Revisiting the Sand Dollar

I've taken you to the Sand Dollar before. It's my very favourite place to eat, and last time I took you for breakfast. But today I'm taking you for an evening meal. I was lucky enough to be visited by some very old family friends, and after a glorious day in the sunshine at Balmoral, we headed the best place in Aberdeen for dinner. Sad that she couldn't make it, Mum had surprised us and arranged for a bottle of bubbly to be waiting for us at the table. Cheers!

We were first presented with some canapes, a bowl of tapenade and some hunks of bread to start us off. The pastry on the canapes was perfectly crispy, and although the pesto was good, the smoked salmon was the star of this little show.

The following starters consisted of "one of the best bruschettas" ever tasted, a creamy seafood bisque and chargrilled pigeon. The pigeon was perfectly pink and served with rocket, toasted pine nuts and balsamic dressing - to die for. And whilst the servings weren't meagre, they weren't so large that you couldn't find room for mains (and dessert!) too. 

Onto the main event. Scottish hake with pearl barley risotto and fennel. So good. Flaky fish, wholesome risotto, zingy fennel. A really summery dish.

Crusted lamb loin with roasties, veg and red wine jus. The satisfying crunch from the crust contrasted nicely with the pink lamb.

Char grilled rib eye steak with thick crunchy wedges, onion rings and peppercorn sauce, described as "melt in the mouth".

Finally, dessert. A bit stuffed, we shared warm chocolate tart with clotted cream, and a balieys cheesecake, topped with peanut butter sugar and raspberry dust. When we ordered we anticipated loving the cheesecake and finding the chocolate pretty standard. But although the cheesecake was good, the tart was a thousand times better. The warm chocolate and the clotted cream were not a groundbreaking combination to be fair, but the quality really made it.

And to finish? Scottish tablet. An enormous sugar hit, ever so naughty, but ever so delicious. We had a great evening, it was a perfect way to round off a great day, and so kind to be taken out for a treat. The Sand Dollar is definitely worth a visit if you're ever up in the Frozen North.

You can find the Sand Dollar at:

2, Beach Esplanade, 

Aberdeen,

AB24 5NS,

and you can find their opening hours on their website here.