Soul — Restaurant in Aberdeen City

I used to live in Aberdeen and would regularly go to the soul bar at the weekends and occasionally booked a table in the restaurant. I always had a nice time there, so when my partner asked where was good to go once we had planned a visit, the soul bar restaurant was a natural choice - or so I thought. I completely understand that COVID has complicated things, but honestly, I really wasn’t prepared for how dire the whole experience turned out to be. Firstly the bar staff tried to seat us at a picnic bench outside and on the main road. I tried to explain that we had booked a table for four in the main restaurant. We were then escorted inside, but then shown to a high table in the bar. I explained again that I had booked a table for four in the restaurant. The member of staff explained that they were fully booked so we would have to eat in the bar area. I explained yet again that we had booked a table in the restaurant a week prior to our visit. The manager was then called over and told us that the restaurant was reserved for bigger parties and as we were only two, we had to stay in the bar. I explained we were soon to be four. She then questioned how many households were involved and I said two (two couples). Her excuse then was to say that the law in Scotland dictated that me and my partner would have to sit 1 metre away from my friend and her partner and so would still have to stay seated in the bar. Eventually she did seat us in the so called restaurant. Imagine my surprise when I saw 2 girls sat at one table, a group of people sat at another, 4 young lads sat at another and 5 men sat at another - and all in close proximity to one another. Even if the whole 1 metre apart rule was true, can they honestly say that these people were all from the same household? I doubt it somehow. These people were clearly groups of mates out on a night out. As if that wasn’t enough, the food was shocking. How anyone can get loaded nachos wrong is beyond me. They also completely forgot to order my main, meaning everyone else had finished eating by the time my main arrived. Had it had been worth the wait it may not have been so bad. Unfortunately for me the food was inedible. By then we had already spent almost £200 on a substandard experience, so I decided it best to just go via Tesco on my way...

Visited for lunch Thursday 24th April. Booked a table for two in advance. Roxanne attended to the pre-booking call and all our needs at the venue. We had starters and a main course each. My wife was tempted with the Nachos starter-large potion and I sided with the Cullen skink soup-tasty but not very hot (a slight negative). We both had the fish and chips for our mains-absolutely delicious.

They have a plethora of draught lagers and beers. I tried two different lagers which met my needs.

The experience was made all the better as Roxanne was very friendly and made sure that we were well catered for at all times. She is a credit, and was a breath of fresh air-a great ambassador for the establishment-prime reason for the 5* rating.

I only rated the atmosphere as 4* as there were only a handful of customers at the venue.

Would definitely recommend for a spot of lunch, I suspect it would be quite busy on Friday/Saturdays so probably best to...

Was standing at the bar for ages, no one came to us and ask what we wanted to order, two ladies were making cocktails and don’t give a f about us (They don’t even wash their hands, just crack the egg and split yolk and white with bare hands, that looks so disgusting so unappetising. Hope the guy who’s drinking it won’t get explosive diarrhoea). Some lads came in and they were served straight away. Dunno why the waiter and waitress just chose to ignore us. I asked the waiter if we are standing at the right place to order drink, he said yes, and then start to serve us. They were even not that busy. Thats ridiculous, chaotic, poor management. Have no manner at all. The review here is not good but still overrated. Should have a zero star. I guess it’s just got good location so they don’t give a f about customer service because people...