It was an apocalyptically rainy Saturday afternoon, and from my vantage point on the sofa, I could see the rain bouncing off cars parked on the street outside.
I had plans in the diary to meet a friend for lunch, but at that moment remaining horizontal in front of the TV seemed far more appealing.
Plus, I’d been up late the night before and was also recovering from a cold. Could you tell I was looking for excuses?
At that moment – as though she could sense my growing urge to cancel – my friend rang and offered me a lift.
Quickly running through a mental list of the contents of my fridge, I accepted. It looked like lunch was back on the cards.
The Venue
We arrived in Amarone hungry and just a little damp a short while later.
Located on Union Street, this large Italian restaurant is opposite and up a little bit from the Music Hall.
I hadn’t been in since before a fire devastated the building back in 2018.
It was forced to close but thankfully opened a year later having had a major refurbishment (before, of course, being forced to close again six months later thanks to Covid).
Today the venue is bright and welcoming even on the greyest afternoon, with a large square cocktail bar and tall ceilings with a glass roof.
We were shown to a table in the middle of the restaurant underneath said glass roof, and listened to the rain hammering down above us.
With a cocktail in hand (a Valentina for me, with grapefruit vodka and passionfruit) the weather suddenly felt a lot less important.
The Food
On the table in front of us, we had both a main menu and a brunch menu.
The brunch menu is £35 and diners receive four drinks with their meal – there are a few decent cocktails included which are usually around £9 each, so this has the potential to be a great deal.
But the food is very breakfasty, with lots of eggs and avocado involved.
By the time we sat down, it was nearing 2pm so we opted to go for the main menu, plus we had both spotted delicious-looking pizzas being taken out to other tables and wanted a slice of the action.
To start, we picked burrata verdure miste.
Burrata is a delicate soft cheese with a soft centre and this dish was served with grilled Mediterranean vegetables.
We paired this with a classic sourdough flatbread which came simply with rosemary and salt.
The two dishes complimented each other well with the chewy, salty flatbread providing some much-needed texture with the soft cheese and grilled veggies.
These were great dishes to share and the portions were generous – I would not have been able to finish either one of these alone as a starter.
The mains arrived and immediately I knew my eyes had been bigger than my belly.
A tartufina pizza was placed down in front of me; a white pizza with a base of black truffle and ricotta cream instead of tomato, and complete with mozzarella, spinach and porcini mushrooms.
It was delicious thin pizza with chewy crusts and the truffle flavour was strong, which I loved. There was plenty of cheese though I could have used a few more mushrooms.
My friend had obviously not had enough burrata from the starter and picked the burratosa pizza which came with black olives, garlic, anchovies and torn-up burrata.
With strong flavours coming from all angles, this is not a pizza for the faint-hearted.
The anchovies were classically salty and paired excellently with the mild cheese, while the olives and garlic really ramped up with umami flavour.
We shared a slice for a slice and both agreed we had picked the best two pizzas on the menu.
It was a struggle to finish the big plates of food and soon the waitress spotted us struggling and offered to box up our leftovers which was appreciated.
After a short break, we figured that one more cocktail would slip down easily enough and finished the meal with a raspberry pear mule (raspberry vodka, pear liqueur and ginger beer) before heading back out into the rain.
The verdict
Amarone wasn’t particularly busy when we visited but still managed to have a pleasant, unhurried atmosphere.
The large dining hall had several groups of friends of all ages enjoying wine and cocktails late into the afternoon, and we were happy to be among them.
The service was friendly and the food felt like a real slice of Italy, which was exactly what I wanted on a dull Aberdeen afternoon.
And now I know they have a brunch menu, I’m already looking for an occasion to sample it.
The bill: £78.70 for two courses each, cocktails and wine.
Address: 257-259 Union St, Aberdeen, AB11 6BR
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