It’s no secret that St Nicholas Street’s Marks and Spencer outlet has many loyal customers who, to their delight, received an early Christmas present this year.
That came in the form of booze. More specifically, Aberdeen’s flagship M&S was recently given permission to sell alcohol between 10am and 10pm daily in its café.
It may not be in place just yet, but there is, of course, still food on the cards.
Neither myself or Andy have paid the café at this Markies a visit before.
It was time to change that, so we stopped by last week to order some menu items to takeaway to give you some recommendations on what to try and avoid alongside your glass of prosecco (once it can be served).
With our office building based right around the corner, it didn’t take long before we were tucking in.
Read on to see what dishes and drinks we tasted, and our ratings for each.
Chicken pot pie soup
When you’re charged £6 for a portion of soup, you expect it to be hefty, right?
This one was not. In fact, our chicken pot pie soup had been poured into a disposable coffee cup just above the halfway line. They must have been short in stock…
We could get past that, but what we couldn’t ignore was how bland the soup was.
Andy described it perfectly when he said it tasted like a tin of Heinz chunky veg. I’d rather go for the Heinz, it’s a fraction of the price.
Ratings:
- Andy: 2.5/5
- Karla: 2/5
Garlic ciabatta sticks
Next up was a portion of garlic ciabatta sticks, priced at £1.50. There were two in the portion and, in my opinion, they were a great size for the price.
Like the soup, there was little going on in terms of taste, despite the garlic aroma being intense.
They were, however, nice and crunchy on the outside yet fluffy on the inside.
Proving a tad on the dry side, Andy proceeded to use his as a spoon for the soup. He said the two paired well together.
Ratings:
- Andy: 2.5/5
- Karla: 2/5
Halloumi and falafel wrap
The final savoury item on the cards was a halloumi and falafel wrap — and it’s safe to say we saved the best dish for last.
The £6 wrap, cut in half, was delicious.
According to the Marks & Spencer website, it features crunchy, mildly spiced falafels, halloumi, cheddar and Emmental cheeses, chargrilled red peppers, jalapeño peppers, diced red onion, and a chipotle and red pepper tapenade chutney.
The pair of us could certainly taste the herby falafels and sweet chutney, but some of the other ingredients (including the jalapeño peppers) were nowhere to be found.
We agreed we would order this again, but it just needs that bit more filling…
Ratings:
- Andy: 3.5/5
- Karla: 4/5
Percy Pig slushee
If you’re planning on heading to an M&S café specifically for a Percy Pig slushee and are expecting it to taste like a liquified Percy Pig gummy, I’ll save you some trouble by saying don’t bother.
When I noticed the £3 drink on the menu, my inner child was excited. Very excited.
In the end, I felt conned as it tasted more like a frozen version of Robinsons Apple and Blackcurrant Squash — only very weak. Andy wasn’t impressed either.
It’s starting to grate on me how often M&S uses the Percy Pig branding in the names of food products.
I get that it’s owned by M&S, so they can do whatever they like with it. However, it insinuates that the recognisable Percy Pig flavour will shine through, for it to then not taste remotely similar…
What a shame, this drink had so much potential.
Ratings:
- Andy: 1.5/5
- Karla: 1.5/5
More of Karla and Andy’s reviews around Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire:
Have you tried the famous scones and pies from Kemnay Farm Shop? We did, and here’s what we thought…
Haggis empanadas: Did the food at Tucan in Rosemount transport us to South America?
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