The Highland Laddie, Leeds
Great Guinness, remarkable cooking and a little Indian soul.
October 2026 | Food, Travel & Hospitality
There's something rather lovely about finding a proper pub that knows exactly what it's about. Somewhere that doesn't try too hard, doesn't take itself too seriously, but quietly gets the important things right.
At the beginning of October, we visited The Highland Laddie in Leeds. And I have to say, what a find.
I've always had a soft spot for a good Northern pub. Not a restaurant pretending to be one, or somewhere that's spent a fortune manufacturing character. I mean a proper pub. Somewhere you can settle in, enjoy a decent pint and feel immediately at home.
The Highland Laddie understands that. But what makes it rather special is the Indian sensibility running through the cooking and hospitality.
And goodness me, can they cook.
First things first, the Guinness
Let's start where any decent pub review ought to start. The Guinness.
Excellent. Properly poured, beautifully kept and a pleasure to drink.
It might seem a small thing, but I've always believed that the fundamentals tell you a great deal about a place. If someone takes the trouble to get the pint right, there's a fair chance they're paying attention elsewhere.
There's a confidence about The Highland Laddie. Nothing feels forced or unnecessarily polished. It's comfortable in its own skin, and that makes it a very easy place to spend an afternoon or evening.
We started with oysters dressed with beef reduction and horseradish
Now, about that food
The menu is where things become really interesting.
We started with oysters dressed with beef reduction and horseradish. A wonderful combination. The clean, briny freshness of the oyster against the richness of the beef and the sharp heat of horseradish. Bold, clever cooking, but more importantly, absolutely delicious.
Then came the vindaloo devilled eggs. A brilliant idea, taking something familiar and giving it a proper kick. Rich, creamy and full of flavour, with that distinctive vindaloo warmth. Exactly the sort of thing you want alongside a good pint.
And then there were the curry and chips.
Now, there's something wonderfully Northern about curry and chips. It's familiar, comforting and entirely without pretension. But here, that simple combination becomes something worth talking about. It's the meeting of two food traditions that have been part of Northern life for generations, handled with confidence and affection.
The burger was another pleasure. A good burger should never need much explanation. It needs to be satisfying, properly cooked and worth getting your hands dirty for. This one delivered.
But the real showstopper was the pork schnitzel.
What a dish.
Generous, beautifully cooked and the sort of plate that makes you stop talking for a moment when it arrives. There is something particularly satisfying about a kitchen taking a relatively straightforward dish and executing it with such assurance.
For all the interesting influences running through the menu, the schnitzel was a reminder that great cooking is as much about technique and judgement as it is about imagination.
It was outstanding.
A good burger should never need much explanation.
Hospitality without the performance
Having spent much of my career in hospitality, I'm always interested in how a place makes people feel.
You can have a beautiful room, an ambitious menu and all the right ingredients. But if the welcome isn't right, something is missing.
The service at The Highland Laddie was excellent.
Friendly, relaxed and attentive, without ever becoming intrusive. There was a natural warmth to the whole experience, a genuine pleasure in looking after people.
And perhaps this is where that Indian sensibility extends beyond the kitchen.
There's a generosity to Indian hospitality that I've always admired. The importance placed on feeding people well, making them comfortable and ensuring nobody leaves feeling anything other than properly looked after.
I felt something of that spirit here.
Nothing was over-rehearsed. Nobody appeared to be following a script. It was simply good hospitality, delivered with warmth and confidence.
But the real showstopper was the pork schnitzel.
A proper pub with something to say
What I particularly admire about The Highland Laddie is that it hasn't abandoned the things that make a British pub special.
We're fortunate in the North to have a wonderful pub culture. At their best, pubs are places where people come together, conversations happen and the outside world can wait for a couple of hours.
The Highland Laddie takes that familiar proposition and gives it a distinctive personality.
The Indian influences don't feel like a marketing exercise or an attempt to create another fashionable dining concept. They're part of the character of the place, sitting comfortably alongside Guinness, burgers, schnitzel and the familiar pleasures of a proper pub.
And that's what makes it work.
There's a lesson here for the wider hospitality industry. You don't always need to reinvent something to make it relevant. Sometimes you simply need to understand what people already love, respect it and bring something of your own to the table.
The Highland Laddie does that rather well.
One to return to
We left having eaten extraordinarily well, enjoyed some excellent Guinness and been looked after with genuine warmth.
From those wonderful oysters and vindaloo devilled eggs to the curry and chips and that magnificent pork schnitzel, there wasn't a dull moment.
Leeds has no shortage of good places to eat and drink, but The Highland Laddie has something that can't easily be manufactured: character, confidence and a real sense of generosity.
A proper Northern pub, with an Indian soul and a kitchen that's doing something rather special.
I'll certainly be back.
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