My last Aberdeen post, promise.
I met Mrs RM at the Marischal, looking lovelier than ever (Mrs RM, not the Marischal).
Any plans I had to take Mrs RM on a tour of Aberdeen’s famous pubs went out of the window; whether due to that evening in the Krakatoa or the cumulative effect of IT exertions at the University.
So she missed out on a real cracker or two.
So it was straight to the classy Rishi’s Indian Aroma as recommended by Hector’s Curryheute, no less.
Dick and Dave rely on Hector for curry advice as much as they do on BRAPA for good gastropubs. It was fantastic, and the mansplaining on the table opposite about the little lump of pudding in the thali was Curry-BRAPA gold.
Interestingly, they had that Windswept Wolf bottle hat ruined me the day before on their beer menu. I stuck to mango lassi, Mrs RM went craft with the Cobra.
And that was it for Aberdeen.
On the Caledonia Sleeper back to Euston I sketched out the Aberdeen scorecard.
PROS
- Friendly people
- Great architecture
- Cheap Punk IPA
- Some very good food, even if we missed out on the deep fried haggis
- Great traditional pubs
- Superb street art
- And a busier nightlife than expected, particularly at the Union Square centre, where the BrewDog bar had “greeters“.
CONS
- The Art Gallery is still closed.
- Transport routes are slow. It would have taken me 3 weeks to get to Peterhead (that may also be a Pro).
- There’s no micropubs (oh, sorry, that’s a Pro as well)
- The cask wasn’t shifting very quickly, and was dire in the Spoons.
We were ten minutes early into Euston, giving us time for a cappuccino in the cheery Somers Coffee House just as Chalton Street Market was setting up its stall with bargain housewares.
What a wonderful collection of BBB awaits you.
Sadly, no pints at 7.57am. I despair of this country, I really do.
NB For five points, name the pub.
retiredmartin 
The Rising Sun.
That’s what the signs says anyway.
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If only life were that simple.
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After Rising Sun it was a Firkin and now the Rocket licensed from 9am.
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As, always, spot on Paul. Mrs RM studied across the road at UCL and the Firkin was one of the first pubs she took me in, and where my love for real ale started with Digbolter.
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Is Digbolter what Dogbolter turns into when it’s buried a bone? 🐶
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Digbolter was the house beer in the Firkin in Dogthorpe, Peterborough ;-0
Were those Firkin house beers well-regarded in CAMRA circles ?
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I think Firkin house beers were well-regarded in CAMRA circles although as the chain expanded towards fifty pubs not quite half actually brewed. They had standard beers which, other than Dogbolter, were sold under their own name but could also do their own ones.
I didn’t get in the Friar and Firkin as often as nearby Mables which was very near the union headquarters where someone I knew worked.
My pint of London Pride was drinking well in the Rocket when I was last there by 9am on Saturday 8th July 2017 having arrived into Euston at 8.40am and before moving on to the Parcel Yard. I had one of my last pints in the Bree Louise at lunchtime. Later the Scottish Stores was as afar as I got as my wonky knee was even dodgier than it is now and I used the Somers Town Coffee House on my way back to the railway station for the 6.46pm train home.
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The wonky knee you don’t like to talk about ? Oh, getting you mixed up with a young whippersnapper.
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Twist the knife. That curry is the deathblow to those of us who did not get to go along. Glad you had a great time though. Wow.
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Sorry. Can’t really blog on a city without curry pics. Really interesting tastes, you’d love it.
Aberdeen was a lot cheaper than I remember though this place wasn’t bargain. Local trade too.
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In the good old days, she could only have dreamed of getting into the Grill.
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I can’t imagine anyone arguing with Mrs RM and she could no doubt sink pints of 70/. or whatever they had in 1975, quicker than the blokes.
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Mrs B was at university in Aberdeen and was among the first women to use the Grill once the men-only rule went. Women were not exactly welcomed in that there was no ladies’ bog but Mrs B and the sisterhood got round this using the one in the Chinese next door.
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#PubWomen #Heroines
And there’s not a memorial to this event ? I bet Hollywood will make a film about this heroic challenge to discrimination one day.
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There is a film in preparation, if not already released, called “No Ladies Please”. Mrs B not involved unfortunately.
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I remember the Prince of Wales pictured being under threat of closure thirty years ago.
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And I remember visiting in 1998 when I think it was the premier real ale pub in the city (possibly with Blackfriars).
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