Thousands of diners will be able to try new dishes, cuisines, and venues as part of Aberdeen Restaurant Week which will make a much-anticipated return to the city from Monday, March 7 to Friday, March 18.
This year’s line-up includes newcomers Soul, Under The Hammer and The Howff as well as ARW staples, Kirkview Café from their new Belmont Street home, Nepalese restaurant 8848 and The Tippling House. Other venues are being encouraged to sign up to take part before the deadline later this week.
Organised by city centre BID Aberdeen Inspired, Aberdeen Restaurant Week provides a platform for restaurants and cafes across the city to showcase what they have on offer while also positioning the area as a food-lover’s destination of choice.
Running for twelve days, the public are being urged to get out and about and experience as many restaurants as possible during the event.
Serving up exclusive menus for two simple price points of £10 for lunch and £25 for dinner, food lovers will be able to enjoy a wide range of cuisines from dozens of local eateries offering unique, value for money menus which have been put together exclusively for the twelve-day promotion.
Chief executive of Aberdeen Inspired, Adrian Watson said: “Aberdeen Restaurant Week always creates a buzz in and around the city centre and helps to drive footfall as diners take the opportunity to visit our shops, bars, stay in hotels and take in other attractions and activities while they are in town.
“The event has provided a much-needed boost to hundreds of local eateries since it launched in 2018 and is now a firm favourite on every food lovers calendar. There’s no better time to come back to the city, particularly after the numerous restrictions and struggles the hospitality industry has faced over the last two years.
“We’re really excited to welcome a number of new restaurants to our line-up for the March event. Diners should feel confident about getting back out and about, I’m sure that they will not only experience fantastic food but also receive the warmest of welcomes from everywhere and everyone in our hospitality sector who quite literally put their heart and soul into serving up some of the best food the city has to offer.”
The event last ran in November 2021 which saw more than 40 restaurants take part, with many reporting a higher number of bookings in comparison to normal weekly figures and some eateries seeing a 60% increase in covers.
New eateries taking part this March include the iconic city bar Under the Hammer which re-opened its doors in November last year. Martin Widerlechner, Marketing Manager for the venue said “Under the Hammer is an Aberdeen institution which wasn't previously known for its food offerings so we are delighted that restaurant week allows us to showcase this.
“Aberdeen Restaurant Week provides us with an ideal opportunity to introduce the venue to a new and extended customer base. We plan to offer a choice of small plates and sharing platters with two cocktails or wines for £25. We look forward to welcoming restaurant week customers to our home just behind the Golden Square.”
Around 20 local restaurants and cafes have already signed up to take part and organiser Aberdeen Inspired is calling for local businesses to get involved. Open to all Aberdeen city centre eateries all they must do is create a unique fixed priced menu exclusively for the event which give’s customers a flavour of their usual offering. What the menu consists of is entirely up to the restaurant and they can offer two courses, three courses, a tasting menu, include additional drinks or side dishes, the choice is theirs.
As well as some new additions to the event some of the city’s favourite food spots were amongst the first to sign up again, including Union Street’s popular Nepalese restaurant 8848 and the city’s fashionable vegetarian and vegan café Food Story.
Krish Bhetuwal, director of 8848 commented: “We are proud to be part of ARW 2022. Our approach is to become little bit more innovative through offering an experimental menu which, we believe, makes us stand out and gives us an advantage over other places.
“It’s also an opportunity to motivate staff to create something new and also exceed customer expectations. Overall being part of Aberdeen Restaurant Week is a celebration here at 8848.”
Jonny Chirnside, HR and business development manager at Foodstory said: “It’s great seeing Aberdeen continue to celebrate and support its diverse and growing food scene. Aberdeen Restaurant Week is always a fun period and a good way to encourage people to try a bunch of restaurants they perhaps wouldn’t normally have tried.”
Feedback from restaurants who took part in the November 2021 event was hugely positive with many commenting on how the scheme is a huge benefit to small local businesses, enhancing their own marketing activity and attracting customers in both midweek and at weekends. Restaurants also reported visitors from further afield had travelled to the city as a result of hearing about Aberdeen Restaurant Week and, with that in mind, Aberdeen Inspired are excited to be welcoming Highlands based food bloggers Adam and Kelly Tadd down to the city to give their take on what the event offers to visitors.
Kelly told us: “Having been rooted to our Highland ‘haim’ for the last two years, we’re really excited to get out and about again. Where better to start than with our Grampian neighbours?
We spent the first lockdown in Aberdeen surviving off takeaways, so can’t wait to get back to the Granite City for Aberdeen Restaurant Week and see what we’ve been missing out on. We have a wish list of places we’d like to see participating and hoping to see some of them on the final line-up.
“We’re all about championing Scottish food and drink, with a focus on locality and hope other areas will be inspired by ARW’s efforts to connect people with brilliant local businesses.”
Aberdeen Restaurant Week is hugely popular with diners, with one satisfied customer commenting "It’s one of the best things to come to Aberdeen City. Bringing people together over food and drink is one of life's greatest pleasures and to be promoting and supporting local companies is a great benefit.”
For more information about Aberdeen Restaurant Week, visit https://www.aberdeeninspired.com/festival/restaurant-week
Interested restaurants should complete the sign-up form on the Aberdeen Inspired website by Wednesday 16 February 2022 or email ARW@aberdeeninspired.com