Highlander, Upper Tilehouse Street, Hitchin

Team Rating

Mick's Review

The pub is very welcoming and has several beers and lagers and is nicely decorated.

Starter - Homemade Pork Pâté with Orange and Pistachio's

Accompanied by a little salad, small white onions and small gherkins also a nice lightly spiced chutney and a warn Quotidian roll. I was amazed to see such a generous portion for this starter and I was not disappointed, the pâté tasted really nice and was very flavorsome with the salad, chutney and pickles, this was a very delicious starter.

Main meal: Carribean Jerk rice.

Again once it had been served this was a nice generous serving, with the initial first few mouthfuls the flavors really hit the taste buds, it was a really tasteful and enjoyable meal, and there was just the right amount of sauce to go with the rice.

Dessert: Treacle Sponge Pudding with Cinnemon Custard

As with the starter and main meal this was very well presented and above all this pudding and custard were very hot and very tasty.

For the first time in 3 nights out Harry's choice of meal WAS on the menu, which sadly for me was a disappointment as I had had a small trophy lined up to present to Harry for what could have been his Hatrick. A really excellent evening out, very enjoyable meal a good rapport with the staff who were all very friendly and helpful and would recommend this venue and would advise people to book in advance, just to make sure of your place. I will certainly revisit the Highlander in the future.

Service and venue: 4.5/5

Food and drink: 4.5/5

Value for money: 5/5

  Maurice's Review

Venue: The Highlander is on Tilehouse street and I drive past it most nights on the way home from work and every time I look through the window I think “I must try that place”. So I was a happy boy to have pulled this one out the hat as my first choice. 

I met the guys there and was pleasantly surprised when I walked in, a nice classic looking pub with mostly wooden decor. Very busy for midweek, and a mixture of punters from young to old, wide selection of beers, lagers and wines at a reasonable price. 

The only real disappointing thing about it was the tables were very close together, so you didn't really feel very private, also as the evening progressed it got darker and darker to the point it was very hard to see your food. Although I would add this was mostly due to the location of the table.

Starter: Fresh Devon Crab with Lime Mayo £7.95

The starter was a little slow coming out, but they were very busy, but when it arrived it was well worth waiting for. Presentation was stunning, and my god what a lot of crab. The moment I took my first mouthful the freshness of the crab was obvious. The lime was subtle but there. Accompanied by a fresh warm roll and the lemon mayonnaise, this served as a great accompaniment. I was very impressed. 

Jerk Chicken with Coconut Rice

This was a gamble. I didn’t know what to expect and was going to play it safe and go for a steak, but I decided to try something new. Funny thing was I saw the server come out with our meals and spot are table had yet to be cleared. He very professionally kept walking past went around the bar and back in the kitchen before coming out and clearing the table. That may sound daft but I have had people clear and serve at the same time before, ANNOYING! So top marks for being a pro.

The food looked great (from what I could see in the light). The first mouthful was “A taste sensation” to quote Peter Kay. A whole burst of flavours, from toms, coconut to spices and nuts. A nice generous serving and the flavour had a few surprises throughout, but overall very good.

Homemade Chocolate Brownie

Another lovely looking dish and the brownies were nice and warm and soft and gooey, just how it should be. With a nice white chocolate melting out at certain points, it was a delight. I was worried that it was going to beat me because I only went for a dessert to see if they could manage 3 superb courses, and it’s fair to say they did!

Service and venue: 4/5

Food and drink: 4.5/5

Value for money: 4/5

Harry's Review

The Highlander is a traditional pub building on the Luton Road out of Hitchin, so just outside the town centre. A few years back the pub was tastefully refurbished and re-launched with a gastro theme. The pub is cheerful and clean and you do feel comfortable in there if eating, it is not really a drinking only pub at busy food serving times.

I arrived at roughly the same time as the other two and ordered a round of Greene King IPA, Greene King Mild and Kronenbourg 1664 for the lager lout Maurice. I was pleasantly surprised to get change from £10 so the beer is very reasonably priced and my GK Mild was also a nice pint.

The place appeared to be busy for a Wednesday and the barman confirmed this. We did get a table and decided to go for starter and main. I went for the paté and duck leg comfit.

The paté was homemade pork, pistachio and orange – an interesting combination!  It came served with hot roll from the Hitchin Quotidian bakery, a small dressed leaf and cherry tomato salad and a couple of pots containing pickled gherkins and onions in one a mildly spicy chutney in the other. This combination was quite delicious and I cannot find anything to knock about this dish except that of I was doing it I would have used a sweet chutney, but that is merely personal taste and in no way detracts from the quality of the dish.

The service for the starter was a little slow but this is forgivable given that it was busy and clearly quality had not been compromised for speed.

My first choice main (on for once!) arrived soon after the starter. The duck leg was beautifully cooked and fell off the bone. The duck was served on a bed of sautéed potatoes mushrooms and some other stuff dressed in a thick jus. 

And here a bit of a whinge – I’m all for a bit of subdued lighting, but as the sun went down it was so dark on our table it was difficult to see what you were eating so I can’t give you a more detailed description. The whole dish was very rich and possibly could have benefited from the veg being a bit lighter, but that is again just personal taste – I certainly could not fault the quality.

Feeling a bit stuffed as the portion sizes of the starter and main were generous I wouldn't normally go for a pud, but we all three decided to go for it as the first two courses had been so good. 

I went for seasonal fruit clafoutis, which was a pastry, infused with fruit that was probably apple with a big scoop of tangy raspberry sorbet on top. This again was very nice and despite being reasonably full from the first two courses, I managed to finish with no problem.

The food bill was just under £25 per head, I think excellent value for money given the high standard and generous portion sizes.
In summary a thoroughly enjoyable meal with a couple of pints of good beer in a pleasant environment with good company. I would definitely recommend the Highlander on the strength of our visit and I think that booking would be advisable. I will certainly be back!

Service and venue: 4.5/5
Food and drink: 5/5
Value for money: 5/5