Aberdeen's oldest Italian restaurant, La Lombarda was established in 1922 and still dishes up an authentic "taste of Italy" to delight all pasta and pizza-lovers. A favorite with the locals, it is recommended by the Tourist Board. A takeaway, open daily, is just next door. Located at the historic, with a colorful frontage and tables outside, the restaurant has an extensive menu throughout the day. Inexpensive lunches include chunky soups and sandwiches loaded with fillings. The evening menu comprises a lengthy list of Italian classics - antipasti, pizza, and specialty pastas, as well as steaks, fish and seafood, all attractively presented. Sweets include mouthwatering Gelati and Tiramisu, or scrumptious sticky toffee pudding. Service is welcoming and efficient and the decor is cozy and inviting.
The Howff is a well-known friendly watering hole in downtown Aberdeen and declares itself to be the friendliest bar in the city. Anyone and everyone (over eighteen of course) comes here. There's a huge range of drinks on offer along the cozy wooden bar, everyone should be able to find a drink to suit them. If you decide to stay here all day, meals are served six days a week from midday and at lunchtime on Sundays.
On the main road to Royal Deeside, a few miles out from Aberdeen you'll find the Bieldside Inn. There's a variety of home cooked meals on offer at varying prices; vegetarians are well catered for. If you're looking for accommodation, the pub does bed and breakfast too. All the usual pub games are available, and a large screen TV. For those of you that like to sit outside in the summer there's a pleasant beer garden.
Positioned right in the hub of Aberdeen's city center, the Wild Boar is many things. It's a cafe, a restaurant, a gallery, a bar and a popular venue for DJ artists and live bands. If you plan to eat at the restaurant be sure to book your table in advance. Food is served throughout the day and the kitchen doesn't close until the bar does.
Instantly recognizable by its grandiose pillars, this listed building was a bank, until being tastefully converted to the comfortable hotel and bar that it is today. Named after the famous Aberdeen architect Archibald Simpson, this is, however, one of the few of Aberdeen's beautiful granite buildings, which wasn't designed by the great man himself. With no background music, this is a popular place to meet and the punters run the full gamut of age and occupation. A wide selection of beer and ale, is on offer as well as the normal pub beverages, and the establishment is well known for having some of the lower priced drinks around town. A great place to hang around when in group.
This establishment, located right in the middle of Aberdeen's pub mecca, is housed in a rather grand converted church. As the name might suggest, the themed bar is a ghoulish, gothic castle with dark, winding staircases and intricate alcoves, set on several different levels. They offer, amongst the usual alcoholic beverages and a suitably gory menu, the "Seven Sins" cocktails. If you're in an adventurous mood, why not sample all seven? You'll win yourself a T-shirt and certificate - Sloth is particularly recommended. Be warned though - if you drink too much and feel the need to visit the loos, make sure you follow someone who's been here before. The toilets are cunningly disguised as rows of bookshelves and many an unwary reveller has been seen spending minutes trying to push open a wall with despair etched on their face.
A former winner of the CAMRA Scottish Pub of the Year, the Marine Hotel is in a picture-postcard harbourside location. Recently refurbished and done out in wood paneling and nautical memorabilia, this bar is known for its wide range of real ales. The hotel is also known for its excellent food, served in a cozy restaurant upstairs with a real log fire. Seafood is the specialty here, caught locally and cooked in a variety of sumptuous ways. On hot summer's days, drinkers throng outside along the harbor wall, chatting and watching their children cavort around on the beach. Stonehaven has the most pubs per town population in Britain, so it's an excellent place to visit for a bit of history (Dunottar Castle) followed by a night on the town.
West of Aberdeen along the North Deeside road just east of Banchory; Scott Skinner's is a popular snug bar and restaurant, renowned for being child-friendly. The bar is a converted Victorian house with a fine range of beers on tap; children have a games room and a well-equipped play area.
Physically sandwiched above Triple Kirks pub and below City Moves Dance Space, Exodus nightclub is, ironically, a mixture of the two. The casual interior and relaxed atmosphere makes for a minimum of 'posing' and, as a result, it's easy to have a ball. There is no dress code, and so it naturally follows that although there are a mix of clubbers, the establishment is particularly well attended by students. Exodus houses around 275 people and the venue itself can be booked for parties. Music is mainly by means of DJs - spinning indie, hip-hop, funk, soul and dance grooves, although it is not unknown for live music to feature midweek. Drinks promotions are on Thursday evenings, but only 8p to midnight. These are of the usual sort - two drinks for the price of one, the offer covering a selection of drinks. See Nights @Exodus for further club mayhem details.