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

The Croft, Bancroft

TOTAL TEAM RATING

Maurice's Review 

Venue: The Croft is a classic bistro style wine bar and restaurant, I often visist for a drink there during the week and a friendly team of staff welcome you. They have a good range of wines and lagers, but not much real ale. The place is well decorated and kept clean and tidy. The only comment I would make is in the year or so I have been visitng I have still not managed to get the loo to flush!

Wine: I had a nice bottle of Five Track Shiraz, which went well with the food. This was one of the cheapest reds on the menu at £17.

Starter: Paris Garlic Mushrooms: £4.50

A generous portion of mushrooms well cooked, but still with all the natural juices and flavouring. The melted blue cheese and garlic was both strong in taste but complimented the mushrooms perfectly. I really enjoyed this starter, but a nice piece of bread to help mop up those lovely juices and cheese at the end would have been perfect.

Main: The Croft Burger £13.00

Obviously I had to try the house special The Croft Burger, this is a hand made beef burger topped with melted cheese, smoked bacon, free range egg, mustard, gherkin and onion rings. This is a monster burger and doesn't disappoint. The burger is clearly 100% beef and very tasty and the mixture of the mustard, egg and bacon is great. Has to be eaten with a knife and fork way to big to handle by hand, but this was a good thing. Chips, well normally chips are chips but I must admit these were excellent, nice and crispy and still fluffy. The only poor thing was the bun, a little dry for my liking. Lastly there was a deal on 2 burgers and save £5, Mick also had a burger, but I am afraid they didn't take the £5 off, until requested.

Service: Service in the Croft is always welcoming, friendly and efficient. The staff are excellent and open to have a laugh, whilst always being professional. Normally I would have given a 5/5 especially with the complimentary cocktail shots which was a great touch. However we did have to move tables at the start.  One of the dishes was now off the menu, but we didnt know until after ordering, and the discount for the burgers were not taken of the bill. However I still some of the best staff in Hitchin.

Service and venue: 4/5
Food and drink: 4/5
Value for money: 4/5

Harry's Review

A nice friendly bar, but not one that I use often. No real ales on draft, but they do have bottles e.g. St Austell Tribute and also a keg Stout on draft which is quite drinkable.

For starter I ordered wild boar pate, for main the game pie. Unfortunately was informed about 5 mins after ordering that the game pie was not available, so not a great start! Opted for the chicken supreme with potatoes and green beans instead.

The portions for both were generous, a good thing! The wild boar pate was very enjoyable, served with warm local bread, herby butter and mixed leaves. Great tasting pate and 3 decent sized slabs of it.

The main however was not quite so impressive. There was a fair sized portion of nicely cooked new potatoes, crisped on the outside. Also a mountain of green beans, but a relatively small chicken breast at least compared to the size of the veg portions. The chicken was nicely cooked and dressed with a tasty wild mushroom sauce, but something was over-salted, may well have been the green beans. 

The burgers ordered by Maurice and Mick looked good, especially the piri-piri chicken burger. Next time I am eating here, I will go for a burger or steak. 

Also was too full for a pud, so that will have to wait until next time too!

So overall very positive, it was a great evening and just a shame that the game pie was not available and the main I had didn’t quite cut the mustard.

Service and venue: 4/5
Food and drink: 4/5
Value for money: 4/5

Micks Review

Starter: Breaded Camembert

Nicely presented - was a mixture of hot and cold temperature, although it did not spoil my enjoyment.
 

Main: Speciality burger - Chicken Piri-Piri - 

This was the first time I had tried this meal and was pleasantly surprised, again well presented very very tasteful and slightly spicy but very enjoyable. With regards to the chips, I was amazed absolutely fantastic, not burnt, crispy or under cooked spot on.

Service and venue: 4/5
Food and drink: 4/5
Value for money: 4/5

Visit The Croft at: http://www.thecrofthitchin.co.uk/ for details of their opening hours and menu selection.