Moonfish Cafe — Restaurant in Aberdeen City

I’ve been to this restaurant on 2 consecutive nights. The restaurant sits between 20 and 25 people. Wine selection by the glass is 3x store bottle price. They don’t seems to have a sommelier. The first night the young waitress got my wine wrong but I didn’t protest at that age all I know is wine from grape and service attitude is sincere and good.

I had Carpaccio as starter and Monkfish and Grilled Halibut. They are all good. Spoiler alert what delighted me and very innovative are not documented on their menu at all. I’ve been to many fine dinings and can take food objectively that are not typically my taste. Do not read bellow if you want some surprise and exploration.

Carpaccio - This is a very think cut not the thin type. Paired with walnut, blue cheese, sweet onion and slight bitter salad the flavors just mix alright.

Char Siu Monkfish - This is quite innovative. Cantonese char siu slight sweet paired with northern Chinese prickled spicy cucumber (this is so northern Chinese original flavor, you may associate kimchi with Korean but this is not but no need to debate) and sour cream. It would be already innovative enough without the sour cream as a Chinese dish. But you won’t get told it’s of Chinese origin in the menu so just enjoy the surprise. Pair with a good white wine something from France of cool climate.

Grilled Halibut - This is a normal European dish. At the beginning I was thinking it’s ok nothing special. But they put capers in and part of the fish meat had that flavor without eating a caper pulp. This is innovative with a delight, although...

I walked past the restaurant a while back on the lovely cobbled street of Correction Wynd and it looked cosy and welcoming so decided must go sometime. Went for dinner and was very disappointed. The website said they had a relaxed atmosphere but this didn't seem to extend to our main waitress who was tense and uncommunicative. I asked what turbot rarebit was and she said its just a piece of turbot - it turned out rarebit meant cheese on top. The turbot was nicely cooked and the dish was fine without being spectacular. Our waitress seemed peeved when my girlfriend refused a wine top up (as designated driver). I tried to lighten it by smiling and saying she was driving but she just walked off without a word. Very odd I thought. Another waitress who took bread to our table was breezy and smiled and asked how we were - the contrast couldn't have been greater. My starter was crayfish salad, the mint in the yoghurt overpowered everything - this was not nice. My girlfriend had smoked duck to start and pork medley (cheek, belly, fillet) and said everything was very nice. There were good things about the service - our water was replaced without having to ask and the dishes were removed in a timely fashion once we had finished a course. Our waitress came with the bill, I paid in cash and asked for change - it came back and was put on the table without a word and without looking at me. Again very odd and contributed to what was, in the end, a poor...

We've been here twice before. Both times on an itison voucher, not to say that made it a cheap meal out by our standards at £75 before drinks. The first time we went in for lunch pre-covid times, both of us really loved the whole experience and vowed to go back again someday so when I saw there was a new voucher I bought it immediately. This time we went back for an early evening meal. Maybe it was just that our tastes are not cultured enough but this time we just didn't enjoy the majority of the food. Of the two starter plates, we both loved the parfait but the other thing, I forget the name but a little cheesy bread thing just wasn't enjoyable. Next course was partridge breast. Again, maybe this was just my lack of fine dining food experience but there were parts on the underside that looked raw to me so didn't finish the dish as it put me off. Next course was cod with vegatables in a Thai sauce. I liked some elements of the dish, but found the cod itself to be a bit soggy, lacking in any flavour and unappetising. Desert, chocolate tarte, no complaints whatsoever - it was amazing! Other than having to wait over half an hour for it to be served after clearing our last plates away. Shame about the food not being for us and the long wait for our desert. Other than that the staff were all great, attentive and polite. I'm afraid based on our enjoyment of the food last visit, this isn't somewhere we are likely...