Harry's

Harry's
28 Boat Quay

238 Thomson Road
#01-59 Velocity @ Novena Square

18 Tai Seng Street
#01-K4 18 Tai Seng

22 Lorong Mambong

1 Netheravon Road
#01-04 Village Hotel Changi

26 Beach Road
#01-18 South Beach

1 Maritime Square
#01-64 HarbourFront Centre

40 Pasir Panjang Road
#02-43 Mapletree Business City

60 Robertson Quay
#01-05 The Quayside

545 Orchard Road
#01-01 Far East Shopping Centre

9 Tampines Grande #01-09

11 Dempsey Road #01-17A

8 Raffles Avenue
#01-05 Esplanade

http://harrys.com.sg/

Beer-Battered Fish & Chips (SGD $25)

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Bar

(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 7
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 7
Service: 8
Value for Money: 6
Spent about SGD $40 per person.

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Established in August 1992, Harry's is among the most well known Singaporean neighbourhood bars around. Initially styled as the quintessential British English pub and jazz bar lounge, Harry's has since taken on a modern contemporary feel, even as they expanded worldwide. Today, the Harry's outlets in each country incorporates some elements of the local cuisine into their food and drink menus.

Ambience at Harry's differs slightly from outlet to outlet. The common elements include dim, low lighting; a mix of sit-down tables, booth seats, and high chairs; shades of blue, wood, white, black, and metal; and a wide bar counter with prominent beer taps, neatly stacked with rows of bottles. The older outlets tend to have sturdy wooden furnishings, while the newer outlets tend to have modern contemporary furniture. Most have projectors or television screens to show sporting matches.

Service at Harry's tends to be friendly, engaging, and decently efficient. Staff are quick to greet and seat guests, but because of the ratio of staff to customers, rarely are able to accord you personalised attention, unless it's a non-peak period. During such a visit, I was pleasantly surprised when staff engaged me, and later proactively offered a cleaning cloth for my camera. Their menu knowledge is fair enough, and they quickly clean up when diners are done.

Food at Harry's is a mix of classic British English pub grub, and popular local delights given a twist. Similarly, the range of beers feature both European and Asian brands, and they've even introduced a small range of cocktails with local influences. Generally, quality and taste is average to above average, not the best around, but good enough. Portions are large for individuals. Prices are comparable to a mid-range gastropub, budget about SGD $40 per person.

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Harry's Signage

Harry's Exterior

Harry's Interior

Menu Food

Menu Drinks

Bar Counter

The Beer Kronenbourg Blanc (SGD $12 / $15) is a Belgian white ale. It has a bright golden colour, aromas of lemon citrus, mango, and grains, with a light, clean, crisp body that has sharp carbonation. Taste is of wheat, banana, orange zest, and coriander, sweet and fruity with a light touch of spice. Finish is light, lingering, and dry. Easily drinkable, perfect for warm weather.

Beer Kronenbourg Blanc (SGD $12 / $15)

The Beer Connor's Stout Porter (SGD $12 / $15) is a British porter, brewed by Carlsberg Group. This nitrogenated draught stout is brewed, not blended, and has a deep coal black colour, with aromas and tastes of roast malt, toffee, star anise, and coffee. The body is smooth, balanced, and dry, with a creamy white foam head, and a grainy sweet toasty flavour. Finish is creamy, thick, and soft. A decent stout porter.

Beer Connor's Stout Porter (SGD $12 / $15)

Beer Connor's Stout Porter

The Cocktail Bandung Cino (SGD $17) features a blend of vodka, rose syrup, milk, and cream, tasting exactly like the local Singaporean beverage of bandung, except more adult. Has a delicate floral sweet boozy flavour, not too overwhelming, nicely balanced. Love it.

Cocktail Bandung Cino (SGD $17)

Cocktail Bandung Cino

The Cocktail Bank Breaker (SGD $18) features a shot of whisky, alongside a blend of soda water and Midori muskmelon liqueur. Mix it together, and you get a punchy beverage with smoky fruity sweet boozy notes. Named in homage to the infamous Nick Leeson, the renegade broker whose fradulent dealings single-handedly brought down Barings Bank, as he used to frequent Harry's regularly.

Cocktail Bank Breaker (SGD $18)

Cocktail Bank Breaker

Said to be the favourite cocktail of the famed American author and journalist, the Cocktail Hemingway Daiquiri (SGD $17) features a blend of white rum, Aperol herbal bitter liqueur, grapefruit juice, and lime juice. Smooth, cool, and refreshingly crisp on the palate, this has a bright boozy sweet citrus sour bitter flavour.

Cocktail Hemingway Daiquiri (SGD $17)

Cocktail Hemingway Daiquiri

A favourite Singaporean snack, the Fish Skin Cracklings (SGD $14) here feature thick, crisp crunchy chips made from deep-fried salmon fish skin, sprinkled with paprika, garam masala, salt, and spring onions. Bold Asian flavours with its savoury spice notes. Supposed to be served with a wasabi mayonnaise dipping sauce, but it was omitted during my visit.

Fish Skin Cracklings (SGD $14)

Fish Skin Cracklings

The Tandoori Chicken Bites (SGD $19) are tasty, but not authentic. The boneless chicken chunks aren't cooked in a tandoor, but rather, rubbed in a tandoori marinade made with yoghurt, cloves, salt, powdered cumin, powdered coriander, cayenne pepper, powdered cinnamon, powdered cardamom, bay leaves, mace, and pepper. The chicken becomes tender and moist, but the marinade seems more like a gravy instead. Sauteed with crisp red onions, crunchy red and green bell peppers / capsicum, and served with a creamy mint yoghurt on the side. Has vegetal spice sweet savoury salty flavour, but lacks the smoky edge or dry texture of tandoor roasted chicken.

Tandoori Chicken Bites (SGD $19)

Tandoori Chicken Bites

Tandoori Chicken Bites

The classic British English Beer-Battered Fish & Chips (SGD $25), with a medium sized fillet of moist, soft john dory fish, coated in a crisp golden brown batter. Served with a creamy milky sweet coleslaw that has a lovely crunch, and medium cut spiced potato fries that have a bold salty starchy spice flavour. While I was expecting mushy peas or mashed peas, they've instead served the peas whole but warm, with a soft texture and good vegetal sweet flavour. A dollop of creamy tartar sauce completes. The fish was light on flavour, so I asked for malt vinegar, salt, and tomato ketchup, to enhance the taste.

Beer-Battered Fish & Chips (SGD $25)

Beer-Battered Fish & Chips

Beer-Battered Fish & Chips

Another classic British English dish, the Chicken Tikka Masala (SGD $24) is delicious. It features a warm, creamy rich curry gravy of garam masala, salt, red onions, garlic, powdered cumin, cloves, chili, powdered turmeric, cinnamon sticks, powdered coriander, ginger, pepper, fenugreek leaves, tomato puree, and fresh cream / coconut cream. Has a lovely sweet savoury milky spice flavour. The boneless chunks of marinated chicken carry a hint of smoky savoury spice flavour, but it's not as robust in taste as elsewhere. Served with warm, soft chewy pita bread, which has a bready sweet grainy flavour, and soaks up the curry gravy well. Good!

Chicken Tikka Masala (SGD $24)

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala

Served in a half-slab with 2 side dishes of your choice, the Dry-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs was decent enough. On this occasion, the creamy coleslaw had an unpleasant sour tinge, ruining the natural vegetal sweet flavour. The medium cut spiced fries were hot and nice, with good potato sweet spice flavour, very addictive. The spice-rubbed pork ribs had a gradient of texture, more dry towards the edges, more moist towards the center, with the pork meat being fork tender. Boldly savoury salty spice in flavour, the pork meat came easily off the bones, making this easy to eat. A silver of fat lends a decadent note. Worth ordering!

Dry-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs (SGD $29)

Dry-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs

Dry-Rubbed Baby Back Ribs

The Steak Sandwich (SGD $24) is a hearty and comforting sandwich, featuring soft panini ciabatta bread filled with cuts of tender juicy grilled meltique beef sirlon steak, crunchy grilled bell peppers / capsicum, soft white onions, juicy tomatoes, crisp lettuce, and a creamy garlic aioli with butter. Bite in and you get a big burst of meaty savoury vegetal sweet flavours, followed by the mellow herbal spice notes of the dressing. Delicious and satisfying, a straightforward meal that's great anytime.

Steak Sandwich (SGD $24)

Steak Sandwich

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Update Dec-2022: It's been more than 3 years on, and I've returned to Harry's to sample some of their new light bites. The ambience, service, and food quality at Harry's remains as good as before, though prices have risen to keep pace with inflation.

They finally have their own house brewed beer. The Beer Harry's Premium Lager (SGD $17) is an American style pale ale, brewed by Harry's International in Singapore. It has a bright straw golden colour, with aromas and tastes of wheat, cereal, corn, and malt. The body is crisp, light, and bright, with grainy mineral sour sweet flavour, and a frothy white foam head. Nicely refreshing.

Beer Harry's Premium Lager (SGD $17)

Loved the Otah Toasties (SGD $16), have had these twice now, and both times were good. The crisp toasted white bread, fragrant with bready sweet smoky flavour, is layered with a thick moist tender slab of mackerel fish otah, bold with savoury spice sweet salty flavour. Each bite carries a sharp fiery kick, which quickly fades. Good!

Otah Toasties (SGD $16)

Otah Toasties

Loved the Mixed Skewer Platter (SGD $28) and its 8 pieces of skewered and grilled meat. The Sweet & Sticky Pork Patty, essentially a Thai Moo Ping pork patty, is tender juicy crunchy, releasing an addictive smoky meaty fatty savoury salty sweet flavour with each bite. The lovely Thai inspired Lemongrass Chicken is tender moist soft, with pleasant smoky herbal earthy savoury sweet spice flavour. Loved that it's balanced with crisp lettuce, crunchy cucumbers, and juicy tomatoes, all with vegetal sweet flavour. Served with a spicy sour sweet chili dipping sauce on the side. Highly recommended!