The Crystal palace in Dacorum

Expensive drinks especially wine Almost £11 for a large glass of moderately good wine. And we wonder why pubs are quiet. I’m sure the food is good but maybe water (tap) will help.

Lovely place to visit on the side of the canal.

Near the canal, very nice place, maybe good for train sporting to. Very clean situation ground floor, toilets gf, and dog friendly

I'm a pretty tough customer to please. What matters to me is that in hospitality, people do what they do well and with a bit of passion. To cut a long story short, we decided to hold my mother's memorial and wake at the Crystal Palace in the upstairs function room and downstairs bar/restaurant. Catering for 50+ people, both spaces were lovely, the food far exceeded our expecations in terms of quality, taste, volume and value and I can't praise Kelly and her young team highly enough for their spot-on service, and making what could have been a difficult day, joyful and brilliantly memorable. I also ate solo a couple of times in the run-up to the day and was equally impressed. All the more so in a town with plenty of competition some of which can over-promise and under-deliver.

A rude and unprofessional member of staff on the phone created such a negative impression that it put us off from visiting so we haven't experienced the food. We were going to book a table for a birthday celebration meal. We wanted to try it out as we haven't been since the refit. We called up to clarify what the seating options offered on the website actually were. The member of staff on the phone was extremely rude and condescending and then laughed at us with someone in the background for not knowing the difference between the table types offered. Who wants to spend a meal where you're worried if the staff are making fun of you and your guests behind your back?

Great pub right on the canal. Lovely staff and good atmosphere

Nice and busy on a Saturday lunchtime. This is a welcoming pub. Decent prices (£5 a pint of real ale, £16 for a burger + chips). Warm on a cold day.

So I have been going to the Crystal Palace since it reopened over the pandemic. Over the last 6-7 months I’ve probably spent £600-800 on lunches in there and as always the food was amazing. However, I am not sure what has changed over the last 3-4 months but the quality of food has massively gone down hill. A few months back I ordered fish and chips and I frankly had more batter than fish. When I questioned with Kelly - the manager she promptly investigated and said there had been an error and should have received 2 pieces of fish due to smaller size. She quickly apologies and offered a free meal. Amazing customer service. I’ve been back a few times since and the burgers, salads and fish and chips have been on point. Today I had a fish finger sandwich and asked for the inside to be toasted well so it does not go soggy. I thought this would be standard practice and the likes of Gordon Ramsey always mentioned with hot sandwiches and burgers the inside toasted is a must to maintain eating experience. Anyways it came out not toasted and partly warm/soggy breads. The front of house staff apologies and said the note from till had not been printed in kitchen. Second time back still hardly toasted. It took a 3rd attempt and the lady working front of house to take ur upon herself to toast it. Great customer service on this. When I got said sandwich I finished first half and took a bite into second half .. lettuce and sauce. Took a second bite a bit of fish mainly batter, When I opened up ther was 1 small battered coujon. This is NOT GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY. I believe the fish finger sandwich and drink “pineapple juice” was £11 !!!! Would you pay circa £8-9 for the sandwich in the picture. I asked to speak to Kelly on 3 occasions and told she’s busy … so customer concerns are no longer important. If you want consistent well filled sandwiches in Berko I suggest one of the bakers or supermarkets and I will not be stepping a foot inside this place again. I’ve heard good things about The Boat - further along and as it belongs to a larger chain probably more focus on consistency and standards

Standard grey pub with standard beers

Took my friends here the day after Boxing Day as they are dog friendly so we took the dog. Ordered drinks including a cocktail, the cocktail took 45 minutes to arrive. We ordered starters and mains, waited for a long time and the mains turned up as the bar tender did not order our starters no apologies and demanded payment for the starters. They then took the mains back and we waited for our starters which were French onion soup, these were cold. We were them served our mains which were clearly reheated, as the mains were served the waitress stood on our dogs paw, even though she had given us a bowl of water for the dog!! No apology and very bad service. Staff all at the bar eating crisps and food and being very loud. Will definitely not be returning.

Nice pub, with a good atmosphere

Roasts used to be excellent here. Leathery beef, tepid gravy and sticky cutlery this time.

Excellent food and Service! We have celebrated the birthday of my friend and they helped me to organize.

Canal side pub with dining, tastefully decorated with lots of outside tables and chairs to relax by the canal... Upstairs dining / meeting room Dog friendly with lots of high chairs and changing facilities. Friendly staff and lots of high end wines and champagnes on offer aswell as the usual selections of beers and draughts Nice place for relaxing 🍷🍹🥂🍸🍺🍾

We booked the Paxton room for a 40th birthday celebration. Everything was perfect, Justin couldn't do enough for us, and Kelly was super helpful too. Can't rate this place highly enough. Thank you so much for making my daughters birthday so memorable.

27/10/23: Hemel Hempstead Weekend: visiting friends John & Hazel for the weekend, myself Lynette & Bryan enjoyed a lovely relaxed pint here. We'd travelled to Berkhamsted for the afternoon. The weather was cold and crisp outside but the pub was warm and welcoming. Good service, good selection of craft ale.

Very friendly place, good range of drinks. Proper pub food served hot.

One of the bar staff charged me twice for my order after not paying attention when serving me. I couldn't prove that the payment hadn't gone through as my banking app hadn't updated by that point, so she made me pay again. Now looking at my bank statement it has been charged twice! Bad service when I was at the bar too, no niceties or manners, and kept going off to do other things while I waiting for her to load up my order on her cashier. Won't be coming back!

We went there on a Friday night. Very lively. A great atmosphere. We didn't eat but the service for drinks was great. :)

To be told that a whole empty room was reserved for people eating, no reservation signs on any of the tables, and too find somewhere else to sit in the small bar area was in my opinion stupid. The drinks were very highly priced and would recommend avoiding this pub. Or is it a restaurant? Other establishments in the area were much more welcoming.

Great location, beside a working canal.

Firstly frequently waiting for slow service. Second, the last visit we ordered 2 x Club Sandwiches received them and after taking one bite realised they both contained no bacon (which is ironic given it’s described on the menu as a Proper Club Sandwich)! Questioned it to member of staff (poss manager) and received no apology and got told she would replace them. Expected new ones but received the same ones back with some bacon thrown in AND with the bite still missing from before we complained. Very poor! Sort it out guys, get it right - if not the first time at least the second!

Drink only. Beautiful location. Great service. Reasonable price

Beautiful pint of Mad Squirrel. Lovely service. Offered tasters for the Beer.

Really friendly... absolutely... amazing location... Knowledgeable well trained staff.. Helpful kind patient.. What else can you ask for.. I'm happy without a doubt.. Can't wait to return...

Nice pub alongside the canal. Good drinks with nice view, but the food we had (skin on fried and pork belly bites) was lukewarm and tasteless

Generally a very good pub. Service can be considered to be quite slow at points though

Food not as good as others in the area

Very bad experience. Rude staff. First they welcomed us by saying there are no tables available, which was not true as we had a booking. Then we weren't served, when asked, the waitress lied to my face saying the Kitchen is closed. When noticed they served to adjacent tabl3, she said they are closed at 3:30. It was 10 minutes to 3:30, so asked to order and her replied 'lucky you, saved by the nick of time'. Food took too long to be served, it was under cooked and of course no cutlary, which I had to served by myself. When I ordered from the bar, no such thing as 'Kitchen closed' was mentioned. When asked about it, the guy said the kitchen is only closing at 9pm. Apparently, he was the manger, but when mentioned the ordeal we've gone through, he apologised and said he was in his lunch break. I have never had such a bad experience like that. Lying through their teeth with no shame and treating the customers so poorly. So many good place in the area. Stay away from this one. On tip of that, much too expensive for what they offer.

We were very upset that the food, the service and the ambience at Crystal Palace were poor. Orders were taken, but all delivered together, ie starters and mains. The roast was uncooked and slapped on top of veg to hide the vegs poor quality. Thin gravy, and the waitress delivered the meals and did the call back at the same time without giving us a chance to assimilate the meal. Drinks were delivered separately by a very surly individual who could do with a customer service course..Several items were not available on the menu, making the menu limited. Asked for salt and pepper, two peppers delivered to the table. Very disappointed and would need a massive improvement for a repeat visit. Would not recommend this eatery.

Another thoroughly enjoyable afternoon in The Crystal. An excellent Sunday lunch with all the trimmings, great wine & gin. The staff are always friendly and helpful.

Great food and exceptional local beers (Mad Squirrel), the outside seating area on the canal is awesome, service is great, happy and upbeat. Dont miss this riverside pub

Very busy buzzing place, good choice of Beers

We were excited to dine at the Crystal Palace yesterday but sadly it seems to have become quite poor. The menu has changed from an inspiring and varied one to almost exclusively offering burger and chips style heavy, greasy food. Nevertheless, we chose some smaller dishes to share. The green salad was minute - that is to say a teeny tiny ramekin filled with perhaps three forkfuls of lettuce and sliced sugar snap peas. The chips were from frozen and tasted stale. They proved inedible. The buttered greens were delicious but in a similar sized ramekin to the green salad. The “katsu bonbons” were truly vile and tasted of nothing but salt. The houmous with ras-al-hanout was nice but the flatbread was doused in far too much oil. The Padron peppers were similarly oily. A half-pint of cider was served as a glass of sparkling water (soda, perhaps?), a Campari and soda was served lukewarm without ice or any embellishment, tap water was not forthcoming despite our request. The bar and restaurant staff are all very pleasant but young and undertrained, seemingly without supervision. The musician playing live was excellent but no one from the pub helped her soundcheck resulting in a deafening volume. An unfortunate experience, sadly not to be recommended.

Excellent little canal side pub near to the station. Perfect beer, perfect food.

Went for a drink on a wet day it was quite cold a customer asked for the door to be shut not happy.

Staff were very good, food was better than I expected. Very close to Berkhampstead train station so very noisy. Sits right next to the canal so that was nice. Not a great selection of ales and ran out after 1 pint so that shortened our stay.

Recently done up with a menu revised from plain & tasty barbecue fayre to faux-posh concoctions with pretensions well above its station; this place is a bit of a mess. Service was agonisingly slow & the portion sizes small, considering the price. There is no disabled access and the toilets, although clean, are not wheelchair accessible. There are high chairs and a passable children's menu. Parking is on hardback on the public road & not part of the pub grounds. Would not recommend.

Good to see you can now buy some great lager. Shame about the little attitude man serving who looks like ALF from the 1980s tv show, think he needs to go on a customer service course, he is the only bad point i can say about this place

Went for a Sunday roast. Have been many times before and was always excellent. However today it was the worst that I have ever had! Terrible.

Booked a table for 11 people on their Thursday Steak Day and having chosen the mains in advance as requested the ribeye steaks had to be replaced by Fillet steaks,which were delicious, and we were only charged at the ribeye price. All 11 people in my party really enjoyed their meal and the accompanying glass of wine. Thanks to all the very helpful staff👍🤗

Nice spot by the canal for a drink but food was sad and overpriced. Service wasn't great and staff were disorganised.

A very good pub for a quick drink when walking around on a sunny day 😀

Great craft beer selection and good food

Nice pub with beer garden overlooking the canal. Good veggie options and decent Sunday roast

The food is gone rapidly worse, and that is a pity because the pub is beautiful inside and in a beautiful location.

This pub has a lovely location on the canal and we were also lucky and managed to park on the road just in front. I was informed that it had recently been done up. As it was a lovely day, we sat out beside the tow path. It was very popular this Saturday lunchtime. Service inside was good, although the beer I wanted had come to the end of the barrel with the result that the barmaid offered to bring it out to me. I accepted the offer, but in the end a couple of reminders were needed and it arrived after our food. We had burgers which we demolished.

Could have shut the doors as it was getting chilly it nice atmosphere

Nice pub on the canal - good menu with plenty of options. There's seating inside and outside overlooking the canal. Decent selection of cask ales and craft beers. Service and food was good - a little pricey but not out of place for Berkhamsted/current pub prices. I would visit again and nice little spot to stop by if you're walking/cycling along the Grand Union Canal.

Third time we've been here. Wanted to give it one last try to to see if it had improved over time. Sadly not. Nice looking pub & good location, let down by slow service, overcooked & overpriced food, tables full of dirty glasses & chaotic staff when it's busy. The last straw for us was being asked to leave our table, which was not booked/reserved, after spending over £60 on food and drink because someone paying £2 for a pub quiz took priority. Apparently there was no manager to speak to about the inedible rubbery meal or poor customer service. Third strike Crystal Palace! Won't return again.

We reserved a table on the phone, when we arrived we were taken to a small table which one of the seats was a stool and in a walk way so people constantly walking past. Cutlery was placed on the table after we arrived and then we were not spoken to after this. We watched as other people arrived after us and were asked if they wanted drinks and their drinks also taken to their tables. We sat for 15 mins before deciding to leave due to lack of service. Super disappointed as had been recommended to come here. Won’t be returning.

I visited The Crystal Palace pub with my friends on Saturday 29th April. We had the best experience here, the staff were so accommodating and truly did go above and beyond. The food was outstanding and the pub held a great atmosphere. 5* customer service thank you so much! Will be visiting again soon

Dessert was good but ladies pushed in front of my daughter and they didn’t give us water when we asked!

Great for a quick pint on a sunny afternoon. Good choice of beers, wines and gins. Nice outside space as well 👍🏻

Really nice friendly place with decent, independent beers. By the canal too! Didn't try the food, will come back for another go soon!

Great roast but poor fish and chips. £18.45 for a small fish with a small portion of chips sprawled across the plate with a tiny portion of cold mushy peas. No lemon or tartare sauce served with it. Staff didn't seem that bothered!

Very friendly pub. Great range of beer - mostly Big Smoke brewery. Named after the world's best (* may not be factually accurate) football team.

Quiet mid-week lunch with family. Very attentive and helpful staff, great pub food and a good pint of Harvey's!

Had a meal with my daughter and the mrs at the weekend - the gentleman (James?) behind the bar recommended a great pale ale (electric eye). Wife had a French rose. Very impressed with his knowledge the drinks available. We will be returning for food next time.

Lovely food but appalling service we waited at least 20 minutes before were asked if we wanted a drink not once did the staff comeback and ask if we would like to order any drinks but can't fault the food

We were in the area and visited the Pub for food, we were very satisfied with the food, the service and the prices, I recommend it.

Best place in berco to eat love it love it love it

Pub in Berkhamsted very good environment excellent service food very good and properly cooked I ate fish and chips although very good it didn't taste like oil and affordable prices I recommend it.

Only had a quick lunchtime beer but was very delicious. First time big smoke brewery pint and would highly recommend the pale ale.

Helpful and welcoming staff, lovely interior and space outside to sit next to the canal. Real range of beers and my brother's Guinness was well poured. Vegan options on the menu. Dog friendly. Had a great time there

Great pub, service was perfect, let down a little bit by the food

Cool bar, love to go here with friends

Amazing pub with honestly exceptionally food. Staff were super friendly and delt with customer great. Been alot of issues with this tree out the back which which personally don't see an issue with. They seem to have delt with the whole thing really well, and now have come to a conclusion that all public are happy with as seen on Berkhampstead Facebook page.

I cannot remove my original post so this is an update: After much public pressure The Crystal Palace have agreed to maintain the poplar tree rather than remove it, so I have changed the review to 2 stars not one. It's still a shame it took a lot of public effort to persuade them. And this was the 2nd time they've attempted to get approval to remove it, the first time it was denied also. I have also eaten there a couple of times and the food and service wasn't that great either. Original post: So disappointed that The Crystal Palace are presumably planning to fell this mature and healthy tree. Local residents have objected in the strongest terms by letter, email, & objecting to planning, but neither the pub nor its operators Big Smoke Brew have had the politeness to reply to us in any way.

Great location and ambiance. Brillant service. Varied new menu. Good "pub grub" with a more refined twist. The batter with the fish and chips was perhaps the best I've tasted. Already looking forward to returning.

This is a nice canal side pub/restaurant.

Great location. Own beer and spirits. Good service and nice food.

Really pretty pub, good beer selection. Food was good but seemed to be out of a lot of stuff when we visited, but really nice feel to the place.

Nice modern pub with a good food menu.

Won’t be visiting this pub if they chop down our heritage poplar tree. The message is loud and clear. Reverse the decision & incorporate the tree into the garden. The tree has been deemed healthy with no damage to surrounding properties. Destruction for greed is not a good look.

Good beer, good service, nice atmosphere.

Staff are great and venue is lovely, I enjoyed sitting by the fire. I had a vegan burger which was ok but why so few chips....?

Nice bar with good food. Bit on the pricy side, but a good atmosphere.

The Crystal Palace hosted a great New Years party for a fantastically reasonable price. We ate first, which was upstairs before heading down to the bar. Our food was good & the staff were doing a good job given how high the demand was for service. The bar staff were excellent at keeping things moving. Overall we had a really good time.

Great beers and nice outside area next to the canal. Roast is good and service is getting better bit by bit. Staff with experience getting a grip on things finally!

Had a Christmas dinner here which did exactly what it said on the tin. It was very very busy though and this might put people off.

Great choice of beer, so much nicer since the refurb, great place to hang out.

Visited for a Christmas meal, it's very loud, food was good but service wasn't as there were too many large groups. Great out of Christmas season!

Such lovely and friendly staff. Even got a warm welcome from the two dogs.

Lovely food and pleasant atmosphere. Good prices though very cold in the winter!

Nice place, poor service and food.

We went there for Christmas dinner. Service was slow and I think they were short staffed but the food was all really tasty apart from the roast potatoes which were more like boiled potatoes which was a shame. I had the chocolate brownie which was amazing. Football was being shown on the table next to us which was surprising since it’s a restaurant. We didn’t expect to be subjected to the football being played whilst we had dinner. Overall a good evening with good food at a reasonable price.

Great location and the staff is friendly. Food took ages to arrive

A great location, refurbished nicely but let down by slow and disorganised staff. Always feels like it takes an age to get served here. Food can be good - some really tasty treats on there but it is quite an expensive dinner out considering you’re in a pub. The menu has improved since launch though which is promising. Do not try their neighbourhood burgers takeaway, it doesn’t travel well and you’re much better off dining in. Good selection of beers and spirits and the outside bar is a bonus when it’s busy inside. The space is also big and welcoming with heat lamps and TVs for sport.

Absolutely lovely pub. The food was fantastic and the staff are what make this place special. Thank you so much for looking after us today. Great to have such a friendly and welcoming team, and a fabulous chef. Nothing is too much trouble and we felt spoiled today. Thank you!

We went here for Sunday lunch. I had the pork belly and my wife had the vegan option both were excellent. My only minor complaint being a Yorkshire man the gravy could have been a bit thicker. It made up for it in flavour though so only a very minor gripe. The staff were all super friendly and there was a very nice atmosphere. I would highly recommend to anyone thinking of going for Sunday lunch it is definitely worth it and not super expensive either.

I visited the Crystal Palace on the 5th of November with some old friends of mine. We were doing a mini pub crawl in Berkhamstead and heading to enjoy the Fireworks in the evening. It was very busy that night - you could barely walk through it for a few hours because of the amount of people. But I say the staff working that night have to be commended. They looked rather young, maybe just all just having finished school, but I can't fault any of them. Even when the pub was really packed and they had 50 people waiting at the bar, they still managed to serve with smiles on their faces. When the crowds left that evening, there was only my group and a couple of other tables of people left having a quiet drink, I overheard the team talk between the staff. I watched the staff stand around a table for just a few minutes (no customers were waiting at the bar at this point), they shared a couple of plates of food, and I listened (sorry for eavsdropping) to, the manager (or at least I think she was the manager, as she seemed to be running the night) (a young, ginger haired woman) say how brillantly the staff did that night and how grateful she was for how hard they all worked. They all had a laugh and a joke, and were still happy and laughing, even though they were probably tired and had just had a crazy night! This shows great team morale and it's good to know that staff are being appreciated and taken care of. I would be happy to know that my child had a job and a management team like this. I've gone back home to Cornwall now but wanted to pass on my praises and I hope everyone that night knows they did a fantastic job! Well done Crystal Palace!

Great for a meal and such a huge improvement since it was taken over. The choice of house drinks is excellent.

Came In for supper to find young man Called Max behind the bar serving a Guinness to a gentleman who wanted his Guinness a way that was Irish correct.. he challenged the lad about the way he poured it as it’s not a larger and was greeted with ! Well the only way I can describe it was Disrespectful from the Barman … in the present climate I would be speaking to customers a little bit better than the way this lad portrayed himself as a member of the Big Smoke …. My wife was mortified and asked if our party were happy to leave … we did

Really nice pub along the canal and very close to the train station. The outdoor seating area is huge and has heating

It has been upgraded and improved. The staff are great, the menu was good. We had vegans in the group of 8 and a 3 year old too. All catered for very well. Love this place and will return.

Came here a month ago and the service was great. Today we were met with a frowning face even though we’d pre booked the date. They eventually found our booking and took us to our table only never to be seen again? 🤷‍♂️ I had to go to the bar after 10 minutes to get some service and we got the drinks after 20 minutes. It’s now 38 minutes later and we still have no food… Won’t be coming back in any hurry.

Great views, great location but that’s about it. Staff stressed to the max and have not got much of a clue of what’s happening. Fairly long wait for poorly executed pub grub. Management not really bothered let alone hospitable. Won’t be returning.

Great music, nice food. Lovely views. What's not to like?

Layout is more like a restaurant than a pub, friendly staff, excellent food selection and quality was tops. Will be going back again tomorrow for lunch.