The Balmoral Bar in Aberdeenshire

Had no food but drinking there was great

As it was Saturday it was quite busy but we got a table. The staff were very nice and a shout out to Ryan & Ellie. We really enjoyed our lunch and the tea was excellent, a nice big pot and lovely and hot on a cold day. We will definitely return.

Proper Scottish pub with delicious food

Great food and friendly service

Had a lovely meal great portion sizes Made our dog feel very welcomed Would highly recommend

First class service and food with a friendly family vibe. It made our day out will definitely return here 5 stars. Also the Town is beautiful and clean with a friendly warm welcome.

Lovely pub lunch, delicious lunch, friendly staff 🤩

Nice food and reasonably priced. Nice beer too and a decent pool table. We had haggis balls and Cullen skink. Couldn't fault it. Cullen skink was lovely. The staff were great, very friendly.

Visited the Balmoral Bar for lunch on Sun 18 Feb 24. Fast, friendly and efficient service from both Ryan & Angus. The food was excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit. This has become our destination of choice when visiting Ballater because we are never disappointed.

Great ambiance good traditional pub with quality food. Clean toilets. Nice staff well organised. Clean. Allow dogs. Shame about owner eating her own food on the bar. Would greatly benefit window update to give more curb appeal.

Great pub food, friendly service and nice atmosphere 👌. Great curries 🍛 😀

Had a nice lunch at the Balmoral Bar today, and service was good from both from Kamila and Rebecca .....Would definitely return.. thank you!!

We’ve visited this place many times. Most recently in Feb 24. Consistently friendly atmosphere with attentive staff. The food is excellent and it’s a nice touch to have Trevor, the chef, appear after you’ve eaten to ask if you’ve enjoyed your meal. We were served by Ryan who couldn’t have been more helpful, our deaf black lab really enjoyed the biscuits ;) Thank you all.

Great pub for locals and visitors. Excellent friendly atmosphere with great food and great beer. Dog friendly as well.

Been in twice now for lunch and the food is brilliant, really good tasty meals, great service from the staff, if your in Ballater looking for a decent meal this is a great place to go.

Had a great meal,l. We were well looked after by Ellie and food from the Chef was delicious. Delicious pub food in a warm, friendly atmosphere. Don't miss it while staying in Ballater.

Our new local when we're in Ballater

Great pub, great food, l9vely atmosphere so good we kept going back

Great early dinner with family who are up for the weekend to visit. The service was amazing, so accommodating and friendly! The food was equally as good! Our family were really impressed with our 'local' !!

very good food staff attentive

Would highly recommend eating at the Balmoral Bar. The food was excellent with the chef taking time to ask if we enjoyed it. The bar staff were friendly and couldn't do more to help. Overall my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our lunches there and will definitely come back.

Best wee pub! Always a friendly atmosphere with amazing food and entertainment. I love the Friday karaoke nights or when there is a live band playing on a Saturday night. The staff are lovely and go the extra mile for you!

Nice wee bar. Food was defo better than expected.

Popped in here for a bite. Great country atmosphere with tartan decor. A nice homely place. The food was excellent. I've never seen a chef serve you the food and check on you through your meal in a long time. A pleasant surprise. Has a fair set of balls and obviously confident in what he does which is refreshing to see. Thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Defo recommend this place.

Super friendly staff. Great food, Cullen Skink AND Haggis good bons

Lovely food good staff enjoyed lunch

Lovely food, fresh and tasty. Quick service and reasonably priced will definitely return. Free parking across the square in car park

I wandered in on a Monday night and couldn’t have had a better time. Ryan was incredibly knowledgeable about whisky and Trevor let me try two of his amazing curries. Everyone at the pub was welcoming and friendly. I’m so glad I ended up here. The people made it a highlight of my holiday.

Fantastic, just what we needed when having a weekend away with our 3-month old. Food was excellent, a broad selection of traditional pub grub. Service was also excellent, and also a broad selection of draft beers and other drinks. We liked it so much we went two nights in a row. Nice and busy despite being out of season. Highly recommended.

Wonderful place to have food and few drinks..very friendly

Fantastic pub. Busy with drinkers and eaters. Atmosphere was brilliant. Chef was hilarious, told us the kitchen was closed, ha ha. His food was spot on though. Beer and service was also good.

We were in Ballater at lunchtime so popped in to the Balmoral for a beer and a sandwich. Both excellent and friendly and efficient staff as well.

Friendly, relaxed atmosphere, the Cullen Skink not to be missed. My first time trying Stovies, delicious. Chef walks around checking everything tastes good, staff friendly and welcoming, even gave the dogs a drink and some treats.

Stopped at the Balmoral in Ballater for a late lunch . Fabulous food and friendly staff. Greeted by the chef who was so helpful , accommodated slight change to the meal and served direct to our table . Good size portions - this was quality, home cooked food - so tasty and nicely presented . On a rainy day out in Scottish autumn weather this was a real find !

Perfect local pub! Full of regulars and friendly bartenders! Great spot for a pint after a day of exploring Speyside.

Great bar I've eaten twice here whilst staying in ballater. Both the Pork Sunday roast and steak pie were amazing. The staff are really friendly, and service was quick and efficient. On my visits Food is served until 8:30pm However I would definitely recommend booking a table in advance as it does get really busy.

Was in for drinks on this occasion, although I have previously eaten here. Food is great and it's a nice bar with friendly staff

2nd visit this week , last visit may , looking forward to xmas visit

Great Cook! Great food and atmosphere. The cook was amazing. Had the Curry Lamp Phaal and Mix Fajitas. Being from Texas, I was a bit skeptical of the fajitas, but they were quite exquisite.

Warm and friendly atmosphere with amazing food. The smoked haddock special was so tasty. Didn’t stay for the Saturday night music but I bet it was fun.

Visiting from the US. This is the best meal we had in town! Curry was spicy, beers were delicious. Local spot for sure so you get a feel for the town, it's a bar, but they also welcomed our baby with a high chair and a smile. Good dogs welcome. Three barks your out rule made me chuckle. Busy but can call ahead for a table, and the bustle is part of the flavor. Would definitely go back.

Bar was quite packed in the afternoon, but that didn't detract from a couple of hours watching golf and Aberdeen thumping Rangers on the TV. Cracking pint or 3 courtesy of the Braemar Brewery. Always a good pint to be had in the Balmoral Bar

Best curry 😋 great beers and fantastic staff

Amazing haddock and very tasty fries. Staff was very friendly and the whole place was really nicely decorated. I will definitely visit again when in Ballater.

Great pub with amazing pub grubs and a wide selection of whiskies! Great place to enjoy the local atmosphere.

Lasagne and Fish & Chips were great. Cullen Skink: we had better. All in all a good place to relax, enjoy, have a drink and a bite.

Brilliant! Great friendly bar with professional, attentitive staff. Superb atmosphere & no over the top drinks pricing. Truly high quality food served at reasonable prices...this pub is located in perhaps one of most beautiful location in the whole of the UK. The local punters were warm and friendly and I was served the best pint of cider I've had in my 7 decades. Faultless...nothing negative I could say about this place. I'd return in a heartbeat...

Excellent venison burger. Recommend.

Fantastic place to eat and drink staff and chief so friendly

Recently visited the Balmoral and had dinner. There were 4 of us. We all had something different and we all agreed the food and service was terrific. Top marks to all the staff

Superb place. very well eaten. Heartwarming welcome We recommend++++++

Accueil incroyable. Personnels plus que sympathiques. Le chef a l'écoute et soucieux du bien être de ses clients. Le tout dans un pub typique. Arrivé la par hasard, sans aucun regret. Allez y sans hésiter.

Stopped by for a drink. Pleasant early evening clientele. Schedules live music and karaoke nights.

Excellent service and food was amazing

Visit Ballater often and always go to the Balmoral Bar. Went for lunch today and it was lovely as always. Food is great with the Chef coming out to check if we enjoyed it which we think is a nice touch. The service is great and atmosphere friendly with tvs showing various sporting events. Really welcoming place and the perfect venue to absorb the loveliness of Ballater

Place was busy with a mix of locals and tourists. We got the last table. Very on the ball service from the barstaff. She recommended the home made steak pie and it was delicious. Huge portions, the veggies were a bit over cooked for my taste but that’s personal, others may prefer them like that. We shared haggis Bon Bon’s and when the chef saw we were sharing and there were three he went and cooked another. Great place.

Excellent pub grub served quickly, staff friendly and welcoming. Seemed to have locals and tourists as customers, good atmosphere. chef came round to ask if everything was ok, Nice personal touch.

Fantastic Pub with Amazing food. We visit this gem of a pub as often as we can. The atmosphere is great with lovely welcoming and friendly staff. A gold medal has to go to the Chef. The food is always first class. Our favourites are the curries - made fresh and so tasty. If curry isn’t your thing there’s a great specials board. It’s a real gem of a place. If you’re lucky enough to be there at a weekend, keep an eye out for some amazing bands too.

Wasn’t sure where to eat in Ballater in the evening as everything seemed closed other than the Indian (packed) and take away Chinese. The Fish Restsurant was a bit more pricey than we were looking for so chanced in here and what a find! Absolutely delicious - had fish and chips (cos why not ❤️) and they were absolutely gorgeous, fresh, chunky white fish, light batter … chef took our order and waited on which was a great touch. He was lovely, funny guy too told couple next to us he had to chase the 3 legged haggis himself when they enquired what it was 😉😂 Hubby had fajitas - they were superb too Well recommended by us 👌🏻

What a gem of a pub/restaurant in Ballater. Good selection of beers and spirits. Staff were so friendly and helpful but the icing on the cake was the wonderful food. Freshly cooked and piping hot, what is not to like. A special shout out to the chef who cooked a Lamb Naga Masala Curry which had a bit of a kick but was so tasty, it put Indian Curry houses to shame. Would highly recommend and if you live in Ballater, you are lucky to have such a nice place on your doorstep.

Visited with our son and our dog. Burger was really nice and chips were great too. Service was quick and staff were happy and welcoming. Lovely waitress offered our dog a treat and a bowl of water. The chef even came out and asked if he could give her some chicken. Very sweet.

Food was as good as the last time we visited! The staff are friendly too! There are screens to watch sports on if you're into that,Chose not to have a dessert as we were full.

I didn't sample the food but enjoyed a couple of pints of very nice cider and enjoyed the atmosphere. Cheers! 🍻

Good range of drinks from draft, to Bottled beer and spirits. Food is well priced and good portions.

uk or the united kingdom is a nice country ,hey great food nice country nice little restraunt with a fun flavor to it

Visited today with our 2 Golden Retrievers and Coco the Yorkie. Was a friends birthday. Trevor the Head Chef was very friendly and his food was amazing- Lamb curry- Brilliant, 2 Steak Pies yummy. Food fresh, tasty and huge portions. Very reasonably priced too. Thank you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Really nice, comfortable bar / restaurant, excellent and friendly staff and the Cullen skink was to die for. Would recommend a visit if in the area.

We come here often when at home in Aboyne. It’s difficult to order anything but the fish and chips, because they are the best we have had. The hubby took a chance on the tikka masala and it was incredible! Maybe better than some Indian specific restaurants.

Had the Curry - really good. You wont leave hungry Had been here before on my last trip up this way and the food was good then too Will definitely return, good value.

Really dog friendly! Water bowl available & treats occasionally handed out. Tasty food too.

Husband had macaroni and chips and I had fish and chips both lovely, chef brough the dishes out personally so you can tell he cares about his food, only personal preference is for fish and chips I prefer big fat chunky chips rather than medium skin on style but just a personal preference.

Very dog friendly, water and treats provided for free. Typical pub food. Good variety unless vegetarian (found that alot in scotland) but do cater for gluten free etc. Reasonable prices and good honest food. Would return if in the area.

We had a fabulous meal in the Balmoral, many thanks to chef Trevor Fish .I would recommend this pub to everyone

Waited over 1 hour to be served. Food was good and staff pleasant otherwise would have walked out.

Just a pub. People and music try to drown each other out. The people here are really nice and the food is great. And with a delicious Guinness in your hand, it's great to endure 😁.

Went to Ballater with my daughter and her family to take my mum out for lunch. Husband and I had been once before and liked the food and atmosphere. Again did not disappoint, party of five adults and two children 4 year old and 17 months . Menu was good with plenty of choice for food and there was also specials and a sandwich/panini menu. I had fajita, lovely, daughter had tiger scampi, husband had fish, big portion but really good, daughter partner had steak pie, lovely, encased in pastry, my mum went for a toasted sandwich and soup. Cheese sandwiches made for kids and they also enjoyed chocolate icecream. Staff were attentive and chef also came out and spoke to customers including the kids. Lovely meal enjoyed at in today's cost of living crisis reasonably priced. We will be back

Popped in for lunch today, enjoyed delicious food and drink with first class service. Hubby was delighted with the cask ales and great whisky selection. We had lasagne, fish and chips and steak pie. Each meal was outstanding. Chef came out for a chat, he...

Great atmosphere and dog friendly. Lunch was excellent best haddock I have had in a while. The rest of the group had the beef nachos, burger and all clean plates. :) Great customer service. Clean and friendly environment.

Loved this bar. Looks a little old fashioned inside however food and beers amazing . The staff are super friendly.

Good dinner place, next to central car park. Recommend for a highlands trip evening.

THE most amazing food and service. As an Aberdonian where every chipper says its the best......the Balmoral Haddock was BY FAR the best I've had in about 10 years. The Prawn Scampi was gobbled up by my 14 year old...who is very choosy..Brilliant

Went there with the kids and had a lovely evening with delicious food and a good selection of drinks, everyone was very happy

Good Guinness and nice location

Ni e place for good quality food

Incredibly rude staff, couldn’t try the food unfortunately…

Typical bar. Bartender don't know the whiskeys. Ask you selection and she reply go to the bar check. Food was good. Nice Curry Steak was ok. Good if there nothing else to eat around

Great pub with efficient friendly staff. Especially Ryan and Kamila. Food is top notch, reasonably priced and a varied menu with something to suit everyone’s tastes. Trevor the chef is amazing and makes sure everyone is happy with their food choice.

Service and chef's attention were first class. First time I've been back for a while but cannot fault anything except its popularity necessitating a book early or day before for a seat for a meal. Keep up the good work!!

Go there to eat excellent fish and chips., 👍🍟

Great bar, good food & great staff

We arrived early in the Balmoral bar all the staff wasn't in but we got served by the chef don't know if he was owner or not but he poured us our pint quickly and even set up the tables and chairs outside for us because it was a beautiful sunny day we had few pints the young lady serving was very friendly and service was great will have go back sometime

this is a real scottish pub 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 !!!

Great bar with fantastic wholesome food. Chef Trevor usually comes round to make sure everyone is happy with his and his team's offerings. Bar staff are excellent and attentive. Love this pub

Loved this bar during my weeks stay. Partner and I loved the food. The bar staff are helpful and the chef knows how to produce great food. Trevor comes out and speaks with the customers which I find amazing for a chef to do. He...

My partner and I visited the bar twice whilst on holiday for a week. We found the bar staff helpful and attentive. We ate in here twice and loved the food. We had the ribs, burger, fish and chips. Trevor is a gem of a man who produces wonderful food. The burger is seriously nice. My partner had the ribs and we cleared the plate. Good portions and service, Trevor comes out front which is rare to see a chef do, he speaks with the customers making you feel very welcome and informed. Thank you to the staff and chef. Next trip I'm having the curry...cheers

Nice traditional pub & grub just how we like it. Friendly staff & locals.

Fantastic food and attentive service from Trevor the head chef. Warm welcome from The owners . We are here 3 times and would highly recommend .

Excelente ! Muy buena la comida, a tiempo, sabrosa y bien servida Muy cordial la atencion y el lugar. Lindoambiente...

Great staff, great welcome and great food. We were delighted with our lunch at the Balmoral Bar. Camilla was so lovely to our little dog, bringing over some water and biscuits for her. Drinks arrived promptly and the chef , who was very friendly and...

As frequent visitors to Ballater we usually try to get in to the Balmoral bar for drinks and a meal. This weekend was busy due to the Coronation but we did manage to have a meal on Sunday evening. As always the food was excellent....