THE highly popular Aberdeen Restaurant Week gets underway this week, with around 40 of the city centres most popular restaurants and cafes taking part.
Food lovers will be able to enjoy a wide range of cuisines on offer for two simple price points of £10 for lunch and £25 for dinner. The event is returning to the city for its eighth edition and is organised by city centre BID Aberdeen Inspired. Although titled a ‘Week’ it is in fact a twelve day promotion, running from Monday 7 March until Friday 18 March.
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Diners can choose from a huge range of cuisines including Asian, American, Indian, Italian, Spanish, Scottish and Nepalese, as well as the best coffee, cakes and ice cream the city has to offer.
All the restaurants signing up for Aberdeen Restaurant Week are making a unique set price dining offer available throughout the twelve day period.
Lunchtime newcomers to the event are The Pigs Wings a family run business based in Upperkirkgate who just recently made the leap from being a takeaway to a casual vibe restaurant. Their £10 lunch menu offer includes a main and a side from their selection of award-winning burgers, bangers, loaded fries and tasty sides.
Other new tasty £10 lunch spots include The Jewel in the Crown who are offering a two course lunch of the best of Indian regional cooking, bustling city centre tea salon Cup and Kirkview Café from their new home on Belmont Street, where you can enjoy two Scottish inspired tapas plates and a dessert for a tenner.
Aberdeen Restaurant Week aims to showcase the city centre hospitality scene and gives diners the chance to experience a wide range of food choices while taking advantage of the special deals offered by all the participating places. It’s popularity has grown over the years and the event creates a real buzz in the city centre with people keen to book up when they’ve browsed what’s on offer.
Adrian Watson, chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, said the popular event is a great way to encourage both locals and visitors back into the city centre.
“There’s always a noticeable increase in people in the city centre, particularly during weekday nights when Aberdeen Restaurant Week is on. Diners really get behind the promotion and the set price deals seem to encourage people to eat out more often than they normally would. I’ve heard from numerous contacts who’ve taken the opportunity to go for lunch every day, enjoying what the city has to offer with colleagues and they’ve gone on to add in a dinner or two with friends and family.”
“This is what it’s all about, opening up the city, building confidence around getting back out and about. We also know that many people combine a dining experience with a shopping trip or a visit to some of the city’s cultural attractions and we’d encourage visitors to make a night of it and stay over in one of the many attractive hotels in the heart of the city centre.”
“The struggles facing city businesses as a result of the pandemic are well documented and Aberdeen Restaurant Week is the catalyst which brings residents and visitors to the centre of Aberdeen to enjoy what’s on offer.”
The dinner options include some innovative tasting menus from subterranean late-night tavern The Tippling House which can be found on the city’s Belmont Street and award-winning Nepalese restaurant 8848. Some restaurants are offering a mix of food and drink for £25 with The Esslemont offering the option to substitute one of the courses on their menu for a glass of house wine or a cocktail.
There are also a few spots where two people can dine for £25 including new comer to the city centre Faffless, a relaxed and friendly café and wine bar, Mac’s Pizzeria, Handmade Burger Co. and the recently reopened Under The Hammer which is seeking to cement its reputation for serving up delicious sharing platters and cocktails .
Handmade Burger Co. re-launched in the city just before Christmas and is offering both lunch and dinner dining options. Chris Crighton, Assistant Manager of the Aberdeen branch told us “Restaurant week has been a vital way over the years of bringing people into the town and showcasing what we have to offer.
“All of us at the Handmade Burger Co want to let the people of Aberdeen know we are open for business and we really look forward to welcoming customers, both old and new, back to our space in Union Square.”
Newcomer to the event Soul have put together a tasteful and modern three course dinner menu which can be enjoyed with a glass of house wine or beer for £25. Explaining why the restaurant has decided to join with the established event Sarah Wheeler, General Manager at Soul told us “We are excited to bring Soul into Aberdeen Restaurant Week and have devised a unique menu which we feel will excite regular and attract new diners to the venue during the twelve day promotion.
“We feel what Soul has to offer diners fits well with the ethos of Aberdeen Restaurant Week and we believe that events like this, where we work together to promote all the city has to offer, brings tangible collective benefits to the city. There’s no doubt that confidence in eating out needs to be restored and events like Aberdeen Restaurant Week go a long way to help with this.”
Another newcomer is How Bao Now located within Bar 99 on Aberdeen’s Back Wynd. Nick Gordon, General Manager commented “Aberdeen Restaurant Week has always been a brilliant venture for both restaurants and consumers alike. By partnering with How Bao Now, a kitchen team that specialises in Asian street food, predominantly bao buns, we are able to provide a unique culinary experience, allowing our guests to sample the whole menu at a really attractive price point, hopefully introducing new people to something they might not have tried before, as well as rewarding our regular guests with the discounted price.”
The variety of food and cuisines of offer as part of Aberdeen Restaurant Week is arguably the best the city has to offer and will satisfy all tastes. Foodies looking for a sweet treat at any time of the day might want to head along to Mackie’s 19.2 in Marischal Square who are serving up two sweet crepes and hot drinks for two people for just £10. Other cafes offering lighter bites include Aberdeen Art Gallery, Books and Beans and Aberdeen’s leading plant based cafe Food Story. If wholesome pub classics are your thing, then The Howff, The Globe Inn, The City Bar and Diner or the STAG are a few worthy of consideration.
Food lovers are encouraged to join in with Aberdeen Restaurant Week and support the local restaurants and cafes that have come together to offer value for money menus which have been put together exclusively for the twelve-day promotion.
Aberdeen Restaurant Week offers dining for two simple price points of £10 for lunch and £25 for dinner from Monday 7 to Friday 18 March 2022. Details of all the participating restaurants and their menus can be found online at aberdeenrestaurantweek.com.
