Aitchie's Ale House, Aberdeen

This place describes itself as an ale house, which I suppose is true in that it serves cask beer, albeit just a solitary example (Orkney Dark Island, £4.10). However, apart from that, the square bar and small, slightly raised side seating area are plainly furnished and decorated in a rather anonymous style. Handy for the station, but that's about it.

Close to the train station, this is a tidy little corner bar which is clean and comfy with white shirted and be-tied staff. It’s one single room with what’s best described as a landing strip side entrance and a square seating area hemmed in by wooden dividers. Red and dark varnish interior, nice enough but no great shakes. Just the one ale on, Orkney Dark Island - which was warm, insipid, expensive and probably the first one out for ages…not sure why this one’s in the Good Beer Guide. Frankly I could have copied Roger’s review from a few years ago.

This is a cosy, traditional pub in a prime location opposite Union Square and the train station. An open passageway leads you into the main bar area with the servery along the rear wall. The bar has a nicely panelled counter and smart mirrored bar back with a great pub mirror as its centrepiece. Opposite the bar is a carpeted space with a mix of banquette, chair and low stool seating options. The walls have similar panels to those seen on the bar counter, with some pinkish red uppers which doesn’t sound so appealing but is actually quite pleasant to look at. Décor is restrained and appropriate to the traditional feel of the pub, with some plain mirrors, old framed Tennents adverts and great old photos of the local area positioned around the room. A slot machine has been partly hidden in one corner and I spotted one of those pub crawl posters you see in a lot of cities, detailing the various pubs of Aberdeen. A TV to the rear was showing a late-night crime drama with the sound on but almost completely inaudible, despite there being very few customers in on a mid-week night. Some big pillars screen the left-hand side of the room which offers more seating, mainly in the form of banquettes and low stools, a nice old brewery mirror and plenty more black and white photos. I was greeted by a fantastic old school barman wearing a white shirt and apron who engaged in easy chat and poured me a pint of the sole ale option – Orkney Dark Island. The pint was absolutely fantastic – easily the best pint I had on my 65-pub tour of Scotland – and the genial landlord popped over as I was midway through to check I was happy with it and have a bit of a chat again. I was completely won-over by this place and thought the great, friendly service translated to the thought and care put into maintaining a smart, cosy pub and some excellent quality ale. The lack of a range of ales to choose from really is an irrelevance when the sole beer is of such high quality and I have no hesitation in saying this is the best pub I encountered in Aberdeen.

This place is just across the road from Aberdeen Railway Station down a side street. It's a small single room with a prominent TV that was showing football via Radio 5 Live so there was nothing to watch and neither of the two people in at around 20:00 on a Tuesday night were watching. There's also a very prominent one armed bandit which dominates the centre of this small pub. This led me to wonder why people only seem to moan about these machines in Wetherspoon pubs where there is usually plenty of room for them. As noted below, this "Ale House" has just two hand pumps one of which was unused and the other had a reasonable pint of Orkney Dark Island at a ridiculous £4.00. This is GBG 2018 listed but I thought it was very average, expensive and wouldn't return.