Prince of Wales, Aberdeen

The Prince of wales is a traditional backstreet pub that boasts of being established in 1850. There is seating along the front windows and up the left-hand side. The bar runs up the right and faces a beer shelf for vertical drinking. At the rear is more seating and an open kitchen. I didn’t spot any menus, but I imagine the Belhaven cheap pub grub menu is in operation during the day. The bar supports a standard keg range and I counted eight hand pumps. These were drawing GK Abbot Ale and IPA, Belhaven 1719, Cromarty Rogue Wave, Orkney’s Windswept, Redcastle Brewery’s The Laird Wheat Beer and The Headstock. My visit was on a quiet Monday night, so it wasn’t very busy, but I imagine it gets very busy during the day being so close to the shopping centre.

Hidden down a narrow side street off a busy shopping precinct, this is a fairly traditional, old fashioned ale pub full of characters and a few auld wifies. The dark (in a good way) interior is rambling but possibly best described as a 180 degree spun F shape. There's a long bar to the right on entering with separate offshoots to the left, with dining taking precedence at the far end where there is an open kitchen. The main drinking strip is fairly narrow and I found it difficult to bag a seat just after midday. Eight pumps with seven on; Orkney Dark Island, GK Abbot (!), Ruddles and Scrum Down, Cromarty Wee Heavy, Windswept APA and Jarl Maverick (good nick). A nice atmosphere inside and the barmaid was on good form, bantering with the regulars. If I didn’t have a list of other places to bag in a short space of time, I would have stayed for another. It should be the default pub visit if you’re in the Granite City for a couple of pints.

Tucked away down a backstreet but not too far from the bustle of city centre life, this is a decent old-fashioned looking pub that has had a bit of a corporate style makeover. You enter into the main bar with the servery along the right-hand wall and some well stocked seating areas opposite. The bar has a long dark wood counter which runs a surprisingly long distance into the pub and the bar back has a few nice etched glass ‘Prince of Wales’ mirrors. Bare floorboards cover the majority of the pub and these look nice in combination with the high dark wood panels that line the walls. The left-hand side of the pub has been split up into a jumble of spaces by numerous partitioning walls and pillars yet somehow still gives the impression of being one big single room. The effect is to create numerous little semi-secluded seating areas, mostly furnished with basic tables and chairs, although some high tables and stools can be found too and there are nice banquettes along the side wall. Further back, there is another seating area with an open kitchen on the back wall underneath some pleasant stained-glass panes. Beyond, comfy banquettes run under nice bookshelves and patterned wood panelling. There are lots of slot machines throughout the pub and a number of Tv screens too although the latter were all turned off on my late-night visit. The bar supports a good number of handpumps which were offering Windswept APA and Weizen, Redcastle Tower IPA, Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted, Orkney Dark Island, Morland Old Speckled Hen and something called Sam’s Swalie which may well have been a house beer. I had a pint of the APA which was in decent nick and I think this place probably has one of the most extensive ale ranges, outside a Wetherspoons, in the whole city. This is a fairly decent place which can’t quite shake off that corporate feel, despite the fairly pleasant interior. I felt that the pub worked well as a bolt-hole for those looking for a quiet spot in the city centre and with the wide ale range available, it certainly is an appealing place to stop off for a quick pint or two.