Scotland's First Milk Vending Machine - Forest Farm, Aberdeen

Vending machines are aplenty these days, but how often do you see a MILK vending machine? During our trip to Scotland, we came across Forest Farm, an award-winning certified organic dairy, located in Kinellar, Aberdeen - home to Scotland's first milk vending machine.

The milk vending machine provides the local community an opportunity to buy milk from the cows they see grazing on their doorstep... this is as fresh as it gets!

As Scotland’s longest established organic dairy, Forest Farm believe that their organic milk is the most pure and natural you can find, all the way from grass to glass. It is gently pasteurised right here on their farm in their brand new facility to maximise freshness and non-homogenised (unprocessed) to preserve its natural goodness. This means the cream rises to the top - a dream for the person lucky enough to open the bottle! Furthermore, they do not use any chemical fertilisers, pesticides, herbicides or GM feeds.

Their wonderfully fresh organic milk has no food miles and is available between 6.30 am and 8 pm every day. You can fill up using one of the reusable glass bottles or plastic bottles. If you time it right (3.30 pm - 5.30 pm), you can even watch the cows being milked. A super fun experience for the kids! And the milk is A-Moo-Zing!

Milk vending machine at Forest Farm, Aberdeen

Fresh organic milk at Forest Farm, Aberdeen

Drinking it fresh out of the bottle.. can't wait!

Watch this video of BabySumoKids buying their first litre from the milk vending machine!

Opening times: 6.30am to 8pm daily.

Location: Forest Farm - The Organic Dairy, Kinellar, Aberdeen AB21 0SH, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 7887 557548


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Balmedie Fish and Chips Shop

The thing about travelling with (growing) active kids is that they are get hungry ALL the time. On one of our visits to Balmedie beach, we grabbed a quick snack from Balmedie Fish and Chips shop before heading home since the kids has finished all the food we've packed for the day and were complaining that they were starving.

We ordered a scampi supper (10 pieces for £6.10) which came with chips as well as a haggis pudding (£2.70). The food is cooked to order, so there will be a 10 to 15 minute wait during off peak hours.

After we collected our order, we drove back down to Balmedie Beach to enjoy our meal there. There are several picnic tables near the children's playground. Everything we ordered were tasty; succulent scampi, crisp chips and flavorful haggis pudding. Would definitely come back if we're in the area again.

Playground at Balmedie Beach

Opening times: 4.30pm to 10pm daily.

Price: Total bill £8.80.

Location: Balmedie Fish & Chips Shop, 2, Whitehorse Buildings, Balmedie, Aberdeen AB23 8XR, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 (0) 1358 742730

GPS Coordinates: 57.251116, -2.061179



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Nando's, Union Square, Aberdeen

For Baby D's birthday celebration in Scotland, we checked out Nando's as per the birthday boy's request. In Aberdeen, there are two Nando's - located in The Academy in Belmont Street and Union Square. We visited the latter; the restaurant was absolutely heaving and we had to wait about 20 minutes for a table.

Once seated, we browsed the menu and waited for someone to take our order. Later we found out that Nando's UK operate a semi self-service system (order and pay at the counter and food will be served to your table) .... a boo-boo on our part as in Malaysia we get full table service.

The kids got an activity sheet each to keep them entertained while waiting for the food to arrive. Before long, our appetizers arrived - we ordered the 3 Chicken Wings, Red pepper dip served with warm pita strips and Halloumi sticks. Everything was very tasty, we especially enjoyed the chicken wings which were moist and flavorful (we went for medium flavour and it was just nice for us in terms of spiciness). The halloumi sticks came with an addictive chilli jam dip. They're £3.70 each or you can order three starters for £9.95.

It would be a crime to come to Nando's and not have their flame-grilled Peri-Peri chicken. The chicken is marinated for at least 24 hours, for all the flavours to lock in. As it is flame-grilled, you can taste the smokiness and slight char it gives to the chicken. We ordered two 1/2 chickens (with 2 regular sides £10.95)  - one medium and another with lemon and herb (for the kids). The kids ended up eating our medium sauce one, as the lemon and herb was too mild for their liking. LOL! The chicken leg part is definitely the best as it's moist and juicy.

We also ordered a Sunset Burger (with 2 regular sides £11.45) to share - two grilled chicken thighs sandwiched between melting Cheddar cheese, smoky red pepper chutney, baby spinach and a soft bun. Fantastic burger, I have to say!

Sides are very nicely done - we tried the chips (crisp and fluffy), corn on the cob, garlic bread, side salad and Supergrain salad. The latter which came with quinoa, kale, edamame and beans with an avocado & buttermilk dressing was surprisingly very good - healthy and delicious, WIN!

For the full menu, click here.

Opening times: Sun - Thurs 11am - 10pm; Fri-Sat 11am - 10.30pm.

Price: Total bill £51.40.

Location: Nando's, Union Square, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB11 5RG, United Kingdom.

Tel: 01224 581 959




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Quayside Fish Bar, Gourdon, Aberdeenshire (Chipper / Takeaway)

Last year, we had a lovely meal at Quayside Restaurant and Fish Bar in Gourdon and we vowed to come back and try their chipper (located downstairs for takeaway orders).

As the food is cooked to order, there will be a short wait for your food. We had the Jumbo Haddock supper (£8.20), large scampi (£6.60 for 15 pieces) and crab cakes (£4.30). If the weather is good, you can sit and enjoy your meal at one of the two tables provided outside the chipper or on one of the benches facing the harbour.

The haddock was moist with a lovely, crisp batter and chips were good too. As Quayside is famous for their seafood, particularly for crab, we had the crab cakes in lieu of our usual haggis pudding. It was a nice change, and it went well with the garlic mayo dip that came with it. The crab cakes also come with a side salad.

The kids shared the scampi, and they commented the scampi was smaller than other chippers we have tried. Overall, we enjoyed our fish supper from Quayside and the view is definitely a huge plus point.

Quayside chipper was nominated in the National Fish & Chips Award 2018 for Best Newcomer Award.

Gourdon Harbour View

Opening times: Mon-Tue 4pm - 8pm; Wed - Sun 12pm - 8pm.

Price: Total bill £21.75 for 4 pax, including 2 drinks.

Location: Quayside Restaurant & Fish Bar, William Street, West Quay, Gourdon, Montrose DD10 0JZ, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, United Kingdom.

Tel: +44 1561 360111


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Thaikhun Aberdeen, Union Square - Amazing Thai Street Food!

Three weeks into our holidays, we were craving for Asian food. So, we visited Thaikhun in Union Square, Aberdeen, which serves great, authentic Thai street food.

The name, pronounced "Tycoon", is a celebration of the street hawkers back in Bangkok. We were warmly welcomed by the restaurant staff and our kids were presented with a Kids Activity booklet each to keep them amused until the food arrived.

We were delighted to see that they have our favorite Thai iced tea (£3.95) on the menu... made even more sinful with a generous swirl of whipped cream.

It didn't take long for our starters to arrive. The kids loved the Tempura king prawns (£9), sea battered prawns in a lovely light, crisp batter as well as onion rings. No wonder it's such a popular dish here. We also had the sweetcorn cakes (£5.50), a delicious treat when summer corn come in season in Bangkok in September. I especially loved the fragrance of the kaffir lime leaves.

For mains, we selected a variety of stir fry and curry dishes to share; all these come with unlimited Jasmine rice. Baby D's favorite dish here was the Stir Fry Beef with Chili and Thai Basil (£12.50), which came with tender slices of beef with fresh chillies and basil. Mildly spicy, this was so good that the kids wiped the plate clean. Delicious!

The founder of Thaikhun, Kim, used to run an award-wnning pad thai cart in Bangkok, so we did not hesitate in ordering a Pad Thai with prawn (£11.50) to try. Thin rice noodles are fried in a sweet and sour tamarind sauce with beansprouts, carrots, egg and spring onions. Pour over the crushed peanuts, toss and enjoy! We ordered the half portion for this and the portion was substantial and enough for feeding 2 pax (sharing). It was indeed very tasty and authentic.

We also had the Pork belly in red curry sauce (£13.50); the pork has been steamed and then roasted (just like "siew yok" - roasted pork) then stir fried with green beans and red curry sauce.

Another great dish that we had here was the Thai green cury chicken(£10.50). This is often our must-order dish whenever we visit a Thai restaurant and the version here was awesome. Served with green beans, courgettes and Thai basil, we enjoyed the curry sauce with the rice.

For desserts, we shared the Mango sticky rice (£5) and banana fritters (£5) with vanilla ice cream. The mango was lovely and sweet, and it was a great take on the classic Thai dessert.  We were also pleasantly surprised with the banana fritters as the bananas were nicely ripe and sweet and the batter was nice and crispy. Loved it!

Click here for the full menu.

Opening times: 12pm - 10.30pm.

Service: Good.

Location: Thaikhun Aberdeen, Union Square Shopping Centre, 29 First Level Mall, Union Square, Guild Square, Aberdeen AB11 5RG, Scotland.

Tel: +44 (0) 1224 583477

Website: https://www.thaikhun.co.uk/thai-restaurant/aberdeen/


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