving on the going-out front recently, I decided to try a kebab at a reasonable hour.

LIKE any other parents, Mrs B and I love our kids beyond reason.

PASSING a pub with a huge menu on my way back from work was always going to be a recipe for disaster.

IT’S true that there’s really nothing better than having someone cook for you.

LOOKING around at the subtly-lit white walls, fish tanks, paintings and chic Saturday night diners, I was a tad confused.

HOLIDAYS are great fun ... planning for them isn’t.

WHEN hopes of a barbecue were rained off, slaving over the cooker was not an option.

I WAS simply delighted when my friend told me there was a new Italian restaurant in town.

IT HAD somehow slipped our minds that the first Friday after pay day means pandemonium in town.

COOKING – I hate it and admit a round of cheese on toast is my limit.

MODERN life ... it’s all a bit of a hectic whirl isn’t it, with us caught in the middle of a dance of change.

WALKING through town, I saw something wondrous – a bar that wasn’t packed to the rafters with singing footie fans.

THERE’S something about the waft of a chipper that just lures you in like beer into brewery.

AS I am currently the proudest mum in the world after my son received an A pass in his exam I thought he deserved a celebratory slap-up meal.

A RARE sunny day in Aberdeen demands a visit to a beer garden after work.

GOING into a busy restaurant to pick up your take-away always has an awkward feel as diners give you the once over while you linger.

A CATCH-UP on girly gossip deserves a good meal to accompany it.

WITH the World Cup in full swing, the quest to watch as many games as I can while keeping the good lady vaguely happy is up and running.

WITH football, my natural enemy, on in every pub in the city – but still desperate not to cook – I turned to the comfort of a curry menu.

WHOEVER said “location, location, location” (Phil or Kirsty I think) has obviously never been to 210 Bistro.

WHAT could be better than a day by the seaside?

WHAT better way to get ready for a wedding dance than an Indian takeaway?

I MIGHT be an in-aboot-comer to these here parts but I have noticed one refreshing trend in my five years of living here.

NOTHING can beat a hearty meal after a long journey.

WHAT better way to get ready for a wedding dance than an Indian takeaway?

‘NEVER go back’, or so the saying goes.

IF I said I was dining at the ancestral home of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll you would probably expect me to be in Memphis.

HOUSE-HUNTING can be a hungry business. So what better way to research my prospective new neighbourhood, than to head to the local chipper and see if it’s any crack?

IT WAS the fascinating name of a lamb dish that had me hitting the tracks for the Gurkha Chef Nepalese restaurant and takeaway.

ASK and you shall receive ... so when I asked Mrs B if she wanted to visit the latest Italian eatery in town I received a “yes”.

IT’S OFFICIAL ... I’m getting old. At the tender age of just 19 (okay, 26), I’m all set for the pipe and slippers.

FEELING hungry like the wolf, there was only one place I was heading for an all too familiar Friday night takeaway – Panda Valley.

TWO things have been a source of constant pleasure in my life so far – food and films.

IT’S always a quandary when you stumble unexpectedly across somewhere serving really good food.

EVERY night I zip past Chillies on the A90 and every night I wonder to myself “what’s that like then?”

BEING on a health kick does mean some sacrifices – but it didn’t stand in the way of an overdue catch-up with the girls.

WITH the kitchen looking like a storm had hit it, cooking was out of the question.

MEMORIES are made of this ... this eatery reminded me so much of the Chinese take-out I frequented when I was growing up in Stockethill.

WITH Dorothy fever gripping the nation – well, according to Graham Norton anyway – we are constantly being told there’s no place like home.

USUALLY when it’s a Champions League match night you would expect to fight for a table in Ma Cameron’s.

MOST folk would have a right good moan if the chipper they were going to was queued out the door, and The Boss is no different.

A MEAL fit for a king is always the order of the day when a newborn baby enters the world.

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.

CURRY – one of those things that you just have to have at least once a week.

BLINK and you’d miss this little Italian restaurant on Holburn Street.

SATURDAY afternoons when the sun’s beating down are perfect for a nice pub lunch.

WHEN the sun is shining there’s nothing I enjoy more than spending time in the Garden.

SINCE it first opened about five years ago, Number One has always been for me one of the most reliable restaurants in Aberdeen.

THERE’S a certain buzz about Wednesday nights at this time of year.

SPRING is in the air and everyone wants to make the most of the longer nights after the long and dreary winter we’ve just suffered.

HAVING a top restaurant at the end of your street can be a bit of a mixed blessing.

THERE’S nothing like catching up with friends over a curry.

I‘M A bit of a nervous diner when outside of my comfort zone.

IT SAYS a lot for my capabilities as a grown-up that I can go to the supermarket for a whole week’s worth of shopping and still not have anything in for tea.

POPPING out for a quiet bite to eat with a pal, we stumbled upon burger heaven.

AFTER avoiding the calorie-packed minefield of takeaway grub since I embarked on a strict diet at the start of the year, my resolve crumbled as I read Fusion’s menu.

THERE’S a new concept being floated on the cobbles of The Adelphi – “bistronomy”.

REGULAR as clockwork as a kid, my family sat down to a traditional roast dinner every Sunday.

WITH a pothole-damaged car, I decided to turn negative into positive by boosting my fitness by running home from work.

HOW many times have you gone for a quick, cheap meal – only to throw caution to the wind and go for the full three-courser?

THE atrium of a major shopping mall might not seem the ideal place for dinner with a pal.

IT’S the little, unexpected things that can sometimes make a meal, as I found when taking a friend out.

MY little sister is usually pretty easy to entertain when she comes to visit.

SOME restaurants are ideal for a romantic candlelit supper – and some are perfect for a gaggle in search of a party.

I’VE LIVED in Aberdeen for more than a year, so it was high time my brother and his girlfriend paid me a visit.

HAVING sampled a chain pizza take-away previously, I decided to get a meal closer to home.

SOMEONE’S birthday had suddenly hove into view and caught me on the hop.

GOOD old Domino’s doesn’t seem to be paying attention to the news of shrinking portion sizes.

SOMETIMES travelling into the town centre for a meal can be too much hassle.

THERE are many great restaurants tucked away in the Buchan countryside.

AFTER a fairly unroman-tic Valentine’s card featuring a tiger and no gift, I had some ground to make up with the missus.

IT’S been years since I’ve “gone local” when it comes to ordering a takeaway pizza.

ANY new restaurant in Aberdeen is always welcome ... especially one where the chef has the confidence to slap their name on the sign outside.

A MEAL in a monkey house might not sound like your idea of good eating.

IN A futile bid to shift the post-Christmas pounds, I’ve taken on an eating regime that would make a rabbit feel sorry for me.

I HAVE always wanted to eat in a Nando’s for what is, possibly, the geekiest reason ever.

I WAS always told by Ma Groundwater to do what she told me to.

AH, WOK Wok – the takeaway that’s so good they named it twice.

THE first time we went to Fusion it had only been open for a couple of weeks and was still very much the new kid on the block.

YOU’VE got to keep your strength up during a hard-And what better way of doing that than with a hearty lunch – which is why I nipped out to The Cross Keys for some tasty grub.

AFTER a weekend of entertaining, the thought of adding more plates to the washing-up pile wasn’t appealing.

OF ALL the places to sit when you’re looking to shed some festive pounds, next to a conveyor belt of food is probably not the wisest.

IT CAN be hard to find a quiet pub for some grub on a Friday night.

ANY new eatery that opens in Stonehaven is immediately greeted with a buzz around the town of: “Have you tried it yet?”

WHY did I promise to go out for dinner on one of the worst nights of the year?

TUCKED off the hustle and bustle of Belmont Street is a haven of cool.

WITH the cold snap continuing longer than endless repeats of Friends on TV, we decided to spice things up with a curry from an old favourite.

I WOULD like to say I’ve trekked the world in pursuit of the perfect Chinese beef curry.

THERE was a gathering for my birthday at my place – so a meal from the Chinese was top of my wish-list.

WITH the festive season over, my friends and I were desperate for a break from stodge.