Clachan Grill — Restaurant in Scotland

Clachan Grill a hidden gem and one of the best restaurants in Ballater.

After a long day of visiting Ballater, eating ice-cream and enjoying the sun and the sightseeings, we felt a bit peckish...

We tried a place who unfortunately served food starting with 1700pm. I couldn't wait so we made our way down the street towards the bridge... and there we found this nice Scottish restaurant - Clachan Grill.

The Restaurant, as you will see in the photos attached to this review, has a Scottish ambiance. Staff nicely dressed in traditional Scottish outfit, tartan carpet, pretty thistles in large vases and large chandeliers with giant ornamental anthers hanging from the ceiling.

If you love a nice evening out and an enjoyable meal in a luxury and cosy at the same time restaurant and a great ambiance, this is the place for you!

A member of staff dressed in traditional Scottish outfit welcomed us, very polite and very kind offered us a table ( although we didn't book one)

He was so kind to read the menu for me so I can make a choice ( due to the fact that I forgotten my glasses).

The service was very prompt, drinks and food came in time and were of high standards.

We had two soft drinks - clear apple juice and Pepsi and two meals - Peterhead haddock and Steak burger, followed by two big sticky toffee puddings * to die for*.

Portions are a very good size, freshly cooked and very delicious. I'm usually not very keen on French fries. Believe me, these fries that came with the haddock as well as with the burger were sooo tasty and absolutely melting in your mouth. No idea how they cooked them but they're the most delicious French fries I ever tasted.

I did expect the bill to be as higher as the look of the restaurant. Surprise, It wasn't!!

I could have had my meal one more time (obviously I couldn't, not even if I wanted as I was full up!!)

Well, I'll come back! and I'll recommend this Restaurant to each and every single friend and person I know

Clachan Grill restaurant, very highly recommended! *

Thank you Chef! And thank you...

The Clachan Grill came highly recommended. Dinner is by reservation only. We decided to check it out on a Sunday night, which they have a special Sunday Menu.

The restaurant is very pretty, nicely decorated, bright and airy. Our server greeted us at the door (and he was wearing a kilt, a nice touch). He wuickly brought us water and took our drink order. My wife had sparkling water and I ordered an Ola Dubh beer. This was the first time I had tried this beer, but hopefully it won't be my last. It was brewed with whisky, vanilla, spices, and aged in sherry casks. While I don't generally like darker beers or beers with higher alcohol content (this one was 8%), this one was delicious.

Apparently Sunday night is "roast night" so Stacy ordered the roast beef, which was accompanied by carrots, broccoli, and what she called fabulous roasted potatoes. Stacy was a little disappointed in the roast beef, primarily because she is used to a thicker cut of prime rib served rare while this was a thinner cut and served more medium/well. It was still tasty, but it just wasn't what she was expecting.

I had the cajun chicken sandwich, accompanied by fries. The sandwich had a large chicken breast, covered with aged cheddar, jalapenos, and a cajun sauce (as well as lettuce and tomato). It was delicious.

We couldn't agree on a dessert to share, so Stacy had the sticky toffee pudding served with vanilla ice cream and I had the brownie sundae. Both desserts were fabulous. Unfortunately we forgot to yake pictures of dessert, so we'll...

The food was lovely! The front of the house felt a bit awkward at times, and lacked precision. For starters we had the Scottish smoked salmon and the duck and orange pate. Both were brilliant in taste, but the chef could’ve thrown in an extra bit of salmon. Portion was tiny, especially compared to the other plate on the table. What I really missed though was a spoon to finish the Cullen skink sauce. Main courses arrived so soon that we felt a bit rushed. The blank angus featherblade was very tasty and very nice in texture. The asparagus ravioli tasted nice, though they were over cooked a little bit. They were also hidden under a sizeable pile of vegetables. A bit weird in terms of presentation, but they were actually really nice. We were asked if we had ‘room left for desserts’, but got no dessert menu afterwards, so we asked for it later on. The desserts (sticky toffee, and a rice pudding) were marvellous! All in all, we really liked the food and we enjoyed ourselves. The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice. The wines were ok, but too warm. Prices were a bit high perhaps, especially when taking the level of service into...