Review: Harbour Bistro, Newhaven

I’ve been to Newhaven’s Harbour Bistro several times, and I can’t square this circle because the lovely little restaurant still feels new to me; I’m hardly a fast mover, and yet I’ve seen the menu change several times.

The important thing is this; on my most recent trip to the Bistro that overlooks Newhaven’s charming harbour, I brought the most awkward, stern and demanding food audience in the known world – my family.

And my family loved the Bistro. The Pier Place eatery is currently our number one special event location, and it’s open from Thursday to Sunday, at lunch and then again for dinner.

I’ve always booked online rather than by phone (as is my preference), and it has not been a problem. You get a confirmation ahead of time, and once, when I booked a birthday meal so far in advance that I was confident we’d have fallen off the system, I checked and got a response from Michael Neave himself.

Michael Neave is the name that caught my parents’ attention, a name remembered from Young Chef of the Year competitions or similar, popular Edinburgh restaurants and clearly a survivor despite the ongoing body blows to hospitality with the c19-crisis, Brexit and the cost of living crisis.

I know Neave was not the chef when I took my parents to the Bistro because my father asked, but that didn’t diminish the experience. That’s good because it means you can book and eat at the Harbour Bistro with confidence.

Harbour Bistro’s food and drink

The food is always fantastic. It seems pointless telling you what we’ve all had since the menu changes often, which is a treat, but since this is a restaurant with a nautical theme that overlooks an actual fishing harbour, I suggest you consider the fish!

I’ve taken vegetarians here too, and they’ve always found something to eat (although the menu is not giant – it’s robust) and always liked it too.

Notably, the food here is fantastic value. The two or three-course options are incredibly cost-effective, and we’ve mixed and matched with some of the tables having all three courses, some having a two-course of starter and main and others a two-course of main and dessert.

Posh food, yes, I think so, and that tends to mean the portions nudge towards the smaller side and look great. I’m a volume eater and am hard to fill up, but despite just having used the word “smaller” I’ll admit I’ve never left the Harbour Bistro feeling cheated or unsatisfied, and it’s just a quality-over-quantity thing.

The drink range here is also quality-over-quantity. I can’t imagine a table of sportsball fans getting out of hand here or rowdy business people trying to drink one another in some macho posturing. Newhaven Harbour Bistro is a place you can take people worthy of impressing and impressing with quiet sophistication.

I’m not sophisticated at all, so let me tell you that the cheapest bottle of wine I can find on the menu right now is just shy of £20 for a South African white, or Italian red—the most expensive £60. Beer is by the bottle, no more than £5 right now, and there’s whisky for that and a few quid higher.

That all seems incredibly fair to me.

Harbour Bistro’s vibe

I don’t like posh places. I eat out to fill my always-eager-for-more belly and to relax.

I think much of the Harbour Bistro’s success comes from being the best of both. It’s posh-level food without a posh dampener on the vibe.

Cafe? No. The Bistro is a small restaurant. The word “bistro” is perfect for the wee nook, and I think tables of four to six are on the large size here, and tables for you and a date about to be wowed by your tastes are ideal.

Importantly, the ambience is relaxed, and while there’s no traditional window seat with a few, there is a window seat with a diorama of sand and pebbles to re-create a beach that’s not really outside. It works for me.

I’ve never had a Harbour Bistro staff member at my table who wasn’t charismatic and canny. No ball has been dropped, and I’ve always been seen to with the speed I like and never rushed.

Overall

It’s high praise for the Harbour Bistro, and just writing this review makes me want to return. I imagine Michael Neave has learned a lot about running a good and impressive restaurant on his own personal journey, and it feels like the Bistro is where you and I can benefit from it.

I predict that the Bistro will stop being a secret recommendation in just a few months because the trams will (finally) start taking more people and tourists into Newhaven. The little oasis of great food down here will blossom even more than it does today, and the Harbour Bistro will get pretty famous.

It certainly deserves to be.

A great advantage of running Edinburgh Reviews is that I can write about discoveries I want to share, and Newhaven Harbour Bistro is one. Give this one five stars.