St James Restaurant in Hertsmere

After being our go-to restaurant for family get-togethers for about 25 yrs, we are sorry that Alphonso is retiring and moving back to Puglia. We will miss you. On Sunday lunchtime the restaurant was packed with friends and family to say goodbye to a well-loved institution. We hope that the new owners will continue your tradition for high quality and good value when they open in November.

Me and my family love getting together for lunch or dinner at this restaurant. The food is always spot on and we end up choosing several items from the menu as the food is so nice.

Absolutely fabulous afternoon tea for a birthday treat. The food was superb and the we received a warm welcome along with friendly and attentive service. Would thoroughly recommend and Will definitely be returning

Wonderful to try the new tasting menu last night. Fabulous mix of interesting dishes all prepared to perfection. Not only is St James Restaurant the best fine dining restaurant in the area, the prices are very reasonable too. Thank you Alphonso and your staff for yet another wonderful meal. The afternoon tea is great too.

Lovely place to eat Good priced set menu. Good service, lovely meal, especially the lamb. Owner came & introduced himself explained the menus.. Wine was good too We will be back & will always recommend..

We've eaten there several times and it's always excellent but this time we had the tasting menu and it was so good I thought I'd write a little review. Every course was thoughtful, immaculately presented and absolutely delicious. My favourite was the lamb, my wife's was the salmon. The service is efficient, friendly and attentive. The owner in particular makes you feel like you're the guest of honour at a special family event. Excellent as always. I'm very happy to recommend it.

We visited St James’ to avail of their new bottomless brunch and we were not disappointed. The service, as usual, was fantastic and the food was superb. I highly recommend this brunch

The tasting menu was delicious, couldn’t fault it. Great staff great food, very good value for money

A fantastic restaurant to hold a private party. I celebrated my 60th here and I can’t recommend St James more highly. The owner Alfonso is such a delight and an honourable gentleman to deal with, his whole team were so welcoming and their attention to detail is second to none. On arrival our guests were greeted with Prosecco and a variety of delicious hot and cold canapés. Our daughter has a severe allergy to nuts and seeds and Alfonso made it his mission to make sure everything was totally safe for her to eat. I can’t stress enough how meticulous and how seriously he took this responsibility. This was so reassuring for us. We are so grateful. On our request, Alfonso created the most spectacular Italian themed menu, each and every dish was delicious. The food was served piping hot with all the side orders of perfectly cooked vegetables and French fries. Everyone was served at the same time which was no easy task when serving a lot of people at once. To sum up, we can’t wait to hold another party at St James, all of our friends and family without exception have asked us to do it all again, I guess you can’t have a bigger compliment than that. Thank you Alfonso and all of your wonderful staff for making my birthday party everything and more I could have hoped for. We will be back very soon.

Fantastic service. They were great at hosting my wife’s 30th birthday with 34 of us. Great food. The staff were so accommodating. Would definitely recommend. Great experience.

A friends annual reunion and an excellent Sunday Lunch. Food and service superb. The lunch is a set menu and excellent value

My sister had her wedding meal at St James and it was lovely. Staff were professional yet friendly and the food was great, I had a Salmon main which was gorgeous and the wine choices were really good. Would highly recommend.

We held my parents Golden Wedding Anniversary lunch at St James at the beginning of the month for 60 people. Alfonso and his team were so accommodating and attentive. Nothing was too much trouble. The choice of menu was fantastic and all the food was delicious. We would highly recommend St James for a special occasion.

Had our wedding reception and it was faultless…fantastic food and service. Highly recommend this for any occasion

Cibo di PRIMISSIMA scelta,ottimo con uno staff disponibile e simpatico.Consigliato a tutti.Titolare cordiale e sempre disponibile.Consigliato a chiunque venga in Inghilterra per godersi un momento di tranquillità con brave persone e buon cibo

We had our wedding reception here on the 1st September & we loved it. The team that work there are lovely & all our guests enjoyed the meal. The portions size was just right & there is a great choice of options. It was a wonderful day. As well as hosting us they were also hosting a 90th birthday party. Professional & excellent hosts.

A wonderful lunch once again at St James !! Excellent food - the lamb was perfect & excellent service as always. First visited this restaurant over 20 years ago & it never disappoints whenever we return & the high standards are always maintained under the watchful eye of the owner Alphonso. Thankyou for a special lunch today!!

We came for our anniversary and enjoyed the tasting menu. Food was incredible. Service was friendly. Good wine selection. Everything very reasonably priced. Would recommend to anyone

We visited this restaurant as many of our friends and family have highly recommended it. We are a family of four, with two children aged 12 and 11. We were greeted by the owner with a massive smile and good vibes. The service was 10/10 and the food was even better. I explained to the owner my son has ASD and that he is extremely fussy. He went out of his way to cater for his fussy needs. The waiters were attentive, polite and very friendly. The food was absolutely delicious. Thank you for an amazing time. We will definitely be back very soon!

The welcome was warm as it usually is and service by management was good. But, sadly, the food was poor in content and presentation - both starters and main courses. This was quite a different experience than previously and we hope it can be corrected

Another fantastic evening at St James. We had a table of 6 and all decided on the taster menu. It did not disappoint. Every course was a delight. It was a fabulous evening of chat and laughter in a great environment. Alfonso was as usual...

We had a fabulous afternoon for my friends baby shower here. The staff could not have been more attentive, allowing us to put up decorations, providing more tea as soon as we had finished, providing us with foil etc when we had leftovers and not...

Fabulous as ever. St James is our favourite restaurant for wonderful food and atmosphere. The new menu is superb, with a lot more choice for vegetarians and vegans, and a fabulous tasting menu for the meat eaters!

Great menu, lots of low carb choice, fish, whitebait, salmon, halloumi in pate and a fab pea soup. Followed by Sea Bream with a prosecco sauce, lots of fresh roasted veg delicious, good house wine

Alphonso and his team hosted our 50th Wedding Anniversary this Sunday. What a great party, great food, great service. They looked after our every need and made it a very special day for us and all our guests. Thank you so much - it was...

If you are looking for the best restaurant in the area to go for a meal or celebrate a special occasion look no further! I recently celebrated a special birthday with family and friends there were 70 of us. The food was outstanding, alfie and...

I have been a regular customer since it opened and I am fortunate to have hosted 3 bar mitzvah lunches at st James. Our event last Saturday for 65 friends and family was incredible. With canapes on arrival and a fabulous 3 course meal. Nothing...

We held a charity afternoon tea at St James, to raise money for two charities. Alfonzo was great to work with throughout to ensure the event was as much of a success as it could be. He even donated all the food and drink for...

Went with friends what a lovely evening. Best meal I have had for a long time. Excellent food presentation. Compliments to the chef. Staff welcoming and so efficient . So looking forward to my next visit

We love it here the owner is always on hand to make your party run smoothly. We recently went for a 50 th for an afternoon tea . My only recommendation is they needed to top up the hot water so we did not need...

This was our first time at this well established restarant. The welcome was warm and the seating comfortable. There was a good selection of pieces of bread on the table together with several packets of individually wrapped butter portions, Fine for breakfast but not dinner....

My wife and I have enjoyed Sunday lunch at St James for many years and the experience has never failed to impress. Firstly the personal welcome from Alfonso and his team is friendly and incredibly accommodating - nothing is too much trouble. The food is...

A very warm welcome to a lovely restaurant with plenty of tempting dishes on the menu. The food was delicious, fresh and interesting. The goats cheese starter was particularly tasty quality cheese and the sea bream was cooked to perfection. We’ll be back to try...

Beautiful lunch to celebrate a reunion with friends Excellent food choices, peaceful tasteful atmosphere

Starters, especially Cheese Soufflés were very poor and unappealingly presented. 2 Main Courses were acceptable 2 disappointing. The Wine List offered did not resemble the one depicted on their Web Site

Went here for my daughters birthday and from the moment we walked into the restaurant the service was excellent. Everything spotlessly clean. Staff superb, absolutely attentive all the time without being intrusive. Alfonso - most delightful and welcoming, couldn't do enough for us. All the...

We live locally and when we were planning our special occasion immediately thought of this venue. This is an intimate venue with a large rear area suitable for pre dinner drinks which can be used after a meal for socialising and dancing. We had a...

A group of 8 of us ate here recently and enjoyed the Christmas menu. The scallops were superbly cooked - with a delicious sauce. My turkey roast dinner was excellent and a generous portion. One of our friends was disappointed that their seabass choice didn't...

Beautiful birthday celebration tea at St James. Manager Alfonso went out of his way to ensure all went to plan. The traditional cream tea was delicious and plentiful, staff were attentive and the private room was really nice. I would definitely recommend this restaurant and...

Came here for the first time for a friend's surprise party and it was a really lovely afternoon. The service and the food were wonderful. My husband and I had the lamb and it was so lean and tasty. We also tried Baba Cake for...

Food is delicious and well presented. Good service although the restaurant was busy. Lovely atmosphere. Will definitely be returning

I've been here a fair few times throughout the years but hadn't been for some while until the weekend just gone. It's as great as it always has been. Excellent food with great service. The price of the set menu is excellent value, especially when...

I had a birthday party recently at the St James. Nothing was too much trouble for Alphonso and his excellent team. The food, service and ambiance were first class! We decorated the room and everything looked great! I could not recommend the place highly enough...

We have been eating at St James several times each year for more than 20 years but last night was the worst meal we have ever had there. The cheerie face of Alfie was missing and we did not recognise any of the waiters. The...

Wonderful menu and excellent service, our choice of food from an extensive list was English and it was cooked to perfection.

Early dinner catching up with my sister. Food was amazing, staff amazing. We just loved it. Such a lovely restaurant run by lovely People. Highly recommend. ❤️

A full family lunch to celebrate my mothers 90th birthday and once again Alfonso and all the staff did us proud. We were given the entire private area at the rear of the restaurant and had three round tables for the twenty four of us......perfect....

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the lovely evening we had at St James on Saturday night, celebrating Mum’s 90th birthday. The meal was delicious- everyone enjoyed their menu choices and we were all particularly impressed by your lovely staff and...

My wife and I had a fantastic meal on a Sunday, it was our Ruby wedding anniversary and we had invited our family to celebrate with us, we sat down at 2.00 pm and were treated to some of the best cooking and service I...

Visited this restaurant to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. We chose the 7 course tasting menu but booked in advance as my wife has special dietary requirements. They were extremely accommodating even designing a menu just for her in the courses she was unable to...

We all know we’ve had tough times but you don’t expect them on special occasions in restaurants that you’ve regarded in high esteem today’s lunch was awful poor quality ingredients overcooked food wouldn’t recommend

Top marks ! We have eaten in top central London, Knightsbridge & Sloane Sq. restaurants and St James is up there. 5 out of 5 for value & quality. Bushey is lucky to have such a great venue !

Had the most amazing lunch and afternoon for my fathers 80th birthday celebrations! We had a private area at the back for 15 of us! You could have 1, 2 or 3 courses at such a reasonable price and the food was fantastic! The staff...

We had a very nice evening here. The service and food were as good as we remembered before. As well as being attentive the front of house were unobtrusive. The rump of lamb and poached haddock were very well received.

Wow what a great unique place Food presentation was amazing and taste and quality very high Reasonably priced for north London affluent area

We have been coming to St James for years, to eat in the restaurant and also for private functions, and we were delighted to host our own private celebration there this weekend. We had 50ish guests and each one has raved over the food and...

Went to a wedding celebration party here today for friend that took over the whole restaurant for the afternoon. The food was absolutely delicious with a great deal of choice for each course. Service was also very good, and loved the fact that a few...

Enjoyed a really lovely meal. Great value for money. Attentive service. Nice atmosphere. Totally recommend!

Had scallops with lobster as a starter. Fillet steak with mushrooms as a main and basil panna cotta to finish. Every course was absolutely super. Will need to visit again soon. Thank you Alphonso and your team

We all chose the a la carte dinner menu and all had three courses. Everyone seemed well satisfied. The only slight negative was that by 21.20 the restaurant had emptied of all other diners, except at our table.

Amazing food; great service and very gracious to accommodate our slight adjustments to the dishes on the menu! The chef is an absolute genius with flavours and balance; mustn’t forget the amazing wine that was recommended by the owner.

The food was excellent however the service was poor as my friend and I felt rushed to finished our meal. This ruined our experience and meal, which was a real shame! The occupancy of the restaurant was low, so no excuse really in treating us...

An old favourite which is as good now as it was when it first opened. Fabulous food and top service and as always the Governor is there to oversee and add to the experience.

Just back from a Valentine’s Day lunch. Lovely to see that this venue has survived the covid pandemic and that the food is still as good as ever. In particular the scallops were perfect. Well done to the Chef and the Maitre d’ - just...

Without doubt the finest restaurant within 4 mile radius. A very sensible choice of staters mains and desert mean that this establishment goes from strength to strength. It fully deserves its Trip Advisor ratings and we are regular customers. Would highly recommend to anybody as...

8 of us had Sunday Lunch yesterday and all agreed that the whole experience was fantastic. From the moment we arrived everything was perfect. Service was spot on without being rushed, the food was great and real value for money. This is one of my...

Visited this restaurant with friends, based on recommendation and reading the reviews. Not sure if we were unlucky but felt overall it was an average meal and experience. We were greeted warmly but the service went down hill after that. Our waiter was very surly...

Food was well cooked and delicious but came in quite small portions. Service was top notch though as every staff member we encountered was tremendously helpful.

After 2 years being stuck abroad I finally made a visit to the UK. What better way to start the reunion than a superb meal at St.James. When we arrived the place was buzzing with people and the atmosphere was electric. The staff were attentive...

Have eaten here since it opened. The consistency of the great food and great value never cease to amaze. Congratulations to Alfonso ( who I knew prior to St James) and his team

Booked a table for dinner with my wife on Saturday. the food was wonderful, cheese souffle for start, filet steak for main and Toblerone chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Just wow. Looking forward to eating there again at some point.

Last week we hired the back room for a 30 guest, private party for my parents 60th wedding anniversary. The room was perfect and the food was superb with a great menu to choose from. Alphonso and his team of staff made us feel welcome...

We booked St James as we had dined there before and knew they catered for bigger parties. We booked for lunch on Sunday for 50+ friends and family and has the whole restaurant with drinks in the back bar on arrival. From start to finish...

We have been going to St James for over 20 years and have nearly always had a great meal. On our last visit we invited some friends and had an absolutely great evening. The menu has changed and the food and service was great. Well...

Fantastic and superb food and service which was all very reasonably priced for how high quality it was. Will 100% be returning very soon.

We went to St James' restaurant last night. The new menu was stunning. I had a superb steak tartare starter followed by the monkfish main which was absolutely delicious.. My son's smoked salmon starter and Lamb duo main were equally delicious. We will need to...

Spent a lovely morning with a friend in this very smart restaurant. High quality food good service and lovely white table cloths.

I took my wife for her birthday after visiting the Warner Bros Studios in the day, and had a fantastic evening with superb food to top the evening off. Great service from all the staff. Highly recommended.

Booked St James restaurant for a small family function Amazing personal friendly service.. … Afternoon tea was yummy & had plenty of choice… The staff were attentive & very accommodating. Thank you to all St James for making our afternoon so perfect…

I visited this restaurant in late August with my sister Paula and 2 friends. We had a great welcome from Alfonso , so friendly and helpful. We were there for lunch, which is great value and worth a visit. Alfonso and his staff are very...

Great food, great wine, very friendly owner! We tried to book lunch a few weeks ago but they didn’t have any tables so we decided to book for lunch just after the bank holiday as we were in bushey to visit the antique auction It...

We travelled from Bedford to eat at St James, and it was worth the trip. I first ate here 20 years ago, and its a fab as I remember it. We both had the Scallops to start, and they were delicious cooked to perfection. My...

We had a wonderful 3 course meal today for 40 people celebrating a birthday for a dear friend who had passed recently. The food was excellent the service amazing so well organised considering the amount of people. They had to serve. The Staff were friendly...

We celebrated my mother’s 80th birthday here and it was fantastic. We chose the party menu which had plenty of choice and the staff were very accommodating in our requests for seating arrangement. The food was excellent and the service was very attentive. Thank you...

Weekend visit to Harry Potter Studios . Booked this restaurant and wasn’t disappointed. Excellent choice , fabulous food cooked by excellent chefs.Such a pleasure to eat great tasting food. J Jordan

We had our wedding reception at St James restaurant and they went above and beyond! The food was delicious and served hot despite us being a party of 65 people, they facilitated to all dietary requirements, the tables were dressed beautifully, the alcohol was flowing,...

After months of you know what (lockdown for anyone reading in years to come), home cooking and endless takeaways it was a delight to visit St James again. The warm Italian welcome, excellent front of house and fine wine was equally matched by the skill...

We had a very enjoyable and interesting meal, having been made most welcome by the proprietor, Alfonso. This is, in my opinion, the best restaurant in the area.

We had a fabulous lunch here on Sunday. Service excellent, most dishes were superb, my only complaint was that the smoked salmon tasted as if it had been previously frozen. I would definitely go again if I went back to the area.

You'd never think that St James' was operating under Covid Safe Regulations as the food, ambience and service were as good as pre Covid. It's always a joy and delight to go and experience a good relaxing dinner on a Friday evening. Alfonso and his...

Really excellent dinner. Every mouthful was delicious. A really lovely celebration meal. Friendly welcome. Would recommend

We had an amazing afternoon for birthday tea. Everything was so professional tasty and so plentiful. Staff couldn’t do enough for everyone and thoroughly recommend this restaurant for breakfast,lunch,dinner or tea...you won’t be disappointed.

Our first visit here and although unassuming was homely and welcoming as soon as we entered. Was unusual for kids to attend (I assume from the menu), but we were welcomed nonetheless. We ordered 3 starters, 3 mains and 2 desserts between the 4 of...

Even though I was attending the restaurant for filming an event, the moment I arrived I was greeted with both friendliness and courtesy. I was immediately offered a coffee and shortly after was treated to a bowl of delicious soup. During filming the event I...

A short drive to sunny Bushey and this gem of a an establishment gives London restaurants a run for there money and deserves our support in this unsteady time , Covid compliance’was excellent Beautiful set table ( I’m always a sucker for linen table clothes...

I went on Friday there with my wife we had scallops and lobster risotto to start... what can I say my wife scallops was cooked perfectly... nice golden colour and super tasty ... my risotto was phenomenal... for the main I had a very juicy steak cooked to perfection and my wife had a smoked haddock she was very impressed Very good experience once again at st James We will be back soon

I visited St James for a midweek lunch with a friend, I hadn’t been for a while and thought we would give it a go.Upon walking into the restaurant we were warmly greeted and full Covid measures were carried out, brilliant.We sat down and we felt the intense lack of atmosphere had us whispering conversation, there was background music granted but this just didn’t seem to dissipate the uncomfortableness. It’s a real shame as the food we ate was very enjoyable, and had there been more atmosphere to the restaurant I would return.

Another wonderful meal at the best restaurant in the area. Absolutely superb lobster risotto followed by melt in the mouth calves liver. Will be back very soon.

Have visited this lovely restaurant for lunch and dinner and noticed they are now open for breakfastTemperature taken on entering, full details taken, tables very well spaced, staff wearing masks, disposable paper menusI had the full English which was one of the best I have ever tasted, certainly far far superior to any others served in the area, with everything of very good quality, cooked to perfection and served piping hot - egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, beans, tomato, hash browns and toast with mini packs of real butter. My friend had the poached eggs on toast, also excellentMy pot of tea was first rate and had enough for 2 cups, my friend said her coffee was extremely good and all this for £15 for 2 peopleCannot wait to returnAnd a special thank you to all the lovely staff

We love St. James for a special occasion.Although I wouldn’t call it a cheap meal, I wouldn’t say it’s not overly expensive either. I believe they have a set menu which brings the price down When we go for a special occasion we normally Tuesday and a car and I think it’s well worth every penny.The quality of the food is always fantastic, and it’s such a lovely place for a celebration meal. Cocktails and wine are yummy, every course perfectly presented and delicious, five stars all round from me and my family. When restaurants get it right it’s fantastic, and they’ve been here for years because they keep getting it right, even during Covid they are following all social distancing protocols carefully.