Silver Darling Restaurant, Aberdeen, Scotland

During our last trip to Scotland, we visited Silver Darling Restaurant to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday. Silver Darling is one of the top restaurants in Aberdeen, specialising in seafood. We attempted to book here twice, before we finally got a table for lunch (yes they're very busy and popular!) and I'm very glad that we got to eat here as the food was exquisite. Definitely the best meal of our trip. :)

The dining room is a large raised conservatory on the flat roof of an old granite custom house providing a spectacular and panoramic view over Aberdeen Harbour and bay. 

The Silver Darling, named after the Scottish nickname for herring fish, is owned and run by Frenchman Didier Dejean. Opened in June 1986, the Silver Darling is one of the few restaurants to have been recommended in the Good Food Guide for more than 28 years. It has also been recommended in the Michelin Guide and in the Egon Ronay and in 2008, The Sunday Times ranked the Silver Darling in the top 10 seafood restaurants in UK.

The lunch menu in my opinion is really fantastic value for money. You can get 2-courses for £19.50, or 3-courses for £24.50. It changes on a regular basis, with one special item changing on a daily basis depending on the fresh produce they receive. The menu consists mainly of local fish with a French twist as well as Mediterranean and occasional Far East flourishes.

For starters, both Hubby and I went for the starter of the day - we immediately ordered it when we heard the word "scallops" mentioned. Three beautiful, plump scallops sit atop a bed of leeks and crisp filo pastry and a crayfish bisque reduction. Perfect start to our meal :)

Since this is a seafood restaurant, we made sure we ordered fish for our mains. Hubby once again went for the catch of the day which I believe was monkfish. My MIL went for the pan fried sea bass with asparagus & celeriac remoulade, green tapenade, with a tomatoes and herb dressing - she certainly was impressed with it - beautifully crisp skin and moist flesh.

I went for the rock turbot, which was poached in a seafood broth and then served with mussels, octopus and cockles atop a bed of saffron potatoes and aioli sauce. Oh and topped with julienned vegetables and samphire. Love this heart-warming, tummy-pleasing fish dish, not to mention so pleasing to the eyes too.

As for desserts, Hubby went for the cheese platter which was served with homemade fruit jellies, MIL went for the sweet custard tart with preserved raspberries and raspberry coulis (which Baby C loved, so she was standing next to granny to steal bites) and I had the vanilla pod panna cotta with grenadine rhubarb, sesame tuile  and rhubarb jus (which Baby D loved so you know where he was during dessert time).

Overall, an enjoyable meal at Silver Darling. Food was fantastic, and service was excellent throughout too. 

Verdict: Good value for money lunch, considering the high quality ingredients used. Food is excellently prepared and visually pleasing. Great place for special occasions too.


Opening times: Mon-Fri 12.00pm-1.45pm, Mon-Sat 6.30pm - 9.30pm.

Service: Excellent.

Price: Total bill £81.00 for 3 adults, including wine.

Location: Silver Darling Restaurant, Pocra Quay North Pier, AB11 5DQ, Aberdeen, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 1224 576229

Website: http://thesilverdarling.co.uk/

GPS Coordinates:  57.142369, -2.069631


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Indian Food @ Nazma Tandoori, Aberdeen, Scotland

Nazma Tandoori is one of the Indian restaurants in Aberdeen that we used to frequent while we were still dating. During our last vacation in Scotland, we took the kids here for a family meal and to satisfy our craving for British-Indian curries. 

Having won the British Curry Awards for four consecutive years, it is often touted as the best curry house in Aberdeen.  In their menu, you can see testimonials from many famous people who have dined here.

They have a pretty extensive menu here, ranging from mild to spicy curries, various types of naans, rice, and side dishes. To start, we always have the crispy pappadoms with comes with 4 different condiments (raw onions, tomatoes, mango chutney, yogurt)... kids liked it too.

Modern interior

We decided to go for the milder curries - we ordered the lamb rogan josh (our fav!) as well as the murgh tikka makhani (butter chicken) as well as a peshwari naan and paratha. Since British Indian curries are quite rich, these were more than enough to feed our family of 4.

The lamb rogan josh, a Nazma classic was rich and creamy with lots of tomatoes. Love the curry sauce which we mopped up with the naan. (If you would like to try making it at home, here's a recipe for it)

Lamb rogan josh

State as one of the chef's special, the murgh tikka makhani was rich and creamy but the sauce was a tad too sweet for me - the chicken is lightly marinated and roasted in a tandoor and then served with a spiced, buttery sauce. I would like to recreate a butter chicken dish at home, do leave me a comment below with a good recipe if you know of any. Thanks :)

Naan and paratha

We also ordered a side of aloo gobi aka cauliflower and potatoes. This was nicely spiced, definitely enjoyed eating this.

After our Indian meal, we dropped by Duthie Park again with the kids :)

One of the Wild Dolphins that we found during our stay - Yellow Dolphmarine. Dusk by the River Dee 

Verdict: Certainly one of the best places for Indian curries in Aberdeen. A bit pricey but nice ambiance and good service.

Price: Total bill £51.30, including 4 drinks.

Location: Nazma Tandoori, 62 Bridge St, Aberdeen, AB11 6JN, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 1224 211296

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Hazlehead Park Pets Corner, Aberdeen, United Kingdom

Our kids love the outdoors, and during our holidays in Aberdeen last year, the weather was just perfect for being outdoors. We took them to the Hazlehead Pets Corner, located within Hazlehead Park. The Pets Corner feature different animals such as rabbits, chinchillas, llamas, goats, lambs, miniature donkeys, ducks, peacocks as well as fish and lizards. 

The entrance fee is £3 for adults, and £1 for children between 3-16 years of age, and there is also a family pass (2 adults 3 children or 1 adult 4 children) for only £5. The Pets Corner is opened in winter from 10am to 3.15pm and in summer from 10am to 5.30pm.

The Pets Corner is less interactive than Doonies Farm, as we do not get to feed the animals here. Anyhow the Pets Corner is still worth a visit for a nice day out. After visiting the Pets Corner, we headed to the children's play area in the park for an afternoon of great fun. 

Enjoy the photos we took at the Hazlehead Pets Corner :)

Love birds, all lovey dovey

Beautiful blooms by the entrance of the Pets Corner

Turkey

Lamb

Peacock.. too shy to show off

Donkey

Llama

There are no real penguins here... this will do :)

Taking flight

Goodbye Pets Corner

Off to the children's play area for more fun :D

Opening times: 10am to 3.15pm (winter) and 10am to 5.30pm (summer).

Entrance fee: £3 for adults, and £1 for children between 3-16 years of age, and family pass (2 adults 3 children or 1 adult 4 children) for only £5.

Location: Hazlehead Pets Corner, Hazlehead Park, Hazlehead Avenue, Aberdeen, AB15 8RJ, Scotland.

GPS Coordinates: 57.139783, -2.178339

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Hotel Review: Best Western PLUS Milford Hotel + Watermill Restaurant @ Leeds, United Kingdom

During a recent business trip to Yorkshire, I stayed at the Best Western PLUS Milford Hotel. Being a business trip not much sightseeing could be done, so most of my time was spent in the hotel and its restaurant, Watermill. It was a rather pleasant stay at the hotel, with rooms being comfy and surprisingly, food at the restaurant was consistently good throughout the stay. I later found out that Watermill Restaurant has a pretty good reputation in the area. The hotel itself is situated about 30 minutes drive from the cities of Leeds and Yorkshire and on a main road. Not too sure about the rooms facing the main road but with mine on the opposite side it was unaffected by any sort of noise. All rooms also come with complimentary wifi.

The room. Nice, comfy bed

The toilets are nice and modern with a nice addition of heated floors. Gilchrist and Soames toiletries are provided for hotel guests

Breakfast in the hotel was a great affair. Guests have a choice of Continental and English Breakfast, with locally sourced ingredients. Naturally, being a big lover of the traditional English breakfast it was a no-brainer for me. You get to choose from a huge list of items cooked to order including eggs (fried, scrambled or poached), bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, smoked fish (salmon, haddock, or Yorkshire kipper), black pudding, hash browns, baked beans and Yorkshire honey in addition to the buffet spread. It was rather nice being able to mix and match different items on the breakfast menu each morning.

Dinner at the restaurant was another highlight with the food coming out of the kitchen consistent in terms of quality and taste. Some items stood out more than others but in total dining at the Watermill was a good experience with few complaints. Standouts from the menu are the steak, fish and chips, scallops and the sticky toffee pudding.

Yorkshire Dales ribeye steak, hand-cut chips and peppercorn sauce (£16.45)

Duck confit with mashed potato and spinach (£10.95)

Sticky Toffee Pudding with butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream

Traditional Black Sheep Ale Battered Haddock and Chips (£13.95)

 Scallops on Provençale sauce (£4.95)

Slow Cooked Pork Belly served with puy lentils, roasted apple and bacon red wine jus (£10.95)

Location: Best Western Milford Hotel, Great North Road, Peckfield, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS25 5LQ, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 1977 681800

GPS Coordinates: 53.778087,-1.309961

Website: http://www.bestwestern.co.uk/hotels/milford-hotel-leeds-83728/hotel-info/default.aspx

*This is a guest post by The Unc.


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