This place seems to get worse everytime we come, so we probably won't be back. The starters were alright, but the mains were dry/severly undercooked. I could barely crunch my way through the risotto and my colleague's beef was incredibly dry, even with the jus. Service was good though, waitress was attentive and quick to grab us drinks/refills.
Iona Merrett
Lovely place and our server Simon was so wonderful! Would definitely recommendVegetarian options: The veggie burger was particularly nice
Fraser Stewart
Great food and efficient and friendly service. Only criticism is the restaurant good have been
Helge Jellestad
The Esslemont bar and restaurant always deliver. They use fresh ingredients of the best quality and prepaid them to optimize flavours and textures. This time, we were surprised by the bacon chutney on the scallop dish. A treat we will bring back home and trie to replicate.
unknown user
Nice concept and good service. However, the music was too loud to talk and the food was nicely decorated but pretty average taste-wise.
Wendy Anderson
Fabulous family meal today. Great menu and really family friendly. We will visit again.Dietary restrictions: Made sure about glutenKid-friendliness: Good kids menu. And children from 13-5 were made welcome
Aberdeengirl1983
Great restaurant - excellent food, service and overall a great atmosphere. Can select from Scottish tapas or main dishes. Good selection and tapas is amazing.
GaryHMFC
Came for dinner on Hogmanay… we didn’t have a reservation but the staff were kind enough to squeeze us in at the bar area. The food was delicious - we had the chicken burger and the salmon which were both delicious. The service was really good, and our bill came to £55 for two including drinks. We will definitely come back again.
RubyLady
Booked for 7 of us on christmas eve & what a great experience start to finish. You could safely say at least 5/7 of our group wouldn’t be the easiest to please, and I can confirm 7/7 left very happy, having cleared plates & all with willingness to return. We had a warm welcome from genuine, friendly staff who showed us to our booth style table, it was decorated beautifully with a festive garland & felt pretty special. We had all been excited to try the menu, and we all liked the concept of Scottish tapas using locally sourced ingredients. It was genuinely difficult choosing what to have, as everything looked so good. Without listing what everyone had & how they found it, I will just summarise by saying everyone enjoyed everything they ordered, and there was quite a variety from fish, to venison, to burgers, etc. My daughter (5) had macaroni cheese & didnt quite manage finish it, so I had a try and it was distinctively good, better than any other macaroni cheese I have tried to date. I hate onions, and its a constant issue when eating out to ask not to get them, despite being really clear I often still end up getting them, even at a certain Michelin starred restaurant. However at The Esslemont my simple request was listened to & honoured no problem. (Thank you!) Would 100% recommend and actually cant wait to return. Brilliant afternoon had by all!
Anthony Pratt
A great meal had. Washed down with a fabulous Romanian white wine.Steak cooked to perfection, mussels to die for and a chocolate pud to finish off.Scrummy!!!
Great service, attentive staff and most importantly, really tasty
Lynnj77
My husband and I went for a pre-Christmas lunch. Again after seeing some of the reviews I would certainly agree with the tables being close together, too close in my opinion as when other diners say behind me they made contact with my chair. It was busy which I feel is refreshing to see as Aberdeen Union St isn’t what it used to be. My husband had the roast chicken and I had the venison. I had to ask for my dish to be cooked more as it was too rare for me personally and feel the menu should specify it’s served rare to allow you to make the choice or be asked when ordering, but have to say nothing was too much trouble for our very attentive waiter Simon, who was outstanding and clearly takes huge pride in his work. His eye to detail was sublime, and he is a credit to the restaurant. My husband thoroughly enjoyed his meal, and we left happy. Would have given 5 stars had it not been for the few negative things mentioned .
Viven Milne
Went for late lunch. Well, was it late, 3/4 an hour for starter we did receive an apology and no charge for this. Both mains were great but then we ordered a second drink, a soda water and a water never received waterGreat food pity about
Alejandro G
We went for dinner on a Friday evening for our son's 16th birthday, thinking it would be a bit special, but it wasn't. It was quite busy and the tables are quite close together, so it wasn't a pleasant atmosphere and the service was very slow, even though the staff was running around doing their best. The starters were OK but my wife and I had the venison for our main course and it was a strange experience: it had the look of medium, the consistency of well-done (quite dry and chewy) and it didn't taste of anything. To us, it felt as if it had been cooked ages in advance and stuck in a microwave to warm up. I had a taste of our son's burger and at least that was OK. We didn't bother with desserts - we could not be bothered with the wait. It was not worth the price.
Elaine Wilson D
Saturday fizz lunch. Food and service were outstanding but live music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other speak. We had to move on early to have a conversation.
This place seems to get worse everytime we come, so we probably won't be back. The starters were alright, but the mains were dry/severly undercooked. I could barely crunch my way through the risotto and my colleague's beef was incredibly dry, even with the jus. Service was good though, waitress was attentive and quick to grab us drinks/refills.
Lovely place and our server Simon was so wonderful! Would definitely recommendVegetarian options: The veggie burger was particularly nice
Great food and efficient and friendly service. Only criticism is the restaurant good have been
The Esslemont bar and restaurant always deliver. They use fresh ingredients of the best quality and prepaid them to optimize flavours and textures. This time, we were surprised by the bacon chutney on the scallop dish. A treat we will bring back home and trie to replicate.
Nice concept and good service. However, the music was too loud to talk and the food was nicely decorated but pretty average taste-wise.
Fabulous family meal today. Great menu and really family friendly. We will visit again.Dietary restrictions: Made sure about glutenKid-friendliness: Good kids menu. And children from 13-5 were made welcome
Great restaurant - excellent food, service and overall a great atmosphere. Can select from Scottish tapas or main dishes. Good selection and tapas is amazing.
Came for dinner on Hogmanay… we didn’t have a reservation but the staff were kind enough to squeeze us in at the bar area. The food was delicious - we had the chicken burger and the salmon which were both delicious. The service was really good, and our bill came to £55 for two including drinks. We will definitely come back again.
Booked for 7 of us on christmas eve & what a great experience start to finish. You could safely say at least 5/7 of our group wouldn’t be the easiest to please, and I can confirm 7/7 left very happy, having cleared plates & all with willingness to return. We had a warm welcome from genuine, friendly staff who showed us to our booth style table, it was decorated beautifully with a festive garland & felt pretty special. We had all been excited to try the menu, and we all liked the concept of Scottish tapas using locally sourced ingredients. It was genuinely difficult choosing what to have, as everything looked so good. Without listing what everyone had & how they found it, I will just summarise by saying everyone enjoyed everything they ordered, and there was quite a variety from fish, to venison, to burgers, etc. My daughter (5) had macaroni cheese & didnt quite manage finish it, so I had a try and it was distinctively good, better than any other macaroni cheese I have tried to date. I hate onions, and its a constant issue when eating out to ask not to get them, despite being really clear I often still end up getting them, even at a certain Michelin starred restaurant. However at The Esslemont my simple request was listened to & honoured no problem. (Thank you!) Would 100% recommend and actually cant wait to return. Brilliant afternoon had by all!
A great meal had. Washed down with a fabulous Romanian white wine.Steak cooked to perfection, mussels to die for and a chocolate pud to finish off.Scrummy!!!
Restaurantji Recommends
Great service, attentive staff and most importantly, really tasty
My husband and I went for a pre-Christmas lunch. Again after seeing some of the reviews I would certainly agree with the tables being close together, too close in my opinion as when other diners say behind me they made contact with my chair. It was busy which I feel is refreshing to see as Aberdeen Union St isn’t what it used to be. My husband had the roast chicken and I had the venison. I had to ask for my dish to be cooked more as it was too rare for me personally and feel the menu should specify it’s served rare to allow you to make the choice or be asked when ordering, but have to say nothing was too much trouble for our very attentive waiter Simon, who was outstanding and clearly takes huge pride in his work. His eye to detail was sublime, and he is a credit to the restaurant. My husband thoroughly enjoyed his meal, and we left happy. Would have given 5 stars had it not been for the few negative things mentioned .
Went for late lunch. Well, was it late, 3/4 an hour for starter we did receive an apology and no charge for this. Both mains were great but then we ordered a second drink, a soda water and a water never received waterGreat food pity about
We went for dinner on a Friday evening for our son's 16th birthday, thinking it would be a bit special, but it wasn't. It was quite busy and the tables are quite close together, so it wasn't a pleasant atmosphere and the service was very slow, even though the staff was running around doing their best. The starters were OK but my wife and I had the venison for our main course and it was a strange experience: it had the look of medium, the consistency of well-done (quite dry and chewy) and it didn't taste of anything. To us, it felt as if it had been cooked ages in advance and stuck in a microwave to warm up. I had a taste of our son's burger and at least that was OK. We didn't bother with desserts - we could not be bothered with the wait. It was not worth the price.
Saturday fizz lunch. Food and service were outstanding but live music was so loud we couldn’t hear each other speak. We had to move on early to have a conversation.