Haar with Rooms 5 stars

My friend and I were vacationing in Scotland and enjoyed several outstanding restaurants such as Lyla, The Kitchin, Condita, and others. Haar fit right in with its charming setting—staff were warm, the space was beautifully appointed, and the ambience matched the elegance of its street and town. The meal began very well with flavorful snacks, perfectly cooked scallops, fresh homemade bread, and more. Unfortunately, the highly recommended steak was a major letdown. It was so tough and unpleasant that we could barely eat half. At a casual spot, this might have been easier to overlook, but at a fine-dining restaurant of this caliber, it was far below expectations. The servers repeatedly checked in on us, and we eventually told them the truth. I was surprised they didn’t offer to take it back or otherwise address it. Thankfully, the side portion of lobster I ordered was divine, and dessert was excellent. Still, the main course was inedible, and the lack of any attempt to remedy the situation left a sour note. Perhaps culturally the U.K. handles these situations differently, but in the rare times I’ve had a disappointing dish at a fine-dining restaurant elsewhere, staff have been eager to make it right. I believe you can have a great meal at Haar, and perhaps we just chose the wrong dish on the wrong night—but given the restaurant’s acclaim, the main course and service response were disappointing.

This review relates to the restaurant. We booked a table to celebrate our son's graduation; there was no choice but the set menu which, while inventive, flavourful and prettily served, was a bit too "look at me", rather full of itself. The volume increased as the evening progressed - lots of loud Americans - making conversation difficult. Steep at £ 125 per head plus 12.5% service and then we felt obliged to leave a further tip on top...sorry, that's ridiculous. Also, after the seven course tasting menu, I was still hungry, and I'm not a big eater.

This place treated us terribly. We went in and I was immediately greatest by a visibly upset employee who stated he couldn't seat us but told us we could wait for the host. Once the host arrived she said that it would take 2 minutes to fix the table (please note the restaurant was empty). We waited patiently for 5-10 minutes when a European couple arrived (please keep in mind we are latino) they were instantly graded with a smile and quickly seated in the main dining area that was still empty. she approached me and told me that it was still going to be another four minutes for a table (again, the restaurant was still empty). at this point, I felt disrespected and sidelined simply because the color of my skin. I don’t know if it was a race thing, but I find it incredibly unfortunate on my first trip to Scotland. with that being said, there’s a beautiful restaurant right around the corner that was happy to sit us and serve us. avoid this place at all cost. being humiliated is not worth a $12 lobster roll.