The Highlander – A Fine British Eatery

Tiny family place. I almost cried when I saw the waitress bring out an order of Scotch Eggs for a nearby table and how those customers reacted to how good they were… why did I almost cry, you ask? I showed up on the first Friday of Lent… which sadly meant no meat for me.
However, I ordered a large fish & chips dinner. It took a minute but when it arrived, I realized why. The fish was hand battered and fresh haddock and the potatoes were hand cut. Oh my were they good.
I cannot wait to return on a day that I can eat meat as the rest of the menu looked delicious as well.

Very delicious and authentic food! We went on a Friday night and it was just us and another table. I can’t believe it wasn’t busier. We visited with the owner and waitress and overall had a great time. I had the bangers and mash along with chips. Very tasty! I will definitely visit again.

a hole in the wall but nice spot. Would visit again for their fish and chips.

One of the few amazing British Isles restaurants in the area, The Highlander has something for everyone. Whether you want a Full Irish Breakfasy complete with black or white pudding, or whether you just want a good plate of fish and chips, this is the place for you.
Feeling adventurous? They even have haggis on the menu!
I’ve had the Irish breakfast, and the black pudding is so delicious. The fried brown bread is the crowning achievement on the plate, though. Packed full of raisins and molasses, it’s the perfect blend of sweet and savory.
Tonight, I ordered the large fish and chips and enjoyed every morsel of the humongous piece of fish with a bit of malt vinegar.
Whatever you do, save room for the fresh, homemade desserts. They’re constantly changing, but the one thing that stays constant is their quality. The lemon and mascarpone cake tonight was light and fluffy, yet decadent.
Wednesday nights are live music nights. A bunch of local musicians gather at one end of the restaurant and have an amazing kitchen ceilidh while the other guests drink and dine and occasionally join in the singing.

Looking for a place that makes authentic Irish food? This place is a must! If I didn’t know I was in Virginia I would have thought I was back in Ireland. The portion size and flavor was spot on. The black and white pudding was cooked to perfection as well as the other meats. Will definetly go back to The Highlander. There can only be one!

One of the best restaurants I’ve ever been to.
Their lemon cake was the heaven. I had the haggis & it was amazing.

I came here for my birthday dinner (seeing as I haven’t had a meat pie since I was in Australia 2 years ago and have been dying for one), and I was so let down by this place. The flavor of my food was incredible, but really the prices for the portions and service we received were way, way off.
Upon arriving, we were the second table of the dinner rush, and were greeted and sat pretty quickly. The whole restaurant looks so clean and fresh, with glossy tables and fun UK décor everywhere. It really got you in the mood for some of their regional food. But after we ordered and food started coming out, I was not nearly as pleased as when I first walked in.
There was only 1 server (and another that came in and out randomly) and the whole place got packed. She couldn’t keep up, but you knew she was trying her best. As for the food issues, first of all, my mother ordered appetizers as her meal, and they came out about 10 minutes before our meals did. Not cool. Also, one that she ordered was the shrimp cocktail, which was $ 7.99, and she received 4 pieces of shrimp! 4! I was a little embarrassed that I brought her to a place where you have to pay 2 $ per small cold shrimp.
When the rest finally arrived, I really did enjoy my Scottish meat pie with veggies. The only thing was, it was extremely small, I’d say a light lunch portion, and I had driven out here just for this very thing… and I could’ve eaten 3x that much (and I’m a relatively small girl). Again, for the price, I expected more.
Honestly, the flavor of it all was amazing. I just felt that they were being stingy with their dishes. Maybe they can afford to do that since they’re the only British place around, but either way I won’t be back.

Having been to the UK, I went in hoping for a taste of a cuisine I enjoy that is impossible to find in Hampton Roads. I’ve had a variety of British dishes — including the much talked about haggis. This place is not a good representation of British cuisine by any means.
This place is terrible (and not just because the menu writer thinks an apostrophe is how one makes a word plural). The haggis clearly came from a can — they just slid it out and battered and fried it. The haggis came with chips, not the «neeps and tatties» it is traditionally served with. The cottage pie is bland and awful. We were the only ones in the restaurant and you could hear the staff carrying on and gossiping loudly — even with the tv on rather loud.
I was incredibly disappointed.
What is really disappointing is that a lot of classic British recipes do not need a lot of work or effort to turn out well. Yet this place just serves up frozen, canned, and packet food that is more tasteless than a hospital meal.
I was rather embarrassed that I took a friend here to try a cuisine that I love. If you’ve got the skills, you’re much better off cooking at home. If you don’t, pick somewhere else to eat.

Went by here on a recommendation from a co-​worker, and we were not disappointed! This is definitely a family style run restaurant, very simple and friendly. Very quiet, no music and not busy at all! We ordered a regular portion of the Scotch eggs (he was awesome, and made them for us even though they were out!!), the sauce IS spicy so use with caution! Hubby ordered the bangers and mash, I the steak and ale pie. The sausages were the creamiest ones I have ever had, and such flavor!!! The pie was equally as tasty! Each dish came with corn n peas, and mashed potatoes with gravy or sauce however you prefer. We will definitely be back to see about how consistent it is!

Went for the first time with the family. Kids loved the Scottish pie and fish and chips. Husband enjoyed his shepherds pie, but kept gobbling up the kids Scottish pie.
Friendly service. Never rushed with us as we finished dinner after closing hours.

I can’t say enough good things about this restaurant! We were looking for a good place to get fish and chips and we found it! Their mushy peas are amazing too! Now this might sound crazy… but try their toast and butter. It’s made with homemade Irish bread and it’s AMAZING! (And only $.99!)

I have tried it, and I don’t think I will ever return. I hate to have to give such a bad review.
The service was extremely slow even though there were only 4 other tables in the place. But that is because there was only one waitress. I believe we waited for at least 30 minutes before we even got our side salads. The salad was brought out to us in packets. (I have attached a photo).
I ordered the cottage pie based on the recommendation from the waitress which she said besides the fish and chips was the one that always got the best reviews. It was awful. It looked tasty, but the plate was nothing but dry and no flavor mashed potatoes. There was supposed to have been meat but I’m assuming there was only 2 pieces of dried up/​overcooked pieces. I ate a couple of bites and although I was hungry… Just couldn’t bring myself to eat anymore. (Photos attached) learn from our mistakes, you are better off going to dinner somewhere else.
We ended up going to farm fresh to get ice cream.

Fish and chips was fantastic the meat pie was good could have been better. The service was good also I place was clean and the music was excellent. I think they should be open longer on Sunday. I don’t think much more could be said about the place. I’ll visit again.

I am giving 2 stars for the fish and chips
We went in on groupon and glad we did. It lessens the feeling og being duped!
The shepards pie was tasteless and MICROWAVED!!!
WTF? !!!
Also had mindless TV playing which was really annoying.
Of course, we wont be back and by the fact that we were the only ones there… no one else is rushing back.

We got a groupon for this restaurant and were really excited to eat here. I ordered the Shepherds Pie and my husband got the Steak and Ale. I was disappointed in my Shepherds pie, lots of awful potatoes with little meat filling. The potatoes tasted like plain potatoes with no seasoning, no salt, milk or butter. Same with the corn. It was like they opened a can, heated it in the microwave and served it. The couple of extra bites of meat under the potatoes was delicious. If you are on a special no salt diet this is the place for you.
My husband’s steak and ale was delicious, his corn and potatoes were like mine.
It’s a small not fancy place.

Went here last night for fish and chips. The dining room was very clean (other than one table upfront that looked like someone’s kitchen table piled up with junk). The waitress was very pleasant and despite being the only waitress on the floor, was very attentive to us.
I order the small haddock and my boyfriend ordered the large. The large comes with a side of mushy peas, which to my surprise were delicious. The portions of the fish were good and they were very crispy. The fish itself was okay, tasted not so fresh to me. I’m used to fried haddock being very flakey and moist, and this tasted very dry to me. The «chips» could have been fried a little longer for my liking but that’s just a personal preference.
All in all, our experience was decent. We came because we had the Groupon and had read good reviews of the fish and chips. It wasn’t bad but I don’t think this place will make our list of «regulars».

We came in at Lunchtime on a Wednesday, 12:30 PM. It seemed odd that we were the only customers in the place. No other customers came in the entire time we were there. I had the Shepherds pie and my wife had the cottage pie. I’ll just do a rundown of positives versus negatives for this review…
Positives: Food was prepared and came out quickly. Also, the waitress was terrific. (She treated us like the whole restaurant was ours, nyuk, nyuk!) But seriously the waitress was great.
And on to the Negatives: As you enter, there seems to be a ‘hoard’ of mixed junk on the floor in the hallway and connecting room to the left as you enter. (I always notice things like that right off and wonder what the kitchen of the place looks like when I see such things). Also, the ‘décor’, what the heck! Plain white walls with cheap posters taped up. Décor quite lacking… There is no background music of any sort, just 3 TV’s on the wall blaring commercials and a show… Mindless noise for a restaurant setting… (Could call it annoying Charlie Brown noise, wa wah wa wa waaaaaa…)
The food tasted «okay», but pretty bland. I felt like I could have busted out some ground meat + potatoes at the house and made a more flavorful (flavourful!) dish. The chips I ordered seemed undercooked, or cooked at too low a temp. The price is too high for the mediocre food and 2 cent décor…
And the last thing: 3 or 4 folks hanging out at other tables near the back, owners family or friends I assume? Then the front door opens and in to the restaurant comes a barefoot 2 year old with one of those incredibly noisy electronic kids’ toys to add to the noise. Is this a restaurant, or a daycare/​family hangout? (I have absolutely nothing against kids, but Restaurant 101 would be not to bring them in and have them milling about in the dining area!)
—-The waitress was great, and the food was served quick… But other than those 2 positive things, the negatives of this ‘restaurant’ and how much you pay for the food and environment you get just don’t come close. I don’t plan on a return visit…

I came here because I was craving fish and chips. I was not disappointed.
They have a full bar of British favourites (I’ll even use the UK spelling).
For an appetizer I had the steamed mussels. They were fresh and sweet. The other appetizer was the crab and corn chowder. It had a good spice and was thick.
For a main course we ordered the two different fish for our fish and chips. I had haddock and my friend had cod. Both came out crispy and lightly breaded. The chips were nice and fresh cut.
All the desserts sounded delicious but the food servings were big and I just couldn’t do a dessert. They sound like they are worth coming back just for dessert.
Overall this place is a go-​to place not just for fish and chips but also for British food and spirits.

Unilocal’s International Supper Club stop #5… British food. Look for the Bingo Hall across from the cemetery.
Julia, thanks for the scotch egg. That was a good bite to start my meal. :)
Funny, I think most people all ordered the same thing… fish and chips. If you’re hungry, go large. It’s two pieces. Haddock versus cod? I think haddock is the way to go. It’s juicier. Throw some vinegar on your chips and you’re in for a good meal.
I had to go for the sausage and chips. Never have I tried a sausage in batter. This was a definite good choice. The chips, made in house, were fried and dark. I wish they had more of a crunch to each bite.
Service was a tad bit slow but there was only one waitress working and she was doing her best to serve everyone.
I’m not a fan for this type of fare (I’m Asian) but this visit was pretty impressive. I’d rate this more like 3.5 stars.

As long as I can get an order of scotch eggs and a cider, this place is well worth the visit. And while the portion on the fish and chips is generous for what they term a small, it could be crispier. Especially the fries. This last time I specifically asked for the fries to be cooked longer and that was not an option. I found that off putting.
Service on the whole is spotty. Generally slow, often understaffed. They are frequently ‘out’ of menu items (and the menu is fairly small). The food, for the most part is very good. Some items are under-​seasoned, and a few items that come with a sauce or gravy could have had a larger serving to prevent things from \being dry. So far I’ve sampled the fish and chips, bangers and mash, meat pie, and steak and ale pie. Unless you are really craving British food this is not my go to by a long shot.