Leafi in St Albans

This place is ideal if you just love salads. There are huge portions and a large variety of delicious dishes to choose. It's fun to make your selection. I would, however, prefer to have a slightly smaller plateful for a little less money. Otherwise, it's a really healthy lunch.

Hi Eleanor, et all, Thank you, more than we can say, for your hospitality, professionalism, service, personality, and class! You were all, a huge part in making our wedding such a gigantic success. Everything was perfect and we could not have chosen a better place nor more wonderful people to look after us and our guests. The food was delicious, and all our guests thoroughly enjoyed the 3-course meal. The chicken and vegetarian dish were a huge hit and the guests complimented, how all staff, from security, to serving our meals were professional and the timings were on point. We went to pick up our belonging from the event, the day after; all staff members were helpful and polite. Wish you all continued success and keep up the with the fantastic job that you do.

Really disappointed with the service provided at a recent ball in St Albans. The food was very poor (dry and unpleasant) and the service was poor.

The catering was fairly poor at the evening event in the banqueting rooms. The starter was very bland and main course really not tasty. The only redeeming factor was the dessert - it was the only thing really edible.

We attended the same school ball as mentioned below and where to start … well first of all I’ve had better dinners on a budget airline. The starter was a pathetic looking mushroom tart with some bagged salad chucked on top of it . Uninspiring and not tasty at all. I had the vegetarian main - aubergine cannelloni. It was cold and unappetising. I could not eat past the first forkful . My husband had the dried out chicken breast which he said you could have built a wall with it and the cement gravy that accompanied! Dessert was a kids size dry chocolate brownie . I think kids could make a better one. There were no jugs of water and glasses on the table . No salt and pepper . I could tell staff were getting twitchy about 10pm and then I learnt they were throwing us out at 11 instead of midnight. This meant no time to set up the dance floor and enjoy what was meant to be a ball. The venue was beautiful and the school PTA had arranged what was going to be a great night. Everyone dressed up in black tie and lovely dresses had to decamp to the local pub ! I’ve been to many events of all budgets where catering has to be arranged for large numbers and you expect food not to be amazing Michelin standards but you come away having had a decent meal and service . This company Leafi are extremely lacking on both food and service. We would have been better sending out for Five Guys next door. Such a shame that this company spoilt the night - I say it’s a Mickey Mouse outfit but at least with Mickey there would have been some sparkle and magic … not the case with Leafi ! Avoid at all costs using this company for your events .

We hired LEAFI to cater our school Black Tie event at the Assembly rooms in St Albans. The Venue was beautiful and the Museum staff were exceptionally helpful pre event to help us get the room set up. However the moment the LEAFI staff were involved the ambiance changed we felt like we were a burden and a chore for them to serve, and the food we did receive was terrible. Common etiquette of table service was not observed and there were situations where the same table was receiving food 20 minutes apart. The main meal was Chicken and was so dry it needed gravy but the gravy that was served was so thick it just sat on top of the chicken like icing on a bun. The assembly room was hired until 12 midnight however last orders were called at 10:30 and the staff were immediately clearing tables and asking guests to leave so much so that the last of our guests were out of the room by 11:07 wondering why their evening had ended so soon. It is easy to forgive terrible food if you have good service or terrible service if you have good food but unfortunately, if LEAFI are your caterers then nothing is good.

I enjoyed an excellent bottled beer and a warmed sausage roll from Leafi (aka the Café at “St Albans Museum + Gallery”) whilst sat outside in the sunshine – there was a Sunday market on and some street buskers playing nearby (who were very good) – the whole experience was lovely.

As one reviewer said, the location is enviable, being in the old court house - you can enjoy a coffee from the seat of the presiding Judge who, in Victorian times, would no doubt have dished out some pretty grim sentences... But in terms of a Café, it needs to sharpen up. We were in there today, and found the croissants to be dry & unappealing, although the coffee this time was terrific - it's not always that good. The trays are at the till end of the counter, which is a bit odd because you queue from the opposite end in order to choose your cake/scone etc. as you shuffle down to the till trying to balance plates in both arms... and there are the trays at the end! There is often much confusion at the coffee machine, with several baristas all trying to do things at the same time. It's true to say we've had some dire brown liquid there in the past few weeks - today they nearly saved the day, except for the stale croissants. We'll give it one more try, before moving on. But it is a great location, nonetheless.

The restaurant has the enviable location within the old court house. Regrettably, the service doesn’t live up to the setting. The management is terrible and leaves the poor staff to do the coffee and take payment. It takes 15 minutes to queue and get a coffee. Terrible service and not worth the wait

We went to this café on Saturday and ordered 3 'homemade' lemonade drinks which were advertised on their wall menu. Basically the lady behind the counter poured some lemon juice, sparking water, mint leaf and ice. This is not homemade lemonade this is just bitter water. My children couldn't drink it because it was so bitter and were extremely disappointed. This should be re-named, taken off the menu or proper homemade lemonade should be provided. Lovely setting but won't be going back.

As you walk into the museum, the cafe looks very inviting with delicious cakes on display. You can even get a large mug of Yorkshire tea for only £1.50. But, the best thing about the cafe is the seating area which is in the old courthouse. It has been done very sympathetically in keeping with the original details.

I have now visited the “St Albans Museum Café” (which is operated by a company called LEAFI, although none of their own branding is on display) several times. The coffee has been very good, the pastries / cakes good, the warm food good (but pricey) and the wine excellent. Generally a good selection of food is available for a lunch-time snack. The café has indoor seating in the old court room and outside seating in front on the building - whilst sat in the old courtroom some re-actors appeared as the Judge and a Policeman – great entertainment. At other times member of the public have been seen trying out the judges chair, stood on the witness stand, and even stood in the dock (although the steps down to the cells operate a one way system: you can only go up from the cells, never down to them!). The café is in St Albans Museum and Gallery: a grade II listed old Town Hall (c.1831) right in the middle of the City Center.