Brunch at Highlands 02-28-2010

Location: 150 W. 10th St.
Time: 2pm
People: RB and myself

Feelings: RB and I have taken our not yet born son to many Japanese culinary adventures, but today was the day for him to experience RB's roots, Scottish cuisine. Highlands in West Village, perhaps the only Scottish gastropub in the city, is in former location of P*ong and my favorite cupcake shop, Batch. I am sad that I will never taste their salted caramel cupcake again, but I happily welcome this Scottish restaurant.

The atmosphere of this place is divine! It is rustic and cozy but still very modern and hip. It has the Scottish local pub feel while retaining the charm of contemporary West 10th street. The service is even better than the atmosphere. The staff, mostly from Scotland, were extremely friendly and cheery. If you see this level of friendliness, most jaded New Yorkers would say "What is this, Applebees?" But their charming accents and amazing decor help us think that this might be the Scottish hospitality.

When you hear Scottish food, you may think it is carnivore friendly, but Highlands offers many vegetarian options. I ordered Scottish Vegetarian Breakfast ($12, Madras lentils, two baked eggs, creamy spinach, cremini mushrooms, stewed tomatoes and bread). The portion was small, but the quality was superb. I especially enjoyed the Madras lentils for its hearty, curry flavor.

RB's Scottish Breakfast ($14, sausage, ham, two baked eggs, Madras lentils, bread) was also delicious. It was tasty and filling and reminded him of regular English breakfast but with a twist of curry lentils. The sausage was not too greasy but flavorful, and the ham was well cooked. He especially enjoyed the HP sauce, which he generously used on the eggs. It was lighter than Worcestershire sauce and made the eggs taste better without masking the flavor of the eggs. I suppose we'll need to stock up on this British condiment.

Since Highlands is a pub, they are known for their many drinks and of course, beer. RB chose Six Points IPA's that was brewed especially for Highlands. It was tasty microbrew. The bartender seemed quite knowledgeable, so this would be a great place to hang out with your beer or scotch connoisseur friends.