There's a New Boy In Town...There are few sentences more satisfying in life than the words "...there's a new pizza place opening...". So when I heard about Mac's Pizzeria opening, I was understandably excited! Mac's is one of two new ventures in the city by the McGinty's Group (the other being The Esselmont), and it promises to bring authentic Neapolitan style pizza to Aberdeen, freshly prepared on site using the finest, genuine ingredients keeping with the Neapolitan style. We were away for the opening day, so we missed out on all the excitement, but as soon as we were back, we didn't hang around in getting in and checking it out for ourselves! Mac's operates on a walk in basis (but will take reservations for groups of 6+) so you just need to chance your luck in getting a table, however, it is huge inside, and we didn't have any trouble getting a table, albeit on a Thursday afternoon... The FoodMac's menu is simple, but that doesn't take away from how appealing it is. There are six starters on offer, along with a range of sides to choose from too. As for the mains, you get the choice of ten Neapolitan style pizzas, ranging from £6.00 to £8.50. Pizza no. 2, Mac's Signature Pizza is one that may immediately jump out at you with its Scottish twist of "Blaggis" - a combination of black pudding and haggis, along with Scottish white cheddar. There is also a kids menu available for the little ones. I opted for no. 7, the spicy one, with the ndjua sealing the deal for me. I also chose to add hot roquito peppers to it for an extra spicy kick. To wash it all down, I went for a pint of the Menabrea, an Italian lager. Kerry opted for the no. 2 (Mac's Signature Pizza), along with a glass of prosecco. While we were waiting for the food to arrive, I took the chance to check out some of the cool decor on show inside Mac's. It really is a funky open space, with quirky touches everywhere you look, including retro Vespa scooters and Italian football memorabilia. It didn't take long for the pizza's to arrive, and the minute mine landed on the table, I couldn't wait to tuck in. The waiting staff offered some extra black pepper & Parmesan, which we happily accepted, and I added some extra chilli oil myself to spice things up a bit more. I cut the pizza up with the pizza cutter provided and went straight in with my hands for my first slice - the sauce and cheese were sweet and tangy, the chicken combined perfectly with the ndjua and the peppers gave the right amount of warming kick and a slight sweetness. The base itself was cooked absolutely as it should be, with the perfect amount of char and chewiness on the crust to round everything off - I just wished I'd ordered some spicy ndjua butter for dipping. It's safe to say that there wasn't a scrap of food left on my place by the time that I was done! As for Kerry’s pizza, the Mac’s Signature Pizza, she assured me that she very much enjoyed it. I tasted it for myself, and whilst I definitely preferred my own, it was still pretty tasty. The only thing that I can really say is that I found that the “Blaggis” was quite heavy and and a little stodgy for my liking. As for the rest of the pizza - the sauce and cheese were sweet and tangy, the onions provided a sweet crunch, and the base & crusts were cooked perfectly, just like my own. The VerdictIf you follow me on Instagram, you may have already seen my verdict on Mac's - I loved it and I can't wait to go back. Sure, it may be simple food, but some of the best food around is simple! I feel like I'm enough of a pizza fanatic that I'm qualified to be a pretty good judge, and I thought this pizza was absolutely fantastic, and probably some of the best you'll get in the city. It's hard not to compare directly with Mozza, with to the Neapolitan style pizza, and I really like Mozza, but in my opinion - it's certainly every bit as good (if not better?).
I would 100% recommend checking Mac's out if you haven't already. It is such a funky space, with great staff, in a great location, and as I've already mentioned - the pizza is worth the visit alone.
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Aberdeen Restaurant Week ContinuesI just want to start this post off by saying I wasn't asked to review McGinty's as part of #ARW2019, but after having a great night at The Hop & Anchor last week, we decided to head out again and check out another #ARW2019 menu and McGinty's menu caught our eye straight away. Having been open for around 10 years now, McGinty's is a firm city centre favourite - located at the top end of Union Street, McGinty's has been offering up hearty pub classics, along with a selection of premium & local drinks for what seems like forever. Admittedly, I haven't eaten there in quite some time, so sampling their #ARW2019 menu seemed like the perfect chance to reacquaint myself with this Aberdeen institution. When we arrived at McGinty's the place was absolutely mobbed! I forgot when I booked the table that there would be football on at that time - but that only added to the atmosphere! We waited at the bar until there was someone available, and we were served by our eventual waitress (unfortunately I didn't catch her name) for the night, who showed us to our table before setting it up for us, and taking our drinks order. The FoodMcGinty's have pulled together a selection of staple items from their main menu for their #ARW2019 £20 three course dinner menu, and it was this menu that made us book a table here in the first place. There is something for everyone on there, with vegetarian and vegan options included. For our starter, we decided to share the Nachos and Crispy Cauliflower Bites between us - I was absolutely buzzing for the cauliflower! The starters made their way over to the table, reasonably quickly after our drinks arrived, but long enough as to know that everything was cooked freshly. We didn't hesitate to dive in and I started to tackle the mountain of nachos, cheese and chilli that lay in front of me! The nachos were great, they didn't become too soggy with the chilli which is something that can sometimes happen, the chilli was suitably spicy and gave a warming kick to everything and the stringy cheese bound it all together perfectly. If I had to make one complaint - it's that it's quite a large dish, and I would say it almost has to be shared between two people or it could become too much. Moving on to the Crispy Cauliflower Bites, that were served with McGinty's "house" hot sauce. Now these were an absolute treat, and probably one of my favourite dishes of #ARW2019 so far. They were covered in a crispy batter that almost made them pakora like, and gave them the perfect crunch. The house hot sauce dip topped this dish off perfectly - it gave the cauliflower bites the perfect combination of sweet and spicy flavour that just went together so well. Looking back, I honestly wish we'd opted for two servings of these! At least it gives us a reason to hurry back... After we'd finished out starters, we got the chance to have a bit of a break from the food whilst we awaited the arrival of our mains - I'd opted for The McGinty's Burger, with Kerry choosing the Spinach & Falafel Burger. The burgers soon arrived, and we finally came face to face with the challenge that awaited us. Both burgers were pretty big, and served with a plethora of chips, coleslaw and salad. Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that The McGinty's Burger was going to be no pushover - stacked with a huge patty, cheese, onion rings and a big dollop of haggis...woah! I poured on some of the accompanying whisky sauce and got to work devouring this monster of a burger. The patty itself was cooked perfectly; suitably charred on the outside, and tender and juicy on the inside. The accompanying cheese, onion rings and haggis all brought their own flavours to the burger, with the haggis especially providing an extra layer of depth, almost like a second burger patty - which made it quite a feast. It all tasted great together, but I have to admit that I did eventually start to struggle with the burger - I think that the haggis, combined with everything else just made it a really heavy dish, but that doesn't take away from the overall flavours. I didn't taste Kerry's Spinach & Falafel burger myself, but she assures me that it was very tasty, full of flavour and overall, nice to try something different. Our plates were cleared away, and we placed our orders for dessert - opting to share the Sticky Toffee Pudding, with ice cream, and the banoffee Waffles an' Ice Cream. When the desserts finally arrived in front of us, my stomach was still bulging from the starters and main (and beer!), but when I saw how good they looked, there was no way I wasn't going to be tucking into these dishes! I started off with the sticky toffee pudding, and it was almost everything a sticky toffee pudding should be; it was warm, spongy, moist, and the accompanying sauce and ice cream worked well with the dish. There was something missing, however, that I couldn't quite put my finger on - it didn't taste bad or anything, it just felt like it could have tasted even better. Next up, the banoffee waffles and butterscotch ice cream, and I'd been looking forward to these ever since I'd first looked at the menu days before! And they certainly did not disappoint - the waffles were warm and fluffy, the already melting ice cream, combined with the sliced banana and toffee sauce worked absolute wonders for the dish. I couldn't pick a fault with this dessert, and if you choose to check out McGinty's anytime soon, I would 100% recommend it. Job done. The VerdictAs with The Hop & Anchor, and probably every other restaurant offering three courses for £20, McGinty's was absolutely fantastic value for money, and you really can't fault anything when you get value you like that. The atmosphere was awesome, the service was fantastic, and most importantly, the food was great. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I hadn't been to McGinty's for a while, so it was good to be reminded of what I'd been missing out on. McGinty's, we'll be seeing you again soon.
#ARW2019 #comedinewithus https://www.mcgintysmealanale.co.uk/ https://aberdeenrestaurantweek.com/ |