Aberdeen Restaurant Week 2019Aberdeen Restaurant Week is here, and as I mentioned in my preview blog, I've teamed up with a great bunch of local bloggers, along with Society Aberdeen to cover the event, as well as providing restaurant reviews to help you decide where to eat. I was thrilled when I was asked to review The Hop & Anchor as not only have I enjoyed my previous visits there, but where better for a beer blogger to preview #ARW2019 than from a craft beer bar?! Located on Exchange Street, The Hop & Anchor are owned by BrewDog, under their Draft House brand with it being their first of the chain outside London. It opened in March this year, and has been a firm favourite with beer and food lovers since. Offering up a more streamlined menu of craft beers compared to a regular BrewDog bar, and serving up classic pub food options such as pies & roasts alongside BrewDog staples such as wings and burgers - it has been a welcome addition to the city. The FoodThe menu that The Hop & Anchor have put together for #ARW2019 is simple, but that doesn't make it any less appealing. For £20, you get three choices for starter and main as well as two choices for dessert with a flight of the house beers thrown in for good measure...it is a pub after all! We were greeted by our very friendly waitress for the evening, Rachael (Rachel?) who showed us to our table, and then explained the concept of the menu to us, including the flight of beers. She then went off to prepare our beers for us while we decided what we wanted from the menu. The beers promptly arrived, and we placed our orders. For starter, we decided that we were going to share the chipolatas, and the curiously named "half pint of whitebait". The beers included in the flight were 1/3 pint each of Victory x Draft House Lager, Sierra Nevada x Draft House Pale Ale, and Schneider Weisse x Draft House Wheat Beer. Whilst they were all tasty enough, my favourite was the pale ale, followed by the wheat beer. The starters arrived quickly after the drinks, in a simple yet, well presented manner. The chipolatas were pretty much as described on the menu - sausages and a mustard dip, but that doesn't take away from the fact that they were a tasty, proper bar snack of a starter, we are in a bar, remember? The chipolatas themselves were perfectly charred, flavoursome and juicy and the accompanying mustard dip gave the right amount of kick to spice things up. If I could make one suggestion to improve them, then it would be to wrap those babies in bacon, because who doesn't love a sausage wrapped in bacon?! It quickly became apparent what the "half pint of whitebait" was... a half pint glass, filled with whitebait, and a slice of lemon. Whilst the half pint was a quirky idea, I could have used a side plate to empty them out onto as it got a little awkward trying to get in there with the fork. This was actually my first time eating whitebait also, so I was quite surprised to see how small they were - they were also extremely tasty! I really enjoyed them, they were full of flavour and the perfect bite size starter to start the meal. I'll definitely be trying out some more whitebait in the future. For main course, I ordered the awesome sounding Smoke Burger, which was right up my street, and Kerry went for the Spiced Butternut Squash & Spinach Pie. It was soon time for the main event and the Smoke Burger mountain was soon sitting in front of me. I could immediately tell, just from looking at it that this burger was cooked to perfection. It looked tender and juicy, with just the right amount of char on the outside. And boy was I right! After one bite, I was in burger heaven; the bun was soft, fluffy and buttery, the patty was juicy, slightly pink and cooked to perfection, the bacon added the right amount of smoky flavour and the chipotle mayo bound everything together with a fiery zing all without overpowering the flavours. It wasn’t messy either, something that can also be a problem with big stacked burgers such as this – I cut it in half and was able to tackle it with zero mess spilling out everywhere. The fries were also great - they are pretty similar to the fries you get in BrewDog (they might be the same?), but they made the perfect accompaniment to the burger. Over on the other side of the table, Kerry was tucking into the rather hearty looking Spiced Butternut Squash & Spinach Pie, and assured me that it was very tasty. I sampled it for myself, and can confirm that it tasted great – the filling was full of flavour and the pastry was delicious. I honestly wouldn’t have been able to tell that it was a vegetarian dish either! With the mains finished, Rachael, our waitress, kindly offered us a much needed 10 minute break from food in order to get ready for our desserts, which we gladly accepted! When the desserts eventually arrived, I had a slight moment of self-doubt whether or not I could accomplish the task that lay in front of me – they were massive! I had ordered the chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream, and Kerry opted for the sticky toffee pudding, also with ice cream. Naturally, we opted to share the desserts, and both were delicious in my opinion; the brownie being the perfect amount of gooey chocolatey goodness complimented wonderfully by the melting ice cream and the sticky toffee being perfectly sweet, spongy and sticky without being too sickly. Mission complete! Now the food was out the way, and stomachs were full, it was time to relax and enjoy one final beer before we were on our way. I opted for the Velvet Merkin Imperial Stout by Firestone Walker which came in at 8.5% ABV. This might not have been the smartest idea as it was quite a heavy beer to finish the night (I finished it, obviously!). The VerdictFor £20, I think this is absolutely amazing value, and well worth checking out over the course of #ARW2019. You're not gonna come here for a romantic dinner, but for a lunch stop, or some great food over a few, quality beers, The Hop & Anchor is definitely the place to be. A beer and a burger is one of life's most simple pleasures, and in my opinion - The Hop & Anchor have absolutely nailed it.
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