An uplifting dining experience.
Our experience of the Palace Hotel to date is confined to having an early evening meal there prior to attending a concert in Peterhead within the past few days. Having looked at possibilities on-line, we had booked in advance, and have never ever been to this hotel before, our home city being Aberdeen (35 miles away) and our trips to the Peterhead area usually taking the form of a 'whole day package' in our car along with some visitors: that particular coastal area being a highly rewarding part of Scotland to aim for when looking to plan a mid-summer 12-hour day trip out and back from Aberdeen for the day. We enjoyed our Palace Hotel , Peterhead dining experience very much. The lady on reception could not have been more welcoming, and the same was true of the staff in the upstairs dining area. We enjoyed the rather old style feel of our surroundings, which have been sympathetically modernised, with plenty of space still between tables, comfy chairs, ample space on the table tops and plenty of interesting photos and artwork on the walls to take a look at. Smartly dressed waiters really knew their jobs, and the pacing of everything was very well judged. A 5-star hotel could not have looked after us better in terms of quality of service, our having booked an early table (5 pm) because of our early evening engagement. With only four or five tables occupied at the time, the quality of the attention we received was all we could have wished for. The well-balanced, plenty of choice standard menu is on--line, and, to our surprise, there were Specials of the Day too. One was a pork stroganoff with rice and vegetables. Sensibly priced, it a arrived piping hot, attractively presented and packed with pork. Really good value. Watching the head waiter at work made the years roll back. A trio at a nearby table had their meals brought to them 'old style', with the waiter balancing a large silver salver one-handed at shoulder height as he approached their table, and then taking the time to set them down carefully. On this salver were all three meals, again very well presented and of considerable size. How the years rolled back, and various film scenes sprang to mind! We really could not have been better looked after in terms of service, and being treated in that way got our evening in Peterhead off to an excellent start; and all the more so when the hotel owner made clear to us that, provided we felt we could cope with the walking (we are both in our early eighties), we were welcome to leave our car in their hotel car park for the duration of the evening rather than fight for a parking place (and worry about finding one!) that bit closer to the concert venue, which was a 10-minute walk away. So very kind and thoughtful and, for us, a godsend: we coped fine with the short walk. Good food, highly attentive service, and not at any point addressed as "You guys". What a start to our evening at the opera! (Scottish Opera on tour, small scale. Superb.) We will certainly be heading back to the Palace Hotel next time we are in the area and in need not only of a meal but also of a positive alround dining experience. Let's hope that, in these tough times for service industries, this hotel manages to retain its waiters and its chef(s)!