You’ll recognise Portlethen’s Place to Eat food van, a longstanding figure in the retail park.
The food van is run by husband and wife Darren and Patricia Robertson, who started the business back in 2014.
You can smell the bacon and chips the moment you arrive in the retail park.
And it’s great to see customers arriving at family-run business Portlethen’s Place to Eat, even with big chain McDonald’s 100 yards away.
The bacon roll is their top seller at the food van, but the menu includes burgers, sandwiches, chips, sweet treats and cakes.
It’s certainly not a place to visit if you’re on a diet, but it’s an ideal spot if you’re looking for some friendly banter and hearty, warm grub.
Starting off with a bacon cheeseburger
The bacon cheeseburger (£4.60) was the first dish we tried, and we got this with added onions and burger sauce.
The Aberdeen Angus steak patty is sourced from G McWilliam butcher, and was packed with flavour.
It was a huge burger too, filled with fried bacon and onions.
The cheese on this was mellow, not too sharp, which I appreciated. That meant we could appreciate the flavour of the meat more.
I think I would have enjoyed this a bit more with the addition of lettuce and gherkins, but I still found it to be tasty and satisfying.
Joanna: 4/5
Andy: 4/5
Next up, we tried the three cheese macaroni (£5), served with chips.
The chips were brilliant, with a great crisp to them and nothing soggy in sight.
I am a bit fussy when it comes to macaroni and cheese, and often find it bland.
This though? It wasn’t bland at all. This wowed us, and is much better than you might expect for a food van in a car park.
The mix of cheeses (mild cheddar, mature cheddar and red Leicester) combine beautifully to create a gooey, flavourful dish.
A great mix of sharp and more mellow cheese made this punchy but not sickly.
Patricia tells me that this is one of their most popular dishes, and that customers need to call ahead to pre-order this.
I’m not surprised. It’s delicious.
Joanna: 5/5
Andy: 5/5
How was the huge chilli hot dog from the Portlethen food van?
Next up, we eyed the chilli cheese hot dog (£5) from Portlethen’s Place to Eat.
This is enormous, with a bun that fills the whole container, and a heaped portion of homemade chilli packed with peppers and kidney beans.
Personally, I would have preferred if the cheese was melted on top, as a lot of the cheese ended up falling off the hot dog.
The chilli was lacking in heat a little for me, but it was still tasty.
Joanna: 3/5
Andy: 3.5/5
Lastly, we tried takeaway staple chips, cheese and curry sauce (£4.20).
The curry sauce was partially homemade, and had the usual mild heat and saltiness.
Again, the chips were nice and crispy, and made this a very tasty, moreish dish.
Joanna: 3.5/5
Andy: 4/5
You can try Portlethen’s Place to Eat for yourself 9am-3pm Monday-Saturday.
Read our other Taste Tests here.
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