Restaurant review: The Marine Hotel in Stonehaven puts the finesse in pub grub

By Julia Bryce

November 19 2022, 6:00 am

A selection of dishes available at The Marine Hotel in Stonehaven. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Stonehaven is one of those places that I love to visit, I just don’t do it enough.

But within a two-week spell I found myself in the Aberdeenshire town on numerous occasions – either for dog walks or to celebrate the engagement of two of my boyfriend and I’s friends.

While I’m sure The Marine Hotel located at the harbour has hosted many an engagement party, this certain trip saw Calum and I bring his parent’s black labrador, Millie, who we were dog sitting, for a spot of lunch.

We were in the mood for a good pub lunch and figured we’d kill two birds with one stone. We’d grab a bite to eat and then take Millie to the beach so she could run around wild.

The Marine Hotel

While Stonehaven is a tourist hot spot, it isn’t exactly built for lots of parked cars in its small streets, especially around the harbour area, so, we decided to grab the first spot we could find and walk along to The Marine which lies on the waterfront.

Our appetite had been building thanks to days of big walks with the dog and I was eager to fill my belly with plenty of good food.

The front entrance of The Marine Hotel in Stonehaven. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

I remembered only the bar area of the hotel is dog-friendly so opted to sit in there instead of the restaurant. It wasn’t too busy when we arrived so we grabbed a seat in the far corner and Millie plonked her bum down in front of the fireplace, which wasn’t on at the time.

A friendly member of staff made us aware of the specials as she handed us our menus leaving a small blackboard on the table, and went off to get our drinks. The usual – two pints of Diet Coke.

The offering looked very enticing and although I had struggled to get access to the menu online, I took to various review platforms to get an indication of what to expect. The first thing I noted on this menu was how every dish had a beer pairing recommended beside it. After all, The Marine is the home of north-east brewers Six Degrees North.

As expected, there was plenty of the beer on tap and in the fridges, but alas, we refrained.

I also noted that there were plenty of gluten-free options on the food menu and the option to make some dishes gluten-free, too, which I’m sure would be appreciated by many.

The food

I fancied a lot of the offering, which is always a promising start. But, to be honest, I couldn’t see past the Chinese battered sea bass.

Served with sizzled ginger, chilli and spring onions and a soy and lime pouring sauce (£8.75) everything sounded like it would come together beautifully, and it did.

When our dishes arrived I was glad I’d went for something warm, unlike the hummus board that was placed in front of my boyfriend.

Not that there was anything wrong with the selection of hummus – basil pesto, sun-dried tomato and beetroot hummus all served with crudities such as cucumber and carrot plus pitta (£7.45) – but the smell from mine made me lick my lips in anticipation.

“Looks good, doesn’t it?” Calum reassuring himself more so.

We both tucked in and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised with both.

The fried battered fish sat on top of the bed of fresh, zingy ginger that too had been fried with the spring onion. Micro greens sat on top of the three reasonably-sized pieces of fish, and a small metal ramekin filled with the sauce was on the side. The Asian-influenced sauce was lovely and I loved the addition of the chillies which were hidden beneath.

The hummus boards that was ordered. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

The best part of the hummus board was in fact the variety available. I managed to sneak a bit of each one and they were all very enjoyable. I think the beetroot and the basil ones stood out the most, but I wasn’t sure if the price tag was a little hefty, given our small metal ramekins were just around half full, and it was bread with veg sticks.

I don’t normally do this with reviews but I ordered sea bass for main as well. Both dishes were served very differently, but my first option of monkfish marinated in harissa (£19.45) wasn’t available, so I decided to stick with the fish theme, albeit the same species.

The place had began to fill up by the time our mains were served so it was busy, but manageable for staff. Most people were just in for a few drinks, while the couple next to us tucked into their fish and chips (which smelled amazing) while feeding their young child some mac and cheese.

Every time a plate arrived at the table Millie’s wee nose would pop up onto my knee sniffing to find out what goodies she may, or most likely not, be able to sneak. Sadly the puppy dog eyes don’t work so well on me, especially when food is involved.

The sea bass risotto with smoked haddock and peas. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Calum didn’t follow in my footsteps and instead opted for guinea fowl. While it’s not something he’d usually order, he really enjoyed it.

Served with sunchokes, beetroot puree, chicory and a pan jus (£18.45), he ordered a side of chips, too, mainly because it’s hard not to when dining in a pub.

The jus was very rich and the beetroot puree went favourably with the bird, which was cooked just lovely.

What I noticed about both of our plates was that this wasn’t your regular pub grub, this was more than that. It had real finesse to it and was plated with precision.

My fillet of sea bass sat on top of a smoked haddock and pea risotto which was cooked in a garlic cream sauce (£17.95).

Both fish were cooked well, but the sea bass’ crispy skin nearly edged it as my favourite. However, the smokiness of the haddock was too hard to resist, and with that buttery risotto and peas that popped in your mouth, it stole the show.

We’d flirted with the idea of the venison and lamb dishes, and had the hake been served in the risotto I’d have definitely tried that. But I was after something homely and filling and the hake with langoustine bisque – as tempting as it sounded – was much lighter.

It was exceptionally filling, too. So filling that in fact I couldn’t stomach dessert.

The guinea fowl dish served at The Marine Hotel. Image: Kenny Elrick/DC Thomson

Desserts included everything from an apple and plum crumble to a cheesecake of the day, triple chocolate semifreddo, toffee and pear Eton mess, a cheese board and ice cream.

They all sounded heavenly but with a huge portion of risotto sitting in my belly, I figured it was about time I moved and let Millie stretch her legs.

I settled the bill at the bar, where other punters were now gathering for a pint, and we headed along the boardwalk to the beach.

The verdict

I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Stonehaven and the fact the food, weather and company was on form, I couldn’t fault it.

The ambiance of the pub area was perfect for what it is. And I loved the nautical interior touches with fishing net, paintings, doors with portholes and more, especially when you have a sea view from most of the tables inside.

The menu is also relatively new, so there’s plenty time to go back and get that monkfish. I won’t leave my next visit to Stonehaven so long.

A pub is very different to a restaurant, so I have given 3.5 as my service score. The staff were very friendly but there was little interaction with them, given they were busy at the bar, and I wasn’t able to build up as strong a rapport because of where we were seated.