When you and your friends try to brainstorm for some trusty bars to head to that won’t let you down as you wind down and indulge in delicious treats and tipples, you’ll most probably think of Harry’s. It’s a renowned name in the bar scene in Singapore. But Harry’s is expanding. It’s reinventing itself. It’s trying to be a part of more of your life’s special moments while recognising your needs, and it starts with its all-new menu featuring healthier options at lower prices!
Hold on. Isn’t Harry’s a bar? They serve greasy guilty pleasures that accompany your drinking experience that nothing can beat. Their Western fare earned the Best Western Restaurant (Chain Dining) Star Award 2021 by the Restaurant Association of Singapore. Healthy snacks and dishes with a thirst-quenching cocktail or chunky glass of beer don’t sound like the best way to bid adieu to an exhausting, blood-curdling week, right? We feel the same way!
That’s exactly why we tried their most exciting dishes and bring you yet another brutally honest review. But this is where I issue you a warning: the following content will be excruciatingly descriptive, with images that will have your salivary glands working overtime with uncontrollable mouth-watering tendencies. What is the recommended course of action? Either have some tissues on standby or a vehicle ready to take you to the nearest outlet! With that, if you’re ready, let’s begin…
Appetisers
Harry’s Quinoa Salad (Gluten-Free) – S$16++
Oh, yes. A salad, and a quinoa one, no less, at Harry’s! As thrilling as it is that those of us looking for healthier options in a bar (even those with gluten intolerance) have one like this Harry’s Quinoa Salad, the dish itself was rather lacklustre.
Quinoa itself carries no flavour of its own and is there purely for the health factor and its unique texture. In this salad, the quinoa relied on its fellow ingredients for depth of flavour. The salad comes with fresh greens, like broccoli, lettuce, zesty tomatoes, eggs, and roasted sweet potatoes, topped with creamy feta cheese. Unfortunately, except for the cheese, no one delivered. The salad is dry and unseasoned, making it a messy textural and flavour palate. However, the creaminess and slight saltiness of the cheese was a respite from the dullness.
Its only potential saving grace was the sweet balsamic dressing it came with, which adds a zesty tang with an ever-so-slight heat that attempts to put it all together. Nonetheless, it still wasn’t enough to blow me away. If you’re there for some drinks, the salad doesn’t exactly bode well with them, too. Unless you’re a fan of quinoa, I’d suggest saving the bucks for something with more oomph.
Bar Bites
Amigo Nachos – S$12++
Ah, the oomph. These are the Amigo Nachos. How can you possibly go wrong? On a bed of crunchy nachos sits a sinful cheesy layer, interlaced with tangy pickles and salty olives, topped with a jaw-dropping, refreshing yet heavy dollop of guacamole.
When you get it all on one piece of nacho, a mesmerising eruption of flavours sets off in your mouth. It’s like a savoury birthday cake, one that never disappoints, tasting timelessly delicious and preparing you for the dining and drinking feast that awaits you. This takes the crown for the best bar bite, even if it’s not the healthiest.
Baba Ghanoush (Gluten-Free) – S$12++
But a healthier option exists – a plate of nachos, along with fresh vegetables like cucumbers, carrots and cherry tomatoes. With it comes the Lebanese delight, Baba Ghanoush, a dip made with roasted eggplant.
I’d typically rear away from eggplant, but someone tell me why this tasted better with every bite! It looks rather underwhelming and tastes sweeter and not nearly as smoky as its authentic counterpart, but for a healthy alternative to your classic nachos, it’s not too bad at all.
Mains
Harry’s Jazz Burger – Remastered – S$22++
Harry’s Jazz Burger is here with a new and improved recipe! With a grass-fed beef patty and coleslaw on the side, the burger becomes a healthier choice, depicting Harry’s attention to detail and scrutiny of their menu reinvention. With a medium cook, the patty is rich and chewy, paired with crunchy bacon and a fluffy, slightly toasted brioche bun, making this a merry mesh of textures.
The burger is packed with fresh lettuce, juicy tomatoes, cheddar cheese and mushrooms (which didn’t lend much to the flavour but did accompany the smorgasbord of textures). The jalapeno cheese sauce inside most certainly enlivened the burger’s flavour profile, making the ensemble a massive hit and easily one of the more unforgettable mains on the menu.
But the plate carries another jaw-droppingly delicious hero – the fries. I’m typically not a fan of the thick potato cut and will forever be biased towards the shoestring and waffle-cut fries, but this changed my mind. Topped with Harry’s own proprietary seasoning, you won’t even need any sauce with it. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, topped with a unique spicy-and-salty mix – ah, these fries have found a fan in me.
Pan Seared Salmon – S$22++
This Pan Seared Salmon sounds and looks the most underwhelming, but it ended up being one of my more memorable mains. Despite its unassuming appearance, the ensemble as a whole packs a ton of flavour. The steamed salmon is perfectly moist and tender. It’s served with the healthier choice, brown rice seasoned in chicken broth, to give it the pizzazz that your classic brown rice could never deliver. All this comes with some unseasoned green vegetables and a delicious house-made pesto sauce.
Individually, each of these components is mild and almost dull. The salmon lacks flavour (even with a squeeze of the lemon that comes with the dish), the rice is pretty dry, and the vegetables are, well, just vegetables. But the perfect bite is when you have a little bit of that rice and a piece of that salmon, topped with the pesto sauce. Ah, perfection! The pesto sauce is that magical star that pulls the act together! The greasiness of the sauce moistens the rice and engulfs the salmon in its refreshing yet warm embrace, and you’ve got a party in your mouth.
It’s not the best dish ever, but I loved the cohesion of every component, which is challenging to ace when there’s so much on the plate. Every component had a part to play in bringing the dish to life. Well, except for the vegetables. Honestly, they seemed to just be there for the healthy factor that the menu focuses on. But more on that later! The dish would’ve done better if the vegetables had been sauteed or if it had been a coleslaw instead. But the rest of it was pretty good.
Roasted Chicken Roulade – S$23++
A chicken roulade is when stuffing is added to a pounded, flat piece of chicken, then rolled up to taste stunningly delightful. However, Harry’s Roasted Chicken Roulade was rather meh. With the promise of a chicken roulade comes the expectation of an eruption of flavour, courtesy of the stuffing. However, that punch of flavour never came. It was a tender and juicy plate of chicken, but the stuffing itself did not lend very much to the palate.
It does come with a chimichurri sauce, which was flavourful on its own. But it didn’t elevate it much, either, and was not a combination that gelled well with the overall dish. All this comes with some steamed greens and sweet potatoes, too, but, once again, they did not add to the plate except with their pop of colour. The plate lacked synergy and was a very unfortunate miss. A good chicken roulade could have you screaming at how scrumptious it is. This one, rather, had me crying in frustration.
Argentinian Rib Eye – S$29++
With a medium rare cook, the Argentinian Rib Eye did not come to mess around. The beef was juicy, chewy, and smoky. But not too tough. It was succulent and packed with flavour. It’s not here to play. Its quality and cook make you feel like you’re in a steakhouse! But you look up and realise you’re in the warm embrace of Harry’s, where your steak is cooked to perfection without breaking the bank.
But that spicy steak sauce? You can do better. When paired with a chunk of meat that leaves you utterly speechless with delight, you have to be the perfect accompaniment to such bold flavours. Unfortunately, it was giving nothing. But the fries snatch our attention away from the disappointing sauce. The same spiced fries from earlier joins the plate again to give you a hearty meal! This was one of our team’s favourites of the night.
Drunken Fish & Chips – S$21++
As soon as this was served, I was shell-shocked. I’d never seen such a massive piece of filet served in fish and chips before—it was bigger than my hand! The Drunken Fish & Chips boasts a hybrid of tilapia and snapper, which is a rather unconventional yet intentional choice by the chef to give it that bite.
Unfortunately, while it accomplished the chef’s mission, the fish was rather dry. Even with the new, thin batter coating on the fish, it was way too hefty of a bite. It didn’t melt in my mouth as tenderly as your classic fish and chips should. Given the size of the filet, while it did provide value for money, it’s very heavy and too much to take on. Maybe make this a sharing dish, or make sure you’re really hungry before ordering it. The dish also comes with the brilliant fries and a creamy tartar sauce.
Pastas
Surfer’s Aglio Olio – S$22++
It’s tough to impress me with aglio olio. Cooked in just olive oil and garlic, it’s a milder pasta option, and it’s difficult to make it stand out. But the Surfer’s Aglio Olio might have blown me away. Tossed with seaweed and olive oil and topped with seaweed, furikake, garlic, and freshly cut chilli, it is one of the most well-seasoned aglio olio I might have ever had.
On the plate, you’ll also find pieces of fresh tiger prawns that complete the dish. Good news: they come deshelled! The juiciness and tenderness of the prawns, along with the powerful explosion of flavour of the seasoning, make for such a satisfying bite. It’s not the best thing on the menu, but for something as simple as an aglio olio, Harry’s nailed it.
Greens with Pesto Pasta – S$20++
This might just be one of the healthiest pastas I’ve ever had. The Greens with Pesto Pasta consists of spaghetti tossed with green beans, broccoli, sugar snap peas, pine nuts and pesto sauce, topped with grated Parmesan cheese. To a health freak, this might be your personal heaven. But flavour-wise, the pearly gates were far from where I stood.
The pesto sauce was way too salty for my liking, yet it felt like something else was missing. It made the rest of the seasoning taste unbalanced and overwhelming, so much so that I couldn’t pay attention to anything else in the dish. This is certainly lower on my favourites list, but I appreciate the attempt to make this comfort food more healthy yet flavourful.
Drinks
Roman Mule – S$18++
This highball is made with gin, ginger beer, and lemon. Ah, the timeless combination that is gin and ginger beer! It never goes wrong. It never fails you. It never goes out of style. With a hint of that tanginess from the lemon, the Roman Mule is a refreshing choice for any sinisterly scorching day in Singapore (which is every day).
But something that simple for such a hefty price? I’ve never wrapped my head around the insane pricing for highballs, given that a highball is merely a single spirit mixed with one other ingredient. Oh, well! It’s still a great drink that’s tough to say no to!
Espresso Martini – S$18++
I’ve always considered an Espresso Martini an innovation for coffee lovers with a love affair with spirits. Coffee? Check. Alcohol? Check. Delicious? Check! It brings the two worlds together in a breathtaking fusion that’s tough to say no to.
With vodka, coffee liqueur, dark chocolate, espresso, and a hint of vanilla, this drink was a pleasant combination of two potent potions. Although it did taste a little uneven, with some sips having a stronger note of coffee while some carried more alcohol, it was a lovely drink—one we’re coming back for again!
Low-Carb Beers
Oh, yes. The world drinks to swallow their worries, but one worry never leaves – the fear of the beer belly. But Harry’s is introducing low-carb beers to its menu so you can truly drink with no woes plaguing you!
We tried one from Pure Blonde. It tastes almost like any other beer, except with a less potent beer-y taste. You might even say it tastes a tad bit watered down, almost as if it was abandoned after being poured into a cup of ice that has now melted. How you enjoy the taste depends heavily on how you like your beer. For someone who pretty much loathes beer, this was easier and lighter to take on, making this a win. That too, with less carbs? This is a victory!
Ending Thoughts
I was absolutely stuffed from my meal at Harry’s, feeling especially content knowing that I’d eaten healthily that day (with a healthy consumption of alcohol, too!). The serving portion of all these dishes was pretty magnificent, making the dish worth its price tag. That’s the kind of comfort and ease we expect from one of the country’s favourite bars, and Harry’s delivered.
But when it comes to making their dishes healthier, their efforts often fall short. They felt like forced attempts at adding vegetables just for the sake of that healthiness their new menu seems to be promising. Often, these vegetables either came unseasoned or simply didn’t match the vibe of the dish. They weren’t really incorporated into the meal but, rather, felt like an afterthought on that plate. It seems to reinforce the idea that healthy things don’t taste delicious, which I hoped was a notion that Harry’s would chase away.
Overall, I wished for more creative and unique incorporations of healthy goodies. But after all, Harry’s is a bar first and foremost, despite its gastronomic creations, and it’s already raised the bar (pun not intended!) in reinventing itself to expand its reach and audience.
But this is just the beginning. Harry’s is looking to attract a more diverse audience. After all, those of us who grew up with Harry’s are now starting families of our own with new lifestyles and habits. Instead of just focusing on the generations that come after, the beloved bar wants to cater to our changing needs, to continue being a part of our lives and be the centre of our memories the way they were before.
And that’s why, amongst other things, we can also look forward to a revitalised ambience at our favourite bar! Harry’s will expand its entertainment offerings beyond live musicians to bring you curated experiences like enchanting magic performances and throw-your-head-back-in-laughter comedy shows! They will enhance the overall dining experience to ensure you’re thoroughly entertained and stuffed, no matter who your company is!
Evidently, we’re in a new era of Harry’s, and this is just the beginning! The Harry’s that we grew up with is also growing with us and promises to be a part of our lives as much as it was a part of our rowdiest, craziest stories. Here’s to so many more memories together. Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the new Harry’s…
Harry’s
📍Location: Various locations
Harry’s has so much more up its sleeve to unleash upon us, so stay tuned to their official website, Instagram, and TikTok for more! Drooling uncontrollably after reading this? Check out Harry’s new menu right now and plan your next meal!
Photos by Pauline Caoile of the DANAMIC Team.
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