Cafe Harmony — Restaurant in Aberdeen City

Finally got to go after three trips to Aberdeen and literally across the road from my hotel. I’ll be honest, it looked kind of bohemian and not my scene as an uncouth oilman. I was worried they didn’t even serve alcohol.

Finally Jan 25 I rocked in after perusing the menu - they give you a laminated card and you mark with a dry erase marker what your order is. I was warmly greeted and shown a table and given a recycled gin bottle of water.

I tried the calamari and patatas bravas. Both can quickly and piping hot. The patatas was drizzled in a wonderful romesca sauce apparently made with tomatoes from Italy. The calamari was crispy and tender and the sauce was subtle.

For my main (I totally overordered - if you’re alone have one small plate and and main. Or 3-4 small plates. You WILL be full) I had the Mama special lamb on risotto. The rice was perfectly cooked - not too sloppy and a great bite. The lamb was divine, tender, lean, and full of spices without being hot. The added chick peas were a delightful surprise.

Had a French 75, A cosmopolitan (one of the best I’ve ever had) and a dirty martini. All excellent made by the...

It looks inviting and has lots of gluten free options, so I reserved a table, but was given the worst one in the restaurant - crammed right by the front door - even though most tables were empty. Nobody asked if we had any allergies, the menu said many things are gluten free but apparently this means you have to ask for a GF alternative, so my starter, chicken caesar salad, arrived containing gluten. The chicken was like uniform, shop-bought, processed chicken. The main was worse. Lamb risotto turned out to be something like Uncle Ben's rice with a tasteless, massively overcooked lamb ragu on top. It genuinely tasted like a ready meal. The our main was so quick to arrive and piping hot, undoubtedly blasted in the microwave. Service was strange, almost like staff didn't want to engage with us. Really disappointing...

The atmosphere was nice. Unfortunately, my monkfish was overcooked and boiling hot, which only means it was heavily microwaved! It is a great shame, especially when it is £29! Caprese salad wasn't even seasoned, and had one sad basil leaf on top, the salad was on a bed of bistro salad like the one from Sainsbury's (there is one nearby). The salad was £12! Even in an authentic Italian restaurant in London the price is lower for the same dish. The service was disappointing, the ladies looked smiley but were avoiding talking to customers, and instead were chatting rather loudly by the bar. No service charge is included in the final bill, which is great as they do not deserve it. Very pretentious and overpriced place in such a lovely city! Great shame, would...