Restaurant in St. Andrews, United Kingdom
St. Andrews' only serious tasting menu. Book early.
Haar is the restaurant to book in St. Andrews: a Michelin Plate holder (2024 and 2025) with a Nordic-inflected seafood menu that puts Scottish produce front and centre. Book the evening tasting menu for a special occasion or the fixed-price lunch for better value. Reserve four to six weeks ahead — this is the only serious tasting-menu option in town and tables go fast.
Haar is the restaurant to book in St. Andrews. Sitting at 1 Golf Place, a short walk from the Old Course, it holds a Michelin Plate (2024 and 2025) and features in the La Liste Leading Restaurants for 2026 with 79 points — credentials that matter in a town where fine dining options are limited. The fixed-price lunch offers genuine value at the ££££ tier, and the evening tasting menu is the right format for a proper occasion. If you are visiting St. Andrews for the first time and want one serious meal, this is where to spend it.
Haar occupies a position that most restaurants in small Scottish towns never manage: it is simultaneously the local's choice and the destination booking. That is not an accident of geography — it is the result of a kitchen that takes Scottish produce seriously without becoming precious about it. The cooking has a Nordic edge, which shows in the restraint of the plating and the emphasis on smoke, curing, and seasonal provenance. Arbroath smokies appear regularly, a deliberate nod to the east-coast fishing heritage that sits just up the coast. The menu reflects the owner's global travels, but the sourcing stays close to home.
For a first-timer, the room itself sets expectations well. The spatial experience at Haar is intimate rather than grand , this is not a hotel dining room or a converted ballroom. The scale is considered, which means the service feels attentive without being theatrical. If you are used to London tasting-menu venues like CORE by Clare Smyth or L'Enclume in Cartmel, Haar will feel quieter and less choreographed , that is a feature, not a limitation, given the setting.
St. Andrews is a town defined by the Old Course and the university, two institutions that draw visitors from around the world and give the town a cosmopolitan energy that belies its size. Haar has grown into the role of anchor restaurant for that visitor profile: people who have played the 18th, want to eat well that evening, and are prepared to pay for it. The Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 confirms it is operating at a level that holds up against comparable venues elsewhere in Scotland and, for context, against destination restaurants in the rural UK like Moor Hall in Aughton or Gidleigh Park in Chagford. It is not in that conversation yet in terms of recognition, but as a neighbourhood anchor for a town of St. Andrews' scale, it punches above its weight.
The signature smoked lobster is available as a supplement on both the lunch and evening menus. Order it. It is one of those dishes that justifies the trip independently of the rest of the menu. The tasting menu closes with "Nana's banoffee," a dessert that signals the kitchen is not above warmth and familiarity , a good sign in a format that can sometimes feel overly austere.
If you cannot get a table at Haar itself , and you may not, given booking difficulty , the same team runs Dune, a cocktail bar and seafood shack up the road. It is a lower-commitment entry point to the same kitchen's ethos and worth knowing about if your trip is last-minute. For a broader look at where to eat and drink in the area, see our full St. Andrews restaurants guide, our full St. Andrews bars guide, and our full St. Andrews hotels guide.
The Nordic influence in the cooking places Haar in a broader European conversation. If you have eaten at Frantzén in Stockholm or followed the tasting-menu scene that has spread from Scandinavia through the UK, you will recognise the vocabulary here. Haar is not attempting to replicate those experiences, but it draws from the same set of ideas about smoke, fermentation, and the primacy of northern produce. For a town that sits on the edge of the North Sea, that alignment feels earned rather than borrowed.
The Google rating of 4.4 across 193 reviews is a reliable signal for a venue at this price point. At ££££, diners arrive with high expectations and leave reviews accordingly , a 4.4 in that context is a meaningful endorsement of consistency.
Booking is hard. Haar is the only serious tasting-menu option in St. Andrews, and demand consistently outpaces supply. Book as early as your trip planning allows , four to six weeks ahead is a sensible minimum for evening slots. Weekday lunches are slightly easier to secure and represent better value if you are flexible. If you are planning around a golf trip or a university event weekend, add an extra two weeks to that lead time. The fallback is Dune, the same team's bar and seafood shack up the road.
Address: 1 Golf Place, St Andrews KY16 9JA. Price range: ££££ , budget accordingly for the tasting menu; the fixed-price lunch is the value entry point. Booking difficulty: Hard , reserve four to six weeks ahead minimum, longer around peak golf and university periods. Awards: Michelin Plate 2024 and 2025; La Liste Leading Restaurants 2026 (79 pts). Related venues: Seafood Ristorante, Ondine, and Little Italy Restaurant for alternatives in St. Andrews. See also our full St. Andrews wineries guide and our full St. Andrews experiences guide.
Yes, and it is the right choice in St. Andrews for exactly that purpose. The Michelin Plate recognition (2024, 2025) and the La Liste ranking (79 points, 2026) give it the credentials you want for a celebration meal, and the intimate room means service feels personal rather than impersonal. The evening tasting menu is the format to book for an occasion , it gives the kitchen more range and you more time in the room. The supplement for smoked lobster is worth adding. If you are comparing it against a wider UK field for a special trip, venues like The Fat Duck in Bray or Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons carry more recognition, but for an occasion rooted in St. Andrews, Haar is the clear answer.
Yes, if tasting-menu format suits you. The evening tasting menu at Haar shows the full range of the kitchen , Nordic-inflected technique, east-coast Scottish produce, and a signature smoked lobster supplement that most diners consider non-negotiable. The Michelin Plate in consecutive years (2024 and 2025) and the La Liste 79-point score suggest the kitchen is consistent at the level the format demands. The fixed-price lunch is the better option if you want a shorter commitment or are more price-sensitive , the cooking is drawn from the same philosophy and the smoked lobster supplement is available there too.
At ££££, Haar sits at the leading of the St. Andrews price tier, but it is delivering Michelin Plate and La Liste-recognised cooking in a town where that level of ambition is rare. For the local dining context, it is clearly worth it. Compared to London tasting menus at the same recognition level , venues like CORE by Clare Smyth or hide and fox in Saltwood , Haar will likely feel like reasonable value given the Scottish produce quality and the intimacy of the room. The fixed-price lunch is the highest value-per-pound option on the menu.
The database does not confirm bar seating at Haar specifically. What is confirmed: the same team runs Dune, a cocktail bar and seafood shack up the road from Haar, which offers a more casual entry point to the same kitchen's ethos. If you are looking for a drop-in option rather than a full reservation, Dune is the practical answer. For context on the broader St. Andrews bar scene, see our full St. Andrews bars guide.
Four to six weeks minimum for an evening slot , and longer if your visit coincides with a major golf event or university term dates, when St. Andrews fills up and Haar is the obvious first booking for visitors. Weekday lunches are the easiest slots to secure and are worth considering if your schedule is flexible. Haar is the only Michelin-recognised restaurant in town, which concentrates demand significantly. If you are reading this within a week of your visit, check availability but have Dune as a backup plan.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haar | Modern Cuisine | ££££ | There's a modern, Nordic edge to this appealing seafood-centric restaurant on the edge of St Andrews. The cooking both reflects the owner’s global travels and proudly pushes Scottish produce to the fore (look out for the ubiquitous Arbroath smokies). A fixed-price lunch menu offers good value, while the evening tasting menu shows off a wider range of dishes. Either way, the signature smoked lobster is available for a supplement, and "Nana's banoffee" provides a sweet-toothed finish. If you can't get a table, the same team run the Dune cocktail bar and 'seafood shack' up the road.; La Liste Top Restaurants (2026): 79pts; Michelin Plate (2025); Michelin Plate (2024) | Hard | — |
| Seafood Ristorante | Seafood | ££££ | Unknown | — | |
| Ondine | Unknown | — | |||
| Little Italy Restaurant | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
Yes — it is the most credentialed option in St. Andrews for a celebratory meal. The tasting menu format, Michelin Plate status (2024 and 2025), and a signature smoked lobster supplement give it the structure and occasion feel that a special dinner requires. If the evening menu is out of budget, the fixed-price lunch at a lower price point still uses the same kitchen and finishes with Nana's banoffee.
For Scottish produce cooked with a Nordic edge and Michelin Plate recognition behind it, the tasting menu is the right way to eat here — it shows a wider range of dishes than the lunch menu and includes access to the smoked lobster supplement. If you want a lighter commitment, the fixed-price lunch is the better-value entry point. The tasting menu format only makes sense if you have two-plus hours and want the full kitchen range.
At ££££, Haar is priced at the top of what St. Andrews supports, but it carries Michelin Plate recognition for two consecutive years and a La Liste Top Restaurants score of 79 points (2026) to back it up. The fixed-price lunch is the value case here — same team, same produce focus, lower outlay. Comparable seafood-centric restaurants in Edinburgh, such as Ondine, sit at a similar price point but offer à la carte flexibility Haar does not.
Haar's sister venue, the Dune cocktail bar and seafood shack up the road, is the option if you cannot get a table at the main restaurant — the same team runs both. The venue data does not confirm bar seating within Haar itself, so if counter dining matters to you, check directly when booking.
Book as early as your trip allows — Haar is the only serious tasting-menu restaurant in St. Andrews, and demand outpaces supply consistently. During golf season and summer weekends, last-minute availability is unlikely. If you cannot get a table, the Dune bar and seafood shack run by the same team is the practical fallback at 1 Golf Place.
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