Wes and Stacy had booked a night out at a nice little restaurant in Aberdeen called Cafe 52. Booking in advance was a great idea since we ended up with the private room to the left of the entrance that gave us plenty of privacy and made the evening all the more special. Complete with a sliding glass door to keep the drafts from the entrance away, the only downside is that the staff had some trouble remembering that we were in the room every so often. For some reason, we ended up with yet another Australian waiter for the evening, who was fairly friendly but wasn’t particularly attentive, forgetting a number of the simple things (like water!) that we had to ask for several times. On the other hand, the chef was extremely helpful coming out to explain which ingredients were in what dish since due to dietary requirements, not everyone could eat everything off the menu.

In terms of ambiance, they had a decent soundtrack playing that wasn’t so overwhelming that meant that we could still chat away without having to shout over each other, and enough ambient noise to ensure that it never fell silent. The food was an eclectic mix combining quality Scottish produce with some tradition and definitely not so traditional recipes. I started with the cullen skink (£4.90), a traditional smoked haddock soup that went down perfect considering the sub zero temperatures outside. It matched exactly what I thought it should be, thick, creamy and full of haddock chunks. For the main, I ordered the prawns and scallops cooked in a rich thai cream sauce (£17.90). I had hoped for something with a lot more kick, but my palette instead met with a more sublime sweet sauce, infused the familiar Thai coconut flavours covering about four prawns and three scallops. Their home made fries, perfectly crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside made the perfect compliment for soaking up the rest of the flavours just as well as a chunky loaf of bread would have been.

The dessert menu arrived and I couldn’t quite resist finishing the meal off with the coffee flavoured pannacotta though was fairly pricey at £7.90. It wasn’t the creamiest of panna cottas that I’ve had, instead lightly infused and a much lighter custard that went down almost a little bit too well with the slice of caramelised clementines. I would have preferred a much thicker coffee sauce as it almost felt like someone had spilled a little bit about coffee on the plate instead of someone making a proper sauce.

Cafe 52 offers a great experience if you can get the private booth, though I think that each dish was definitely overpriced for what you get. The dishes are definitely on the small side for the prices you pay though the ingredients seemed fresh enough.

Name: Cafe 52
Details: 52 The Green, Aberdeen, AB11 6PE
Contactable on: See http://www.cafe52.net/