The Highlander Bar & Restaurant

I'd heard good things about the resident band at Highlander, so went there on a Friday night with a few friends. The band had already started when we got there and the place was really jumping. The lead singer was an attractive lady with a wonderfully husky singing voice. She belted out New York State of Mind, and I have to say, it was one of the best covers I've ever heard.

We ordered quite few drinks and stayed for both their sets.

The atmosphere was excellent and, for a busy place, the service was surprisingly fast, efficient and friendly. Of course, the razor short mini-kilts on the female servers was also an added bonus! :)

First, I'd like to clarify that K and I came here entirely for some Scottish food and not the booze. K recently took the precept of no alcohol and I'm allergic so we definitely don't get along well with the intoxicant.

We arrived early for dinner and were asked to seat ourselves. Shortly after, we placed our order and requested for two glasses of water. The waitress had the presence of mind to ask if we would like all dishes to be served at one time but we preferred them sequentially since the table was small.

It was a quiet Monday evening, so our dishes came without much waiting. The first was grampian stovies (starter bites $14). The pan-fried herbed beef, potato and onion cake was flavorful and it was served with homemade crisp oatcakes. However, I felt there was too little meat in the mix.

Next was scotch eggs (wee bites $12). There were two hard-boiled eggs encased in minced beef, rolled in breadcrumbs and then deep-fried until golden. This dish came really piping hot and was tasty with the mustard mayonnaise dip.

The highlander shepherd's pie (big bites $20) also arrived fresh from the oven. The minced lamb was cooked with carrots, onions and mushrooms in a rich brown sauce topped with mashed potato and served with mesclun salad. We enjoyed the mash as it was smooth and creamy but the minced lamb was a tad inconsistent. The bits on the bottom were burnt so were dry and hard.

At this point, I was utterly amazed at the lightning speed with which the staff cleared our plates. They never asked and once there was a plate which still contained some salad when it was whisked away without a single word. It was like they were rushing us to be done with our meal.

Anyway, the last was cranachan (sweet bites $10), a dessert of oats soaked in whisky with raspberries, blueberries and whisky coulis. Topped with a cape gooseberry, I really liked the presentation. Since I could tolerate a little alcohol but not K, I was happy to have this dessert all to myself. It was pleasantly sweet and creamy and was the best tasting oatmeal. The whisky was only slightly discernible towards the bottom.

Well, K started reading, not wanting to watch me savor the dessert and once I finished, a staff came over to clear the glass and asked if we would like to order anything else. Apparently not, since we only just ate. Thereafter I was asked if I'd like to settle my bill. We wanted to linger a while more so I told her I'd settle it later.

The place was no doubt very good for people-watching and soaking up the vibrant atmosphere. The Clinic opposite provided much amusement too with its bizarre concept.

However, as we began to take in the surroundings slowly, a staff came over not to refill our empty glasses but to remove them. It was downright off-putting since we had no intention of leaving yet. As I noticed that there were still vacant tables around, I was determined to stay.

Finally we decided to make a move and the most irksome thing happened. We stood up but were still at the table when a staff began spraying disinfectant, inevitably getting some of it on us! She didn't even wait for us to walk away before cleaning.

It dawned on me that we were not welcomed to stay long if we didn't order any drinks, and we were there only two hours tops! Well, if I could find some place else that serves cranachan I wouldn't want to patronize them again, what with the horrendous attitude and overpriced food!

Note: Haggis is no longer available.

An intimate gem of a place to visit with good friends for a stiff drink and a pint with a light supper. The selection of malted whisky is quite good enough. They also have a very nice selection of Kentucky bourbons, a rare find in such variety in Singapore. I was pleasantly surprised to see Pappy Van Winkle 12 year on the shelf. This brand of bourbon is rarely found outside of the Commonwealth of Kentucky even in the US. Their house ale is terrific and their shepherd’s pie was piping hot, tasty and fulfilling. Service was quite friendly and responsive. This is a great place for a nice evening out for quiet conversation and people watching.

one tends to have lower expectations for pub-looking establishments when it comes to their quality of food. but we were pleasantly surprised with our dinner experience at highlander. we ordered scallops and penne pasta and they were actually really good. we stayed outdoors and given that it was a sunday night, were not too bothered by the usual clark quay crowd. service was a bit slow and it was sometimes hard to get the attention of any of the staff milling about, but otherwise it was alright. don't even bother with the singapore sling, as it was nothing special but definitely try their beers.

was there with 7 other frens to try the food. food was average. atmosphere was good.... BUT

the service is really bad. it was difficult to catch the service crews' attention!!!

the attitude of the waitress sucks too!!

i will never step into this restaurant again!

went to highlander on thurs.. had haggis and scotch egg and some other dessert.. forgotten what is it.. the food is great... but the service is omg bad ! the service crew is totally not paying attention to customer.. i called them several time, but they did not respone and i waited for quite long for them to take order from me.. will go back to this place for it's food but totally not for it's service ! hope highlander can build on better service.

Have been craving haggis for a while and, having read reviews referring to it at the Highlander, went along with the wife for a tasting.

I was slightly disappointed as what I was hoping for was a steaming great 1 lb haggis with a big pile of mash. The haggis they serve is, aside from the various heretical options (“haggis croquettes”), starter size served unusually attractively as a base of haggis topped with mashed potato and then bashed neeps (mashed swede) in a little cupola on top (there's also a Drambuie-based sauce, which we asked to be withheld and I'd suggest you do to...) We had two.

Unfortunately, the wife ate all of one, dashing my hopes of a fat mound of haggis even further. Still it was, if not quite as satisfying as cooking a MacSween yourself at home, not bad at all.

Possibly the best/only haggis in Singapore – although I’d love to hear from anyone else who knows differently. We also had a sort of stewed beef and potato patty ("grampian stovies"), which wasn’t especially thrilling but then Scots food generally isn’t. Everything

came with oatcakes, which I’ve never liked so I can’t tell if these were especially impressive examples or not.

Puddings were good – the sticky toffee pudding was very tasty. My only gripes being that it could have done with a smidgen more ice-cream and a fork to go with my spoon. Ice-cream on a hot, flat plate is pretty tricky to pin down with only one blunt implement (yes, I should have asked for a fork, I know…)

The apple crumble was also good – the same comments as to ice-cream and forks apply – the apple was cooked with just the right amount of texture, not mushy and not undercooked and the crumble was tasty. The wife concurred, again disappointing me by eating her fair share.

The list of malt whiskies is very impressive given the distance from Scotland. It was not too unreasonably-priced, either - $19 for the 18 y/o Highland Park isn't bad. I had two of my favourites and

was very happy indeed. The price we paid reflects $35 worth of whisky so it would be less than $100 for two without.

The service was strangely good. I’m sure we were served by five, if not six, people, which normally presages a decline into farce and misplaced orders but everything went very smoothly and all the staff

were friendly (not very authentic for a purportedly Scottish joint…). The staff also ask how you want your whisky when you order and then get it right when they bring it, which helps avoid the squeals of horror when your $300 glass of Springbank turns up over ice.

I’m definitely going again; I have a taste for haggis again now and I like my whiskies so Highlander is an easy win for me. It's quite a pleasant place to eat out early as well, before the bars start to get busier.

Edit: I've been again twice and it's still good. Plus, if you like this sort of thing, there's usually a pretty decent musical act in the evenings.

I came to this Scottish bar for 3 times for drinks (and their acoustic show after 10pm). What doesn't disappoint me all the time is their own brewed beer which is tasty! Besides, there are always the familiar crew providing friendly service to their drinking guests. The last time I went there was about a week ago, and a staff (she's the only caucasian staff there, I think?) and she had an injured knee or something and yet she still worked! Hopefully she'll get well soon.

My boyfriend ordered for me a Loch Ness monster drink (cuz I told him to surprise me or else I will keep ordering the same drinks!) and it tasted... dodgy. It is definitely a strong drink with many different liquors mixed together, but it came out tasting like medicine/antibiotics. :P But it was still a surprise nevertheless! The drink's bright green in color, giving the impression that it glows in the dark, haha.

Well, come here for drinks and good live acoustic music!

When the weather gets a bit chilly (by Singapore standards), this is the place to go to, and there's one must-have - a glass of neat Scotch to sip on and warm the bones! The head on the ale disintegrates far too quickly for my liking.

The prices are steep as this is in a touristy area, and there's service charge. They're not stingy with the servings though. The kippers with scrambled eggs are delicious if you can stomach the smokey taste, and the toffee pudding is the best I've tried.

There's live music in the evenings as well. Service is alright and the decor screams "SCOTTISH".

Decided to check out this place after seeing it reviewed in a couple of other blogs. Highlander Bar ( #01-11, The Foundry) is located near the central junction in the middle of Clark Quay just beside Pump Room and across from The Clinic. This would be the first and probably for a long time, the only Scottish themed place since there isn't any others around that I know of. The open air seats of this bar/restaurant makes use of rather eye catching cross sectional tree trunk cuts which while was different looking from others tables in the vicinity, doesn't really function that effectively as a table. So if you're eating in the open air, remember to check if you have enough space for your plates.

Highlander serves scottish ales/larger from the tab and a very small selection of other bottled beers. The bulk of the drinks menu contains the wide variety of whiskeys which can be had here and prices are approximately 3 times above retail. A bottle of Baileys here cost $210. The mains from the menu are relatively common of western meals so we opted for an all entree dinner which features more outlandish/highlandish sounding items.

haggis - This stuff is surprisingly quite addictive. Haggis is suppose to be a traditional Scottish dish that is made up of minced innards of sheep mixed with onion, oatmeal, spices, salt and stock. So the result is a pudding of sorts that has a texture akin to minced meat and tastes a lot of coarse grain pate. It comes with a cream based sauce and accompanying scoops of mashed carrots (although it says turnips on the menu) and potatoes. This is probably the most interesting item in the starters section of the menu and if not anything else, this would be worth a try if there's no aversion to innards. It's ingredients is probably not too far off from some sausages anyways.

grampian stovies - which is essentially pan fried herbed beef with potato and onion cake. The taste is mostly bland with mashed potatoes (real mashed potatos) being the most recognizable ingredient in the cake with small bits of beef in the mix. And that's pretty much all there is about the grampian stovies. It's really fairly unremarkable a dish.

scotch eggs - I've never had scotched egg before and this is probably going to be something I like and will try elsewhere when available. For $10 you get 2 hard boiled eggs encased in minced beef, breaded and deep fried. This would make an excellent all in one option for breakfast. The carbs, meat and egg, all in one package. I don't disagree and as a hot snack, is great with drinks.

tattie scones - the menu describe these as potato patties. It actually taste like tapioca cakes you see commonly available at pasar malams without the sweetness. Another unremarkable dish which is saved solely by the soft cheese dip on the side.

smoked kipper toasties - this makes another excellent bar snack and comes simply as you would imagine it. Fragrant and crispy cheese toasted with very noticeable flavor of fish. I didn't actually taste any fish texture in there, but the flavor was definitely undeniable. Saltish and goes well with drinks.

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