Ninety-Nine

By Mark

Sorry, no snappy titles and no hip hop references, unless I think of something by the time I finish writing this sentence.

No, nothing.

The first impressions that 99 makes are definitely good. The menu reads like a feast of tasty, modern and well conceived dishes, and the decor is quirky, pretentious, but undeniably cool. The menus are stuck inside the front covers of old comic annuals, which is a nice touch, and we were served in a very relaxed and confident manner. Things were looking really good as we were told the specials without the aid of a blackboard, or notebook, and the fact that the waitress knew how many portions of the special were left smacked of good organisation all round. I was beginning to fall for 99 and was determined I was going to love the place.

And then it all went a bit wrong. First up, some food that we hadn't ordered came to our table, and then we had to wait something approaching an hour before we got our meals. I was beginning to wonder what was happening, as tables who arrived and ordered after us had finished eating before we had our food. Thinking back, I suspect that there was a mistake with our order, as it was not written down on a piece of paper when it was taken, but on the waitress's hand. Quite endearing, I thought, at the time, but I'm not sure what the health and safety would make of it.

When it eventually arrived, the food was OK, but nothing more. I chose the Toulouse sausages, which were nice, with herby polenta mash that needed seasoning, and herbs. Claire had a Chicken breast that came with mango and chilli salsa. Incredibly, the mango and chilli salsa was also bland (how can something containing mangos and chillis be bland!) and the chicken was dry, and all round, hers was a disappointing meal. Justin's tapas were hit and miss, and only Simon's meal of pork meatballs was met with total approval. The only real hit at the table were the hand cut chips, which came with aioli and hot sauce, and which were stonkingly good.

So after promising so much, 99 ultimately left us a little disappointed. I'll definitely be back, as the charm of the place was quite infectious, but there are one or two problems that need to be ironed out. Since the death of the once legendary Estaminet, Aberdeen really needs somewhere a little less conventional like this, but they can only survive on charm for so long.

Ninety-Nine Bar & Kitchen
1 Back Wynd
01224 658087

99 problems: Ninety-Nine

By Justin

See, this blog is aiming to attract the Kids too. Yes, that is a Jay-Z reference in the title. How cool are we!

The (rather pretentiously-titled) Ninety-Nine Bar & Kitchen occupies the site of the long-dead Booth's Bar, in a prime location just off Union Street and right next to the taxi rank. Booth's was probably my favourite pub when I first came to university, with its grimy interior, great atmosphere and beer, pies and football. When it shut down, it turned into a truly appalling-looking wine bar called "The Wynd", whose door I am glad to say that I never darkened. When I saw that it was now the 99, I looked at the menu and decided now was time to re-enter my old haunt. It looked really promising: informal dining with unpretentious, hearty-sounding food.

Unfortunately, 99 was unable to live up to the promise. Strike one came with the very slow service: it was around 1 hour after we arrived when the food was finally delivered. How it will pick up any business on weekday lunchtimes (when an hour is the limit for the entire break) I don't know. Strikes 2 and 3 came with my meal. I decided to pick some dishes from the Antipasti/tapas section, with my table-mates going for the standard main course-type fare (or provender, according to the menus). Slow-roasted garlic on ciabatta turned out to be a basic garlic bread, and came with the cheese option that I had not requested. Having been served garlic bread, I at least expected to taste the main ingredient, but am sad to say that I only tasted butter and cheese. I love roast garlic, and this wasn't it. My second choice was tiger prawns "drowned in garlic butter": the prawns were there (and tasty) but they weren't in any danger of drowning (can prawns actually drown?) in the meagre amount of butter. Again, I failed to taste any garlic. The day was saved somewhat by the zucchini fritters with spicy sauce, but you can't really go wrong with deep-fried veg, can you?

Maybe the 99 was having a bad day. The service was pleasant and attentive, and the food was alright. The hand-cut chips that Simon and Claire had were lovely, and Mark's sausages looked like a hit. Portions were generally a bit small, meaning that I was only satisfied rather than full. Top marks for not (unlike everywhere else) ripping us off on soft drinks: £1.50 a pint is reasonable. I'll certainly give the place another try at some point, but with so much decent competition in the immediate vicinity, I wonder how long it will be before the building sees another occupant disappear.

Ninety-Nine Bar & Kitchen
1 Back Wynd
01224 658087