Haggis at The Haven (and Other Scottish Treats)

Last night, we had Kathy and Jon over for our third and final sponsored lamb feast. (I posted a video about the first one here. The second video is still in the works.) In between devouring large amounts of lamb and facing Kathy's enormous dessert, an insane six-layer cake, we played a food trivia game that my parents had given me for Chanukah. A question came up about haggis, which reminded me that I haven't yet posted about the fantastic dinner I had at The Haven back in December.

Joel and I had been eyeing The Haven since it opened, but getting up the motivation to get out to Jamaica Plain is fairly rare. We did try brunch back in August and loved it, but we still hadn't made it over there for dinner when I received a blogger dinner invitation for early December. Sorry Joel. You'll have to try it some other time. (As noted in my August brunch post, Joel is still mourning the loss of the live music at Matt Murphy's, a program that flourished under bartender and music booker Jason, now the owner of The Haven.)

With Cristy and Kevin, I sampled a wide array of The Haven's Scottish menu, including haggis, a dish we were all hesitant to taste...but we knew we had to give it a shot. For the uninitiated, head over to Wikipedia's page on haggis to learn all about it. The general consensus at the table was that none of us are haggis fans, but The Haven's preparation of it appears to be one that would certainly please those who do like haggis. I don't know how to describe it other than "earthy." Very earthy.

I enjoyed nearly everything else immensely, especially my entree, a fantastic rendition of fish and chips. Bonus: it was served in a fish-shaped plate. Adorable. I wasn't a huge fan of the mushy peas due to the, well, mushy texture, but the flavor was great. (I'm also not into hummus and other similarly textured items, so if you are, you'll probably love the peas!)

Other notes: the ambiance at The Haven is extremely inviting, both during the day and at night. The beer list is fantastic (and features lots of Scottish selections). I haven't experienced any of these yet, but there are weekly trivia, music, and movie nights which are probably worth checking out. If I lived in JP, I'd be here all the time.

Special thanks to Jason for hosting us!

More photos (brunch, then dinner):

Disclosure: While this meal was offered free of charge as part of a blogger dinner, all opinions in this post are my own.