It’s a bit of an understatement to say Siberia Bar and Hotel is proud of its new Scottish fried chicken burger.
They’ve been shouting about it all over social media recently in the run up to Aberdeen Restaurant Week 2023 (ARW).
And so they should be.
A week night visit to Siberia is a totally different experience to a Friday or Saturday night. My partner and I – along with our cockapoo Billie – were seated at a table on the main level of the Belmont Street venue, near the bar.
Normally I’d worry about being so close to a bar, but on a cold Monday night it was relatively quiet with the majority of customers choosing to sit and enjoy the stunning view across the redeveloped Union Terrace Gardens.
For us though, we were only there for the food – and as you’ve likely guessed, Siberia is very proud to be Scottish.
The food
The ARW menu is small but perfectly formed. There’s no filler duff items, it’s a tour through the best they have to offer.
There are two deals available for this year, you can either go two courses for a tenner, or all three for £15. There’s also a special cocktail for this year, which I’ll go into later, you can pick that up for £8.50.
To start, you have three choices, the cheesy pasta bites, the house hummus with flatbreads or the “soup of whenever”. The first option is vegetarian, the other two are both vegan, which is fantastic if you either don’t eat meat, or if you’re looking to cut back.
Between the two we opted for one portion each of the cheesy pasta bites and the house hummus with the plan to share them.
The three cheesy pasta bites were croquette shaped, and beautiful golden with an even panko crumb, ripping them open revealed a majestic cheese pull, with the macaroni coated in a rich cheese sauce.
The whole thing sat on a chef’s flourish of spicy mayo – my only fault here was I’d like a bit more kick from the mayonnaise, but that really is a personal preference.
This is what every cheesy bite cheese pull should look like pic.twitter.com/5COkkhM4MI
— Callum Main (@EECallum) January 12, 2023
The hummus was textured and well flavoured, and served with six shards of flat bread, the light dusting of smoked paprika on the plate worked well to complement the classic starter, and thankfully the ratio of hummus to bread was spot on.
Again, for the mains, you have three choices. A take on the standard fish and chips, instead with a salted seabass fillet, the much shouted about SFC – Scottish fried chicken burger – or a vegan hot dog with the usual accompaniments of mustard, ketchup and crispy onion.
Each of the three main dishes on the menu come with your choice of a side, fries, garlic bread or onion rings.
With the seabass, we of course chose the chips. The main element itself consisted of a perfectly cooked piece of fish, coated in a golden crispy batter. As tasty as it was, the star of the plate was two sauces, a vibrant herby tartar sauce and an incredible homemade ketchup – none of that over-sweet, artificially-vibrant stuff here. Siberia serves up proper tomato sauce, full of freshness that paired brilliantly with both the fish – and obviously the chips.
The fries themselves were of the skin-on, skinny variety, just a little fluffy in the middle, crispy and crunchy on the outside and – for me at least – properly seasoned.
On to the much-talked about burger. A lightly toasted brioche base, topped with two crispy coated chicken thighs, and drizzled with an Irn-Bru hot sauce, stacked high with a whisky and black pepper slaw, completed with the brioche lid and a knife stabbed straight through.
The chicken itself had hints of five spice and sesame in the batter, the meat perfectly cooked and delicious. The Irn-Bru sauce added a little sweetness and a little heat which complemented the crispy coating. The coleslaw itself maybe needed a little more pepper and whisky smoke for me, the advertised flavours on that element fell a tiny bit short – but that aside, it’s a very good chicken burger.
I’d love to see the chicken and hot sauce served up as a loaded fries option in the future, as mixing mouthfuls of those together was fantastic.
Our second side was a bit of poor choice by us to be honest, we opted for garlic bread, when we really should have grabbed the onion rings as I feel they would have paired better with the burger.
The garlic bread itself was OK though, herby, golden with just enough garlic you can taste, but not kill off any nearby vampires (or offend your other half).
For ARW 2023, Siberia has served up what I would liken to a take on the classic man o’ war cocktail. The Tim’rous beastie features Glenfiddich, Cointreau, lemon juice and maple syrup. The sweetness and sharpness balanced well with the whisky to create a lovely wee drink.
However, if you’re not a fan of a whisky cocktail, Siberia has a great selection of classic cocktails and “cocktails of the moment” including a winter daiquiri I’ll be trying next time I’m in.
If the above doesn’t have you filled up – or if you decided to skip on the starters – Siberia has two dessert options for you.
The Biscoff cheesecake is a whipped affair, with that iconic flavour throughout the light cream top, the biscuit base was buttery and crunchy providing a food texture balance. With this flavour of cheesecake, sometimes the Biscoff-flavour itself can get a bit too much, in this case the team at Siberia have got that balance just right.
The other option, the pretzel bread and butter pudding is exactly what you need on a cold January night. A proper stick to your ribs, dessert with custard and chocolate, topped with a hard creme brulee-like caramel. It’s a sweet dessert, but very moreish!
The verdict
Siberia is shouting loud and proud on social media right now about its food – and rightly so. Proudly independent and very proudly Scottish, the menu reflects and embraces that.
The dishes are fantastic, the portions sizes just right – and if you hadn’t guessed from the review above, the sauce making is fantastic. If there’s just one place you visit for ARW2023, make it Siberia – and get the Scottish Fried Chicken, you won’t be disappointed.
Don’t forget to take your dog too!
Information
A: Siberia Bar and Hotel, 9 Belmont Street, Aberdeen AB10 1JR
T: 01224 645328
Price: £10 or £15
Aberdeen Restaurant Week promotion: Two or three courses from their Aberdeen Restaurant Week Menu, plus a special cocktail
