Brocket Hall in Welwyn Hatfield

This was a quality experience from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. The welcome from all the staff was warm and friendly. The lounge, where we had excellent cocktails on arrival atmospheric with the log fires. Canapes were a very pleasant surprise and outstanding quality, thoroughly explained by the waiter. The dining area was bright and with a good early evening atmosphere and again the waiting staff were friendly, knowledgeable and informative. The early evening set menu provided a good range and all our dishes were of top quality, the duck parfait, the guinea fowl and the desserts of pear souffle and of chocolate and peanut parfait. Coffee arrived with some excellent petit fours. Nothing but praise for all involved in this restaurant and yes, we are very likely to make a return visit !

what a hidden gem!! We live round the corner and always avoided due to thinking it was over priced and over rated. Our mistake!! The service was exceptional and the food was a high standard, yet reasonably priced. I had a lamb dish which was £32 and my husband had turbot at £28. We cannot wait to come back. Highly recommend

We had a fantastic time at Auberge du Lac (dinner). The welcome was warm, the food was excellent and the service was superb. Manuel made our evening with his great service and good humour. Looking forward to returning soon.

Lovely food and excellent service would highly recommend. Soufflé was excellent. Beautiful views as well.

What a great way to spend the build up to the big day. Had a perfect Saturday night. Every time we go to Auberge du Lac it gets better and better The atmosphere is relaxed, the team amazing and the food delicious Thanks to Aimee, Scot and Bilal, all so professional and yet so very friendly Scot recommended a bottle of Beaume which was the best ever, just went perfectly with what we ordered Can’t wait to return Happy Christmas Cheers Nigel & Karen

This place was a huge disappointment and the food was terrible. Everything tasted of salt overload.

The Auberge has dramtically changed versus months ago - John Berber the chef has changed the menus and more importantly the quality. OK its not West End but getting there!! We have had 2 dinners for 4 and then 8 in past 3 weeks. Absolutely perfect. As I am into food I asked re how various dishes were in fact prepared - Chef was with us explaining all the hows etc Would thoroughly recommend the Gavi de Gavi white - excellent!! We had on both visits the Thurs/Friday special dinners at ca £39 per head - - you cannot get better value and if you are in a group just ask re a menu for your group as we did. We await the special dinners when they return in Jan!

Not bad, just could be better. Some good food. We went for Sunday lunch. We were brought out some lovely rosemary bread for pre starters, I then had a a tasty veloute ( posh word for soup! ), then a very nicely cooked beef done pink. Desserts were a bit underwhelming. Service was friendly, personable but unfortunately rather amateurish. Can be difficult to define good service, but I think it includes always checking with diners a few mins after serving if all is okay - which didn’t happen. Also I think waiters should always been able to clearly describe the dishes. For example we asked what the tonka dessert was and got a garbled description of something that was “weird”, “unique”, and “immense” - which didn’t really help the decision making process! The building is a lovely, old structure right on a lake, which I expect would be glorious on a summer evening. Decor inside is rather tired looking though. I think it could be great, probably just a matter of training up their staff better as they seemed pretty nice people really and maybe thinking about how to get the desserts giving a bit more bang for their buck. Wish them success and maybe try them out again next year, if this review hasn’t upset them too much and they make a few improvements!

The staff reception was very good and service was excellent. We chose from the A La carte menu and had tasty beautifully presented food. Most enjoyable and the wine list was simple and reasonably priced. Nothing pretentious.

Was here for a family birthday treat. Both food and service were excellent. We were made to feel special and the setting and environment was fantastic.

Such a pity the food overall was very poor. All hot dishes were served tepid. Fish barely cooked inside , too salty & slimy. Minute portion of rolled chicken covered in flower petals and cream "tasteless" Pastry case very hard. Duck pate looked so unappetising, couldn't eat it. On the positive side. Venue and grounds beautiful. Service good.

This was our first visit since the reopening and we will definitely come again. A warm welcome and then very attentive and timely service throughout the meal. The staff explained what each dish was and were clearly very pleased to do so. We each had the set menu and opted (almost) for a different dish for each course so we got an excellent overview of the quality of the cooking. No complaints. So glad to see it up and running again.

Great service, lovely setting just incredibly disappointing food. Tasteless, warm, extremely small portions just very poor in general. We will not be returning. Service was brilliant. Such a shame!

RAW COLD FOOD. Very disappointed. Set lunch was pre-prepared. Pate was tasteless, slimy & poorly presented. Cod was cold & raw in the middle, had to send it back. Incredibly salty. We were shocked at the poor standard & lack of care. Terrible

Food very good- presentation, textures, flavours , Service was faultless, and the views across the lake wonderful. This was our first visit since chef John Barber joined , and we were greatly impressed.

So disappointing. Went for 80th birthday. We have been many times before it closed and there was an elegant standard. Sadly this is now missing. It is clear that the staff have not been trained for this restaurant. We arrived and had to wait a...

Came here for birthday lunch - its been 4 years since last visit (its been closed for many reasons) but got exactly the same experience as then - excellent. All the staff are very friendly and we asked for an outside table near the lake...

We enjoyed a lovely sunny Sunday lunch today. Just felt the need to give what I hope will be helpful feedback to your staff and chefs. The food in the main was very well presented and of a very high standard. But It would be...

The location is second to none in stunning grounds close to the lake. Service was attentive and friendly. The dining experience started with two delicious amuse bouche served prior to arrival of the starter. The menu is limited but It was unanimously decided by our...

We came for dinner last night to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Wow what an evening. We started with drinks over looking the beautiful lake and stunning manicured lawns, then went inside for a meal, but still had a gorgeous view. The service from Scott (in...

I researched a few places looking for somewhere special to take my mother in law. I was after good food, good service and a beautiful setting. I'm so glad I didn't pay attention to some of the negative reviews about the restaurant as we were...

The place has a new chef so we had high hopes. Overall the food was poor, menu limited and the environment was tired and the staff pleasant but junior. We went as a family of four with a teenager and a 6 year old. There...

It's been many years since I last dined at this restaurant. Happily, today I was treated to the Mother's Day lunch menu by my son and daughter-in-law. What an absolutely delicious meal of, canapés, tasty bread selection, mains and exquisite desert. The flavours were well...

Went to a tasting event 3/3/23 and it was truly disappointing. After closing for a few years, it was sad to see all the same musty furniture & curtains. Not a single thing had changed including the carpets. At a price of £95 p/p for...

Really disappointing. Although the food was actually really good the place really needs a major overhaul. The interior is so dated, and the smell as you enter is like a school canteen. The waiter asked if we wanted to see the wine list but quickly...

The last time we visited Auberge we were disappointed and felt the restaurant had lost its way but several years on with John Barber at the helm it’s back with a bang. The salmon nibbles were full of flavour, the bread worthy of a Hollywood...

We had the tasting menu at one of the pop up events as the team bed in ready for opening in (I understand) March. Some of the staff were clearly inexperienced and made mistakes, but that is to be expected. The more experienced staff were...

It was so lovely to be back again, we missed you! We went to the pop up evening with the 7 course meal which we felt although everything was really delicious, was not well balanced. We started with a plate of canapés, all of which...

We had a wonderful birthday dinner here last night. The seasonal set menu was excellent value and delicious and the wine I was given by the manager was lovely! The service was also excellent, it's a shame another customer decided it was appropriate to drag...

The surroundings are fabulous, the food delicious and the staff couldn’t do enough for us to make our lunch special. We will definitely be back. The lunch is also good value for money taking into account the quality of the food and setting.

We have just returned from the lovely meal at Auberge Du Lac. We normally dine at Luton Hoo and fancied a change of the surroundings. What a pleasant experience we have had tonight ! The food - really lovely, portioned just right, great textures and...

Absolutely excellent! Perfect service & food. Lovely atmosphere, location on the lake. Set menu a bargain!

We came here as a large family for our Grandma’s birthday and had the most magical afternoon. A beautiful restaurant in a gorgeous location with spectacular food and brilliant service. Thank you.

From start to finish, the service was impeccable! Greeted warmly by front of house and a lovely waiter who was attentive and made polite chit-chat with us. The food was delicious. There was a completely seperate vegetarian menu for myself with lots of choice. Their...

We were surprised that when visiting for a lunch near to Christmas the place was only 30% occupied. It was not easy to guess why this should be the staff were good ,the food whilst not absolutely fine dining is good and for the price...

We received some really notable levels of service at ADL on Saturday evening. Startibg with Emma on reception, and continuing with Istvan and his team, really very good service indeed. Congratulations.

This was our first visit to Auberge du Lac. The setting is lovely but with it being so close to Christmas it would have been nice if the restaurant was decorated for the festive season. We were taken to our table by a charming young...

We would like to thank Vangjel for organising our booking. We had a lovely, quiet room so that we could relax with a baby and toddler. We were made very welcome. Katrina was very efficient, whilst checking everyone was ok. She was very warm towards...

We had a lovely time at the Auberge, from the moment we walked into the cosy reception area and had our pre lunch drinks, to the friendly staff, to the tasty food, excellent wine chosen for us by the sommelier and send off by the...

Having been very regular customers at the Auberge a few years back we decided to go again after 5 years following a pretty average meal we had there in 2014. It was our daughter's 30th birthday so we arranged to have lunch at the Auberge...

Amazing food and service! Happy birthday treat was lovely. Really good fish and lovely location. Highly recommended

A truly wonderful dining experience. Amazing menu, catering for all dietary requirements with style. Service was Outstanding!. A perfect balance between attention to detail and a lovely relaxed ambience. This is a great restaurant for a special occasion or for real food lovers. Competitive pricing.

We had a lunch here before and it was great; the view is gorgeous. We decided to try it for dinner and was not disappointed. We went for 7 course tasting menu; one was vegetarian. I couldn’t fault it. DELICIOUS food, I have to say...

Consiglio vivavamente questo ristorante. Servizio di alto livello molto curato. Cucina sublime. Abbiamo vissuto un momento unico.

Auberge du lac, well what can I say, it’s difficult to find it firstly, you need to know that you buzz into The Brockett Estate which is not obvious at night. That’s minor the restaurant is an old house nice location over looking the lake....

Went for lunch and although food was very good felt the ambience for this level of establishment was somewhat lacking. There seemed to be a general lack of direction/managment with no one obviously in control. The Staff uniforms were rather scruffy (in some cases stained)...

Took my niece here for Sunday lunch. Highly recommend. Huge portions of perfectly cooked food. Highly recommend. The staff were wonderful. Sommelier knew her stuff! Brilliant!!!!

I've driven past Brocket Hall hundreds of times over the years and always thought it would be nice to go there for a meal on a special occassion. This year I decided to surprise my wife and take her there for her birthday.

For some time now, we’ve been looking for a local restaurant thats worthy of a visit when celebrating a special occasion. Auberge du Lac is that place! The restaurant is set in the beautiful grounds of Brocket Hall, over looking a lively lake teaming with...

We ate with friends on Sunday the 24th Aug 2019 for the 39 pound a head lunch. We had ate here before and was raving to our friends as it was their first time. All four of us were dissapointed.We felt very rushed by the...

Really pretty place with the terrace right by the river. Food is very good, tasty and well presented with some interesting flavour combinations such as melon anise sorbet. The head chef came out to deliver the amuse bouche personally and spent time talking to us...

We booked Auberge Du Lac after a friend had bought me a gift voucher for a 3 course lunch there. From start to finish the service was amazing & they went out of there way to help me as my leg was in plaster. All...

We visited Auberge de lac on Saturday10th August for my wife’s birthday, the front door opened even before we got to it, greeted by the highly efficient and extremely professional Emma! Nothing was too much trouble for her and her very enthusiastic team, we enjoyed...

Wonderful location, excellent service and super food for a Sunday birthday lunch. Special mention must be made of the waiter Nelson who was very professional, knowledgeable and chose a super red wine. It happened to be Portuguese, which was where he was from so I think his first-hand knowledge was put to very good use.

Cannot fault this place for Sunday lunch quality of the food and service are outstanding 39:00 pounds for 3 courses can't go wrong.

We celebrated a 70th birthday of one of we four and the service, attention to detail and the lunch was perfect. We all chose from the table d’hote which couldn’t be bettered in, as always, the most delightful setting.

Faultlessly executed imaginative dishes, we were in heaven with every mouthful. Professional and attention service with personality. The offering here cannot be improved, and the skill in the kitchen is outstanding. We wanted to give the chef a hug, we were so full and happy. The only thing I’d change is the interior design - it’s a beautiful location and a lovely old building but too corporate/vanilla in its decoration - inject some personality to match the food.

We booked a Saturday lunch for 8 adults and 2 babies. In consideration for other guests I asked to have a private dining room. It was confirmed and I received a confirmation by email and the set lunch menu to choose from (£65 per person)

So I wanted to go somewhere a little bit special to celebrate my birthday and that of some others in the family. Unfortunately, circumstances meant that it had to be a Sunday, precluding some of my other favoured options (such a Frederick's in Islington). A friend suggested Auberge du Lac and it looked very nice on the website, "a bit posh" as she said.

We visited for Sunday lunch and were not disappointed. Yet again sumptuous food a great wine selection with friendly and attentive service. This is our third visit in the past year and the quality has been consistently excellent. Highly recommended.

Had a beautiful lunch here today to celebrate a Birthday. Food was delicious and service outstanding, great attention to detail. First visit but will definitely come again!

Had a wonderful lunch here today. Every course was perfect, and lovely extra touches like amuse bouche and petit fours. Service was fantastic, really couldn't fault anything.

My husband and I visited Auberge for lunch today and it was superb. We have been coming here for years and today we had one of the best meals that we can remember having here. Admittedly it did go downhill a while back but the new head chef seems to have really turned things around. The food is fabulous, the setting gorgeous, staff lovely and there isn't anything not to be wowed by. We are already looking forward to our next visit.

My wife and I have been on a number of occasions and the food just gets better and better.

Returned to Auberge after many years and found it as good as I did the first time round. Great food, attentive staff. Enjoyed pre-lunch drinks on the terrace overlooking the lake on a beautiful sunny day. Even managed to spot the resident Kingfisher. It was such a beautiful day that we returned to the terrace after lunch were we probably overstayed our welcome... We left as the evening guests started to arrive. We will return very soon.

Everything about the evening was special - from the setting, to the dining room, the service and the food. It’s refreshing to see a restaurant where the tables aren't crammed in cheek to jowl to maximise profits. It made for a beautiful relaxed dining room with superb views over the grounds and lake. Similarly the service was a well judged balance of relaxed informality with utterly correct service.

We decided not to have the fixed price menu because the choice was somewhat limited for a 5 star restaurant and this turned out to be a mistake as our final bill for lunch for four persons was almost £400.

I have always been impressed by Auberge and today’s family celebration lunch was no exception. The location is beautiful - by a lake, with beautiful gardens surrounding the venue.

Certainly a 5 star experience at a 5 star restaurant. From the stunning lakeside location and the fabulous food to the amazing wait staff who went above and beyond. I couldn’t have ask for a more memorable and wonderful way to spend my 21st birthday. I would like to thank Matt and his team at the Auberge du Lac for serving my mum and I with delicious food, (in particular I loved the blow torch smoked eel, the confit duck leg ballotine and the key lime pie) and the lovely service we received. I would absolutely recommend dining there 10/10.

Four ladies for lunch wanting the fixed price menu. The choice was just three items at each course and unfortunately for one of our party hadn't changed since the week previously. But it was all delicious and delightfully served by lovely staff. The portions don't look very big but my large appetite was well satisfied. The quality of the cooking was very good, and I loved the little extra amuse bouche and petit fours. We'll undoubtedly return to this beautiful restaurant in such a fabulous setting.

A great lunch this time the food was excellent and the staff very attentive we will definitely be going back . A big thank you to Renate and Mr Longshaw for a very enjoyable luncheon and the chef who got it right this time.

We visited for Sunday lunch (luckily the weather was good), a friend works on the estate and suggested it.

What an amazing lunch in a wondering location, arrive early to have a drink outside if the weather permits or inside the cosy drawing room.

This was planned as a special birthday treat, and fully lived up to expectations. The tasting menu was well-paced, varied, and full of interesting flavours, all delivered by friendly staff, efficient and knowledgeable, but with time to chat and make sure everything was as it should be. With the stately Brocket Hall gazing down across the lake, this really was something special.

Thank you to the Chefs and staff for making our 2nd Wedding Annivsary a very special one. I was concerned that being a Vegan and Gluten Intollerant would mean a boring Salad but I was very pleasantly surprised by the array or flavours complimenting each in each dish. The staff were very attentive and the views of the lake and grounds were beautiful. I won't be waiting till my next anniversary to come back.

Visited this place last night for me birthday. We had the tasting menu which was exceptional. The service from the staff was very attentive but not intrusive. I have been to a few Michelin places in London and this definitely meets at least 1 star in my opinion.

Had a friday lunch here. Everything was superb – Georgeous grounds (recommend a pre dinner drink soaking up the view), superb service (effortlessly attentive, friendly), stunning food (beautifully presented, delicious), ambience (elegant)... The best restaurant in Hertfordshire. Can’t wait to return.

We had a very enjoyable time at the Auberge. The setting is superb, right by the lake. The food is very good. We had the tasting menu which was well balanced and tasty with matching wines which largely worked very well; one wasn't quite as successful but that's fine, it was a nice wine in its own right. The service was friendly, occasionally not spot on, but again that was amusing. The staff cared and really wanted to make our experience very good and that's always welcome. We look forward to returning.

After being lucky enough to win a competition recently, today we had Sunday lunch at Auberge du Lac

Taken here for lunch. There is a three course menu for £24!! Wonderful pea veloute soup, great mackerel and the tapioca pudding was far better than we had at school! A real joy. As ever, staff superb.

Myself and 8 other colleagues dined here one Thursday evening after a meeting in Brocket Hall.

We dined at Auberge du Lac last night. We had drinks on the terrace which is a beautiful location over looking the lake. The food was nice but really let down by my main course of Halibut being uncooked. The fish was still opaque and raw! It was really disappointing and ruined the meal. I had to send the fish back, there was no apology, the staff were not at all concerned by this. They bought another dish out 10 mins later by which time my husband had finished his food and I had to rush mine, it wasn't the nice relaxed chatting over food that we would usually have. I understand that mistakes happen but I go to award winning restaurants for the standards. I can get the fish wrong myself at home, I dont expect it when paying £30 for a very small piece of Halibut. When the new dish came out, it had been replaced with the worlds smallest filet of Halibut which I assume was because the chef was disgruntled by my returning a dish. All in all the incident ruined the evening and we wont be returning, there are far better places with higher standards.

Ok so I have to admit I am a little biased regarding the title. I hope everyone has the most wonderful experience at their wedding and it was most certainly the case for ours at Auberge du Lac, Brocket Hall on 7th July 2018. We were late planners regarding the wedding, when my partner proposed to me after being together for 25 years in February.

Excellent staff made us very welcome on arrival lovely drinks by the lake before the meal, tables are nicely spaced and the atmosphere was very relaxed. Highly professional staff and fantastic food. Can’t fault anything about our visit will be back as soon as we can.

We are a family of 4 (our children are 21 and 16) and we went for a weekday evening meal. There were 2 groups of 4 and 2 or 3 couples and our family received attentive, caring service at all times, the food from the table d'hôte menu was presented beautifully and everything we ate was delicious. We arrived at 7pm, half an hour before our booking because we wanted to sit on the veranda and have a pre-dinner drink; which we were pleased we did. The weather was warm and sunny, the calmness of the views around Brocket Hall's ground quite lovely; very peaceful. Our dining table was by the window overlooking the lake and grounds which was just right for us. A most pleasant, relaxing and enjoyable occasion.

I received an email from Auberge du Lac offering lunch at £24.50. As we had good memories of a dinner we had there years ago we decided to accept and booked a table for lunch on Friday.

A fantastic day with family and friends in this wonderful location, 5 star service and food in a picturesque setting. Special praise to the lovely Molly Tello, wedding coordinator, who could not have done a more perfect job; Nelson, Maitre D, whose attention to detail and precision was second to none and the sublime dishes prepared by Chef Matt Edmunds which took our breath away. If you are planning a special occasion this is the perfect place. Thank you for a great day!

Have not been back for sometime as it seemed to loose it way. Now with the new head chef formally of The Gerkins restaurant in London it is back on track and better than ever.

Went to this beautiful restaurant, overlooking the lake, whilst attending some dear friends wedding. Stunning location, and the quality of service, food and drink was amazing! We had a nine course tasting menu served over about three hours, the flavours of the food and the presentation of each course was truly magnificent! Each course was paired with wine, and again the choices were excellent!

A friend and I went to Auberge du Lac as a special treat midweek. We chose to sit at a table on the terrace, which had a beautiful view overlooking the lake.

After eating at this restaurant for more years than I care to remember and after my last visit and review a year ago I decided never to go to this restaurant again. But today I decided to give it another try and have just returned from a delicious lunch served by efficient and friendly staff.

Was treated to a birthday meal here by our daughters. A very fine restaurant with food and service second to none. This is a truly classic and classy restaurant that caters to your every need. Cannot be faulted. Pure excellence.

having booked a lunch yesterday and emailing them several times that one of us has no meat or fish or nuts we were assured by the manager that it was not a problem that the chef would cook what I could eat, on arrival we went to the outside terrace had a drink and the menu came the starter could have been the asparagus the main course was only artichoke nothing else I am not keen on them so I asked the head waiter he said only broccoli or salad is what they serve for vegetarians I gave him a message for the chef that I was not happy 10 mins later we decided to leave the chef was stood in the hallway with the waiter when I spoke to him he said that I could have a plate of veg for my main meal or beetroot do chefs not know how to present vegetarian food or cook it?? we decided to leave as we were walking up the stairs he sarcastically said have a nice day madam after spoiling ours how rude was he I have made a complaint and am awaiting a reply I do not recommend this restaurant and would not spend my money in a place that has no idea on how to cook food off the menu

Last ate here in October 2010 to celebrate our wedding anniversary (the number doesn't matter as they are all important) whilst still at work – after good recent reports we decided to return for a Saturday lunch in June....

I booked a table for my mother’s birthday around a week ago, I had a call late afternoon yesterday to confirm the booking. We arrived last night to 2 slightly confused front of house, after asking whether we'd like to sit and have a drink or be sat at our table, we said we'd be happy to drink at the table... so they took us to the drinks room! After explaining again that we’ll go straight to our table, we were walked down to the restaurant, we gave our name to the 2 ladies who shuffled papers for a while before saying "no, you've booked a table of 2"

Had a beautiful dinner with family for my daughter’s birthday. The food from the limited Table d’Hote menu was universally excellent. But it’s the added little touches which really make a difference. Amuse Bouche, superb butter with the bread and each member of the waiting staff wishing my daughter a happy birthday at different times.

The food is exceptional, Michelin standard in my view, the service very good, and the view exceptional. Flavours, texture, and presentation all so good.

Unfortunately the weather did not do this idyllic setting justice on our visit to Auberge, but it didn’t effect the food or service that’s for sure!

This was our first visit( for lunch) as we were staying with a dear friend in nearby St Albans. You could not wish for a more grandiose location and view. After drinks and canapes in the bar/lounge we were led downstairs to a dining room. I am not sure if their is a lift for those unable to negotiate the stairs.

We are dining here for the second time this week.