Last week saw the official launch of Aberdeen's hottest new eatery, All Bar One, open to the public. Having opened its doors for a soft launch from Tuesday to Thursday, the restaurant opened on Saturday for breakfast following a successful VIP launch party on the Friday night.
In the lead up to its launch last week, I was invited by General Manager, Gavin Findlay, to try out their menu and some drinks.
The restaurant is super fashionable and stylish, there's no doubt about that. It's swish, and decorated to the highest of standards so I was curious to see if the food lived up to the restaurant's aesthetic.
On arrival, we were seated at one of the huge circular booths. Initially the booking had been for four of us, but it ended up being my friend Abbie and myself who managed along.
To begin, we scaled the drinks menu and ordered gin twists - I decided on a Tanqueray No.10 Gin with Fever-Tree tonic and grapefruit wedge garnish.
We ordered a couple small plates to share for our starters and then ordered our main courses too.
First up was the Houmous Duo with beetroot and apple, and classic houmous on offer. The Moroccan inspired dish came served with flatbread, rustic breads, lettuce and cucumber. I love the creamy, fresh tastes of the different houmous' and the flatbread was perfect for dipping into the pots the houmous had been served in.
The Box-Baked Camembert was Abbie's choice, and I was delighted she'd chosen it. The gooey, melted stringy cheese created the perfect cheese string, and we ended up dipping the toasted ciabatta it came with into the molten cheese which was beautiful and creamy.
I had been eyeing up the Buttermilk Chicken Wings and the Pan-Fried King Prawns which I'd tried to order, however, these were two of the dishes that were unavailable. In place of these, we ordered the Salt & Pepper Calamari instead. Tossed in citrus, red pepper and pink peppercorn seasoning the deep fried squid was lovely and crisp, all whilst being delicately cooked inside. The dish was served with a sweet chilli and lime dip which paired very well, bringing Thai flavours into our meal.
The menu itself is rather multi-cultural with global inspirations throughout.
First up was the Houmous Duo with beetroot and apple, and classic houmous on offer. The Moroccan inspired dish came served with flatbread, rustic breads, lettuce and cucumber. I love the creamy, fresh tastes of the different houmous' and the flatbread was perfect for dipping into the pots the houmous had been served in.
The Box-Baked Camembert was Abbie's choice, and I was delighted she'd chosen it. The gooey, melted stringy cheese created the perfect cheese string, and we ended up dipping the toasted ciabatta it came with into the molten cheese which was beautiful and creamy.
I had been eyeing up the Buttermilk Chicken Wings and the Pan-Fried King Prawns which I'd tried to order, however, these were two of the dishes that were unavailable. In place of these, we ordered the Salt & Pepper Calamari instead. Tossed in citrus, red pepper and pink peppercorn seasoning the deep fried squid was lovely and crisp, all whilst being delicately cooked inside. The dish was served with a sweet chilli and lime dip which paired very well, bringing Thai flavours into our meal.
The menu itself is rather multi-cultural with global inspirations throughout.
As we waited for our mains, it was about time to dive into the cocktail menu. Having visited All Bar One in Glasgow and London, I was aware the brand is known for having a pretty good cocktail offering, so I was interested to see if Aberdeen's was similar to the other bars.
Throughout our time, Abbie ordered a creamy, sweet Piña Colada, and I tried their Pornstar Martini and the Pink Grapefruit Collins. Both my cocktails were extremely fruity and refreshing in comparison to Abbie's, which would be best enjoyed on a beach. I much prefer to have lighter drinks throughout my meal than heavier drinks, so I felt my cocktails fit the bill, although Abbie's did look delicious too...
It wasn't too long until our mains arrived. Being the trial week for the restaurant, we were aware we'd have to wait a little longer for the drinks and the food, but the restaurant soon started to get into the swing of things as the night progressed.
For mains, we'd both ordered a burger. Abbie got in there first and ordered The Surf Burger which came with King prawns, lobster, and garlic butter, it sounded and smelled incredible. The burger was served with chips and a side of saffron aioli too. I was rather jealous as this is what I'd been eyeing up on the menu, but not wanting to order the same as her, I mixed it up and ordered The Mexican Burger.
The Mexican was supposed to come with burnt end beef chilli, but sadly the restaurant had run out. Still keen to try it, I ordered it without and swapped the beef patty for a breast of cornflake and buttermilk fried chicken. The burger featured guacamole, nacho crumb, and All Bar One's own signature sauce. The burgers all come served in a glazed brioche bun with a dill gherkin and fries on the side. You can also swap to sweet potato fries for an additional £1.
Instead of sticking to the normal fries the burger came with, I opted for the fries with parmesan, truffle oil and rosemary. Anything cooked or featuring truffle oil in it is a must for me, so it was almost compulsory for me to try them out. The fries were super pungent and the dusting of parmesan added a slight creaminess to the fries, without all the mess melted cheese brings with it. The rosemary was lovely on the nose but wasn't noticeable in taste.
All burgers can be served with either beef, cornflake and buttermilk fried chicken or aubergine and harissa.
The age-old question of "dessert?" was questioned, to which we both in synch responded, "there's always room for dessert isn't there!?". Eyeing up the churros from the outset, I was sold. Abbie opted for the Raspberry Sorbet which was zesty and refreshing. The light dessert was great for cleansing her palette and tasted extremely fresh.
I ordered the Churros of course but asked for a smaller portion. On the menu, it states there's enough to share and after the waitress had informed me that there's usually TEN churros with the dish, I was relieved I'd just asked for a few. Dusted with cinnamon sugar, the churros came served with warmed dulce de leche sauce and it was divine. I polished them all off - even though it was a struggle. All of the churros were beautifully crisp on the outside and lovely and fluffy in the middle and resulted in the ideal way to finish off our meal at All Bar One.
The interiors are stunning, and the views of Marischal College are breathtaking - or at least they will be once all of the road works have been completed. The bar has been finished to the highest spec, and its super modern and trendy look makes it a great stomping group for locals to meander along to for food or some drinks.
Seating around 250 people, with additional capacity for customers to stand, All Bar One boasts a large ground floor space at Marischal Square. And with comfortable, fashionable seating, it's going to be hard to pull yourself away from the bar once you've arrived.
A great space to hang out with friends or catch up with the in-laws, All Bar One has something for everyone. It's vegetarian and vegan menu is pretty plentiful too, and the team has done a great job in pulling together a food and drinks menu to suit all.
Having not even been open to the public for a week yet, the bar is already proving to be a popular hot-spot for local professionals and is guaranteed to be a sophisticated, classy party venue at weekends.
For Now...
Just Julia
The cold cut Italian meats and cheese board boasted an abundance of different meats and a good selection of cheeses. Elena had brought us bread for the table, so Calum used this to create small mini open sandwiches with the warm, homemade bread.
Looking forward to mains the most, we were both very happy with our choices, and we felt it showcased both sides of the menu - both the pasta and the meat offering.
Calum ordered the Pan di Spagna con crema di mascarpone e fragole - a sponge cake with mascarpone cheese topped with fresh strawberries. The cake was incredibly soft and was exactly what Calum needed to perk him up again. Full of creamy mascarpone, it was lovely and light and suited his palette perfectly. The strawberries were nice and sweet and brought a nice boost of fruitiness to the dish. All components of the cake blended beautifully together and I could see by the smile on Calum's face that he was a happy man.
As our dining experience came to an end, I reflected on our time at Da Vinci's. The restaurant very much plays homage to Tuscany and Italy and the menu boasts a real differentiation of Italian dishes with something for everyone on it. The food, in general, was good, and I'm not going to let one or two wee mishaps stop me from returning to the restaurant.
