A la Colthard/Haar

Whilst the gents of The Rusters were hacking round the Fairmont Course, we girls (Nancy, Alice and Daffers ) decided to explore St. Andrews and have lunch at its best restaurant Haar.

The chef and owner Dean Banks from across the Tay Bay from Arbroath reached the final of Masterchef.

St. Andrews has three claims to fame: it’s the oldest golf course in the world; the public Old Course; and the university, the place where uni-romancing Prince William met Kate.

It’s a peaceful, elegant coastal town.  However the shops and pubs in the city centre were touristy, pandering to the American conception of Scotland.

The many tourist shops sold replicas of the Claret Jug and bottles of Malt Whisky.

We stopped at a pub called The Criterion which had old golfing photos and ancient clubs.

The locals were very friendly, as American tourists tend to be, so there was a good contact.

Haar is located some 250 yards from the Clubhouse.

It offered a lunch menu of snacks – I would prefer the title amuse bouches – lobster from Tay Bay, pork belly and a pud for £110, without  wine.

The lobster was especially delicious.

I never find a half lobster sufficient but a whole one filled me up nicely.

The service was excellent – a nice mix of professionalism from the greeter and a friendly local waitress who reminded us of Polly’s (Bob Tickler’s p/a) best friend Grania from Scotland for her smiling and easygoing character.

With the wine (2 glasses of Pouilly Fuisse priced at  £12-00, it emphasised that the canny Scots – however friendly – view the Open at St. Andrews as klondike !!!

We then walked up to the golf course to meet up with the gents.