Aberdeen Restaurant Week - Seven café, bar and restaurant: Review (Aberdeen)

There's nothing better than finding a new restaurant that you immediately fall for. Whether that be for the food and drink offering, the friendly service, or the venue is general, nothing can beat that feeling of finding a new place you know you'll be visiting a lot.

It was only recently that I visited Seven Café, Bar and Restaurant and I've already been back twice since.

A small independent business, the independent eatery which serves simple, wholesome food, has also signed up to Aberdeen Restaurant Week (ARW), and has decided to run their ARW menu for the whole of February - which means that there's plenty time for everyone to visit the eatery for the month.

Focusing on good food done well, the eatery is all about quality and has a real focus on making customers feel right at home from the moment they walk in,

I've enjoyed every visit to Seven, however I have to say that my first visit was my favourite so far. 

I'd recommended the restaurant to my boyfriend's parents to for lunch a week or so ago, and lucky for me, they invited me along for a catch up over some tasty lunch. Having never visited, I accepted their offer and caught up with them for lunch one Friday after work.

The eatery is gorgeous inside, with a big open-plan area, a trendy bar with stools, and plenty of seating available - booths or tables, there's plenty of space for smaller and bigger groups. Not to mention the upstairs area which is an over-spill section if the cafe gets too busy. And the lovely sofa area upstairs is the ideal place to enjoy a few drinks with friends.

We sat on one of the booths and were instantly greeted with smiles all around. We ordered some drinks and scanned the menu. One of the owners, Sharon, informed us of the specials and she had me sold on the homemade chilli. It had been so long since I'd had chilli and with the temperatures outside pretty chilly at the time, I wanted something warm to heat me up.

Calum's parents were keen to try out the soup of the day which was vegetable, and they were also intrigued to try out the lunch platters.

Placing our order, I decided on the special of the day, the homemade chilli with sour cream and tortilla chips and Calum's parents both ordered the soup, as well as a hummus lunch platter and a three-cheese platter.

I immediately fell in love with the bar and the drinks offering Seven boasts. With a focus on gin and local spirits, I was delighted to see a few Aberdeen businesses on show including Esker Gin, Lone Wolf Spirits and BrewDog's beers.

Sadly, on the occasions I've visited I've not be drinking, but I'm looking forward to returning and checking out their gin flights and wine selection - not to mention their bar snacks.

We didn't have to wait long until our food arrived which was great, and it means those who are looking to grab a quick, nice lunch, can still frequent to Seven and not have to worry about running back to work late.

I stuck into my chilli which was the perfect size. The chilli beef was delicious and boasted a nice wee heat to it. The sour cream was lovely and cooling, and the tortilla crisps were great for scooping up the remains of the chilli beef and rice. The rice itself was lovely and fluffy, and I was pretty full after polishing the bowl off.

Calum's parent's platters looked incredible. I was eyeing up his mum's hummus platter and I actually ordered it for myself the second time I visited Seven. 

The hummus board was delicious and came with regular hummus as well as a beetroot hummus, focaccia bread, an array of oatcakes, olives, sun-dried tomatoes and a side salad. There was more than enough hummus to go around, and I would have happily shared my platter with another person as it was a little too much for me to tackle on my own. The bread was delicious and the sun-dried tomatoes were superb. I don't really like olives so I left those for the others to get stuck into when I visited with Calum and his friends, but other than that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Calum's dad ordered the three-cheese platter which consisted of three house cheeses, onion marmalade, balsamic onions, focaccia bread, a side salad and a mixture of oatcakes too.

He really enjoyed the selection of cheeses he got, and was chuffed to see a blue cheese included, as well as a brie. He scooped the onion marmalade onto the oatcakes and topped it with some cheese. It looked like he was really enjoying the platter, and the balsamic onions too.

As well as lunch platters, Seven also has a wide selection of sandwiches and cakes available throughout the day, however, I couldn't bring myself to tackle a cake as I was completely full and couldn't eat another morsel.

In the evening, the restaurants offering completely changes and you can find everything from black pudding bon bons with a pink peppercorn sauce, to confit duck leg, to chicken satay. They also have some delicious desserts on offer including homemade sticky toffee pudding, chocolate brownies and pink Champagne sorbet. Having recently taken on a new chef, the food offering has sky rocketed and is proving to be rather popular with the regulars.

With a great lunch and dinner menu available throughout Aberdeen Restaurant Week for incredible prices, Seven is definitely one place you'll want to check out for both.

It's cute, quaint interiors partnered with the friendly staff and outstanding food and drink options, there's no excuse not to pay the team there for a visit.

Located just off of Union Street a door up from Pizza Express, it's one independent you'll want to go searching for. A hop, skip and a jump away from where I stay, I'm definitely excited to return yet again.

  For Now...

Just Julia