The SilverDarling

The Silver Darling occupies the former Customs House at the mouth of Aberdeen harbour, on Pocra Quay in Footdee. Chef Didier Dejean, who had moved to Aberdeen from the south of France, opened the restaurant here in 1986 and ran it for more than thirty years before selling in 2017. The upstairs dining room has floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the beach, harbour mouth and Fittie's cottages, with dolphins occasionally visible offshore in summer. The kitchen focuses on Scottish seafood and shellfish alongside Aberdeen Angus beef, drawing on French and Mediterranean technique from the founder's training. It has featured regularly in the Good Food Guide and remains one of the city's longest-established fine dining rooms. Lunch service runs from noon to two, dinner from five to nine.