Aberdeenshire Restaurant Guide

This “cosy restaurant with welcoming staff”, next to the 12th-century kirk of St Nicholas, has done sterling service for two decades “serving great food with the emphasis on fish”. Chef Brian McLeish, a MasterChef finalist in 2014, presides over a well-thought-out menu that runs from two to four courses.

On the upper level of the old Custom House, a “fantastic setting with views over Aberdeen Harbour” makes this “unique” venue a brilliant choice for a meal of “excellent fish dishes cooked in a variety of styles”. “If you can, book a window seat” – “it’s great with all the lights at night, too”.

Well-known local chef Kevin Dalgleish launched this “sleek, sophisticated yet relaxed” basement restaurant in 2022, in a “lovely” townhouse not far from the city centre; by most (if not quite all) accounts, there is “very little to fault” with the high-class cooking (“using the very best of ingredients” from Scotland and elevating them with French techniques). As we went to press, Dalgleish had announced plans to extend into the basement next door, with outdoor seating also on the horizon in the future.