The Aberdeen Tavern Reviews

Very disappointed. While the building was spectacular the food was not. Out of our party of four, only one gave the dinner a pass. The beet salad was crisp and flavorful. The mains were severely lacking. The burger was crumbling and flavorless. The steak was nothing to write home about. The cost of 12 for two rubbery shrimp was ugh. Apparently the lamb pasta was OK. The frites for all diner's were horrible.. overcooked ,hard and would need a jack hammer to penetrate. The server only responded that she wished to be informed at the start of the meal.Do not waste your time on this place.Or your money. This is not a place to fill your guests with the joy of good dining in Hamilton.Sloane tea was wonderful. One guest commented to fire the chef . It's problem lies in a restaurant that is trying to play with portraying a good establishment but is clearly lost. We arrived first at this place so it was not a case of a overwhelmed kitchen. We left to find dessert at another location in the city. Needs Chef Ramsay to clean this place up.

Fantastic, is all I can say about our brunch for my sisters B-day, from our welcome to our departure, everything in between that was exactly how a restaurant experience should be, kudos to all staff

Such a great restaurant , great atmosphere , amazing staff, and the most delicious food !
Recommend it highly ! On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it a 12 ! Well done guys, we ll be back for sure !

One of the nicer establishments in the area, great atmosphere, food, and cocktails.

They have the best French Toast I have ever eaten.....yummm The food is great too!

A gem of a place tucked away in Hamilton. Great food and service.

Very creative menu, enjoyed the food immensely. They've got the atmosphere nailed perfectly, down the the scent of their hand soaps.

Would have gotten 5 stars if it wasn't for the price.

Staff and atmosphere is 5 star.
Food can be inconsistent.
Best carbonara I've ever had.

Came for the cheesecake french toast and was not disappointed. Really great service and food!

I have been to the Aberdeen several times the last few months, for brunch (best ever!) and lunch. Food is very good and service is outstanding...great, fun, friendly staff. Exceeds expectations.

Well went for a work related dinner. We were a big group. I liked my order but someone else had fish that didn t taste fresh and another person had a burger that was too pink not cooked enough. Not good enough for the price

The place serves big portions and for affordable prices. very kind employees. Will visit again.

We had a wonderful supper during Thanksgiving weekend. Service was excellent, great food especially the calamari, perfect texture. Gorgeous atmosphere, there is even a steel door that looks like a safe for an old bank.

Food was good, amazing atmosphere. A bit dissatisfied with the service, overall an alright place.

Good food, great service, just need to play some better background music

Booked the apartment. Lovely intimate space. Food was delicious with generous portions. Staff were accommodating, helpful, friendly and very professional.

I liked this place. Not too crowded, good food and nice vibe.

I am a repeat customer and absolutely love this place. The menu and ambiance is great, service is always good. Great food and experience all around!

Food is excellent here. Service is great and staff very friendly. They have a summer patio area and a lovely upper room you can book for special occasions.

Went for Sunday brunch and really enjoyed the food. They did mix up our order otherwise I would have given 5 stars.

Wow! Great food, even greater service. Glad to have finally stopped in after reading so many great reviews. A really nice space; wonderful atmosphere. Definitely will make a return visit

Had take-out. Food ready on time. Friendly wait staff. The salad, main, and dessert were all delicious. Worth every penny.

Fantastic, beyond my expectations from reading these reviews.

The staff, the atmosphere are incredible.

The food is fantastic and I will have to return to try another dish.

Fast, friendly amazing service. Brunch was amazing. Food was fresh, hot and cooked to perfection. We will be back !!!

Great food, great atmosphere and excellent service!!

Service was amazing! Brunch was even better. Try their homemade scones :)

Went for dinner. My wife and I both had steak. I asked for medium-rare, it was more rare. Also it was very bland. I don t use steak spice when cooking a steak but a little salt and pepper would have helped. Also the green beans were under cooked, almost raw. I thought the Aberdeen was one of Hamilton s high end restaurants. Disappointed!

The food, service and atmosphere are wonderful .. highly recommend

Excellent food. Absolutely love the dining experience. Fabulous service.

Excellent venue..setvice ,food and environ ar e top shelf

I'm from out of the Hamilton area but have heard so many great things about this place and.. I was not disappointed. The patio was so comfortable and well-spaced during this time. The food was excellent and the service was fantastic. A bit pricey, but a nice place that is good for a special occasion where you can dress up, get great food and be comfortable. Will be returning!

I have had a couple of great meals one, one brunch and a dinner. Both times excellent service and tasty food. Beautiful building with big comfortable seats.

It's "our" restaurant to my fiance. We go as often as we can. The menu is a work of art. The palette of the chef must be made of gold. Everything they do is divine. I'm always upset I can't try everything on the menu, and even more mad that I can't retry things because I always want to explore what else they have. If you love this place you gotta go to their sister restaurant "The French".

I used to really enjoy dining here and bringing family from out of town to Aberdeen Tavern. Our last few visits have been a major disappointment...I have been twice within 2 weeks and both times have been very underwhelming. The service is always great but unfortunately the food has been a disappointment. On this last visit my partner ordered the meatloaf which I had last week and it was fine. My partner mentioned his meat loaf was dry, I noticed it didn't have gravy( which it did last week), we let the server know and she promptly rectified it. Unfortunately she brought back a little container of congealed flavorless brown glue. We let her know it was disgusting, I am actually embarrassed I used the word disgusting, but it was true. I was underwhelmed last week and totally disappointed this week.
Aberdeen Tavern is a lovely room, the service is fine, but the food is inconsistent and average, which unfortunately doesn't jive with the price tag.

The staff were very nice. Food was excellent and presented well. I would return and recommend.

Very respectful staff.. beautiful ambiance... and very satisfying pork!

The place lacked a fun upbeat vibe. No music was playing or we couldn't hear it because it was packed. They must have had an off night when I was there. It was new menu time - the risotto was pure Parmesan, couldn't taste anything else. Must make a reservation weeks in advance.

I visited most recently with a group of eight for a birthday celebration, and the food was delectable as usual, and the service smart and friendly. The Aberdeen Tavern is my favourite restaurant in Hamilton, and a place I continue to visit. The food is top rate, well seasoned, perfectly executed, and delicious every time. Last night I had the meatloaf and mashed potatoes; spot on, and a generous portion. Other people in the group had the pasta special (pappardelle with ricotta, tomatoes and speck); top sirloin steak; risotto with scallops; mac and cheese with sweat peas; and carbonara (pasta.)

The decor is an eclectic mix of subway tile, wood paneling, tufted leather booths, but with whimsical touches including antlers on the wall, and a view of the old bank vault door.

I've had brunch here, been on the patio, had the burger all in all, worth a trip. I'm sure you'll be a repeat customer!

Always a fantastic meal, been here about half a dozen times. Always exemplary flavours and service but our most recent experience our server was hands down one of the best servers I've ever had. I wish k remembered his name so he could get the proper praise.

Great decor. Excellent service. Great food. Eonderful patio. A little upscale but wrll worth the visit.

Our table of 7 loved this place. We had the bread and dip to start. The grilled bread was excellent and the hummus dip was great. I had the short rib grilled cheese and it was the best sandwich I'd had in a very long time. Side ceasar salad was good, but the sandwich stole the show. Others had the turkey club, fish and chips, shrimp tacos, and butternut squash ravioli. We all enjoyed all of the food. Our server was very friendly and very attentive (water glasses were always filled up quickly). Can't wait to return to this place.

Disappointing food; great service and ambience.

I've been to Aberdeen once before and had the spaghetti carbonara which was wonderful. This time we had the clam linguine ($23) and scallops with barley risotto ($32), both of which were mediocre and over priced. The plates were quite small and not very filling. The flavors were very bland. Perhaps we just didn't choose the right things on the menu, but definitely left feeling quite disappointed. On the other hand, service was attentive and ambience was nice.

Delicious food and drinks, reasonable portions, exceptional service from Dan and the rest of the service team, nice ambiance (tables a bit tight). Loved it!



The only downfall I found was that the single tables along the sides were close together.

I was disappointed. My omelet tasted like the eggs came out of a carton and not fresh. The home fries were overcooked. Needless to say I will not be returning. The plus side the service.

Lovely place! Have have lunch and brunch menu depending if you visit during weekends or weekdays!

Delicious meal on their patio. Excellent protocols and precautions are in place.

Been here for brunch twice. Delicious food, nice decor, and amazing staff. You can park in the side lot free on weekends.

Great place, my partner & I try to go twice a year. Lovely treat.

Awesome service awesome food
One of the best meals I ve had in a long time
Atmosphere was excellent

Great atmosphere. The venison they had on special was delicious. They also have a good wine menu. Our server was very gracious a d friendly. My Pinot Noir was very good. Not a place to go on the cheap. Definitely a 3rd date or anniversary place as opposed to a first date place.

We settled on the Aberdeen on a busy Saturday and hoped we would get in without a reservation. We were able to be seated within a very reasonable timeframe (We would have waited far longer as again our fault), We had typical brunch items prepared very well and were served by a very adept server with little to no interruptions, it was like coffees and waters filled themselves it was so seamless. We will definatly be back and would recommend this space.
We will be back to try the dinner and lunch options as well!

We were a group of fourteen and the size of the room was perfect. The food was spectacular and service was excellent. There are stairs to get to the room but there is a washroom on that level so if someone has mobility issues they only have to climb the stairs once. Overall a perfect venue for an intimate wedding.

Had the Mississippi Benny for brunch. It was great.

I always have a wonderful meal here. The food is always fresh and the service is great. One of my all time favourite restaurants.

Great service and the wedge salad was amazing Lamb was the special dish for Saturday, my bf loved it. The fusilli was a bit salty and home style but delicious.

I'd love to recommend this place, but I can't.

The veggie burger was average at best. The pasta was dry, tasteless, overpriced, and small.

We literally had to go to another restaurant after just to be full.

We were two couples on the patio Saturday to celebrate a couple of birthdays. It is a lovely patio and the weather was perfect. The wine was reasonably priced and the appetizers were good, if not great. Two of the mains were very tasty, but the third was only 'ok' and the rack of lamb was poor (I would not serve it to guests in my home).

If we were regulars, and knew what to order, perhaps I could have given a higher rating. As it is, for the price, this is the best I can do.

I should also note that the manager was advised by the server that I did not enjoy the lamb and provided a gift certificate for part of the cost of the dish, which I appreciated. I went to the restaurant for a fine meal, however, and not for a gift certificate.

We love the atmosphere here. Our foursome ordered some apps from the new menu but to be honest, they weren't as great as they sounded. The ideas are good but needs more seasoning- specifically the corn fritters. It's not that they were bad- just not amazing. The main dishes were really good and service is always good. The server was attentive and reacted positively despite some small critisizm when she asked how we enjoyed the new menu items. She asked for honesty so that feedback could be given to the chef and adjustments can be made to perfect the dishes. I think it's a great way to handle new items on a menu and it is the first time I've been to a restaurant where I was asked for feedback in this manner. I think all non-chain restaurants should do this. Anyway, this restaurant still deserves 5 stars- good food, good service and positive approach to critisizm. We will be back and we will try those corn fritters again!

Awesome food, a bit noisy of an atmosphere, staff is friendly.

Great location and ambience. MIxed reviews on the food from my table. 2 of 5 thought is was very good. The other 3 said they could do better at home. Wine list needs to be expanded with more warm climate wines. Cocktails were a highlight. The only really true negative was that some chuckle-brain smoker had to keep going outside to smoke and did it right in front of the doors so he stunk up the place when folks came in

Been here twice, both times were great. This last time my date was super rude complaining about the complicated menu that wasn't really her thing I felt bad for the server but the food was great.. Will go back again with better company :)

Dinner was perfect. Food and service were amazing, great drink selection too

Used to be the best restaurant in Hamilton. Has slowly gone downhill over past couple years. Food and service are not what they used to be. Average experience at best .

Great lunch spot. Really enjoyed the open space and brightness. Menu could be bigger.

Best french toast of all times!! Great staff and a great room.

Great place to eat for date night. Warm cozy atmosphere. Had the bread and dip and Thai soup to start and was excellent. Mains were the carbonara pasta and home made hamburger and both were great. Dessert was the Choc peanut bar and was awesome with their own salted vanilla ice cream. Bill came to $125 including wine and coffee. Would definitely go again.

Today we had staff party at lunch. We had 3 appetizer for sharing then 2 cream pastas and 2 steaks. Everything was very good and server was very nice too. Good atmosphere

Very nice atmosphere. Staff was very diligent. Twelve people in our group and everyone loved it.

Food and service were both stellar. Far surpassed my expectations.

I can't get enough of the warm ambiance, delicious menu that is often updated, great cocktails and very vegetarian friendly menu. Brunch is spectacular as well as the desserts!

This has the worst service, why have a host stand to greet customers when they have zero customer service skills. The waitress did not have any service skills, zero personality, she clearly did not like her job, reaching across a customers chest to remove plates unprofessional especially when " excuse me" would have been nice. We had to ASK for a desert menu than was tossed them on our table. We have ladies night regularly and this was our first visit and all 6 of us were highly disappointed. You need to train your staff or get ones that represent your restaurant much better.

We had brunch here and the food was out of this world!! The waiter was fun!

Great food!, accommodated a large party on short notice and the services was not compromised, thanks guys!

A very different kind of eating venue. Real candles, cloth napkins, dimly lit. Was a bank originally, the vault was used as a private dining area at one point which sounds cool. The food and service was excellent. Very tasty and friendly. The steak melted in my mouth like butter.cooked to perfection. Good wine and beer selection. Parking on street, no lots nearby.

I ve had brunch here twice and it does not disappoint! Great food, tasty drinks, and wonderful service. A bit on the pricey end but worth. Love bringing out of town guests here to give them a classy taste of Hamilton.

I've eaten at Aberdeen Tavern many times. The food and service have always been top shelf! Recently I brought my GFs family for her grandma's birthday. It was important to me that I handle the bill as they usually pay for everything. I intercepted Kevin our server away from our table and asked that he hand the cheque directly to me. When it was time to pay up I was taken aback as Kevin placed the bill in front of my GFs mom. Before I had time to protest, and in the same movement, Kevin covertly palmed the real bill into my hand. Before the family had a chance to react my card was already in the machine. Kevin had written 'Gotcha!' on the fake bill. The look of confusion on the family's faces was priceless!
Well played Kevin, well played, 10/10 will return.

This is an outstanding restaurant. The food is different and delicious. Would highly recommend it

Phenomenal meal, great service, cool/ welcoming vibe.