The Millstream in North Hertfordshire

2023. Had our Christmas get together at the Millstream on a busy Saturday evening. The staff were lovely and very attentive. My tart starters was nice, my turkey main course was a tad disappointing. 3 tiny sprouts, one tiny parsnip (I love my veg) was a bit of a joke. The meat itself was OK as were the potatoes. My cheesecake dessert was also ok. All in all a mixed bag, I've eaten here a few times and never had reason to be disappointed. I put it down to being very very busy. Saying that, I would definitely return and give them another go. 2024. Returned to the same venue for our Christmas Dinner. Having read my last year's review absolutely nothing has changed. Yet again 3 miniscule brussels a tiny peace of parsnip and two bits of carrot. WAKE UP! The Millstream. The cheapest element is sometimes the best. I have deleted a star for the quality of food because of the above.

Very nice pub with good food. Nice garden

Lovely food, great service from Emma and always good atmosphere. We've been before and we will return. Thank you

Went on a Wednesday night which is a quiz night and had a really good time.

Second update, after a year, I recently visited this place again and I’ve had to downgrade to 1 star. I ordered the Hunters chicken, and it was just a merely small fillet of chicken breast, not even 80gr of chicken. I won’t be visiting again. Unfortunately, I had to update the review, as the food has noticeable worsen. The nachos were the best, and now they are just average. Also, the roast turkey was overcooked and dry. The prices have risen but the quality has decreased.

I go back here every few months or so, forgetting how terrible it was. Service is a joke. Food is disgusting. Every single time. Worst place to eat in the area. Really disgusting. Steaks and chicken are clearly re-heated and from the day before. Steak is the size of a toddler's hand. Soggy chips and coleslaw that always smells like it's several days old. Cutlery and glasses always dirty. They left a comment under my review, stating it is fake. Maybe start cooking some proper food instead of questioning genuine reviews. I have attached a receipt from a visit in May. That way they can't call it a fake review.

Lovely food, excellent service from Emma.

Sarah served us and was very kind. She reassured me about allergies and was very cheerful. Lovely food and good service. Definitely recommend coming here

Lovely pub, such a nice atmosphere, Yash was amazing! So attentive. Looking forward to visiting again soon.

Decent pub fayre in a comfortable setting. Rotisserie chicken and ribs, and the fish and chips are two highlights.

A top Thursday night at The Millstream. Emma was a wonderful, friendly and attentive waitress. Great food and drinks, reasonably priced. Thank you Mark, Emma and team

Excellent restaurant for a family dinner out. The chicken platter + fish & chips is always a winner! Brilliant service from Emma.

Fantastic service as always from Emma and lovely food. Highly recommend the fishcakes and the chicken platter shater.

Man sat at table behind me talking on phone in avert loud voice about work and train journey, service put me off my meal—tip, leave work at work! Coldslaw tasted so watery I couldn’t eat it, ribs were lovely

Went with my family, a group of 10 of us. Our first waitress was nice to start off with, she took our orders & to be fair the starter’s were nice, but she had made a few mistakes with ordering & the kitchen too, we had 2 starters missing,& 1 incorrect & they all came out at different times. The waitresses then didn’t even bother coming to take our plates from our starters (we were still waiting for a round of drinks at this point, and also found a long dark hair in a chicken strip) They tried to hand us our plates for our mains with no room to put the plates on the table as they hadn’t cleared the table, our mains came out at multiple different times, with missing sides, missing sauces, awful portion sizes, three incorrect meals & we waited over an hour for a salad to be brought out. One meal was supposed to be half a rotisserie chicken with mash potato & coleslaw, instead we were given a chicken roast dinner, then when asked the waitress for her to take it back and change it to what we had actually ordered, she then continued to argue with us over what we had ordered, refused to take the plate then got another waitress to come over to see us instead. We were still waiting on a haberniao hot sauce to be brought out with one of the meals and the newer waitress gave us the wrong sauce, we asked her to change it and she turned around to a colleague and rolled her eyes to the back of her head and then slammed the right sauce down on the table - at this point the food had gone cold and was useless even having the sauce. There was a lot of other bad things that happened at our meal which I can’t be bothered to write anymore about. All in all, the quality of the food was poor, & the service from the 2 particular waitresses we had was terrible. Yet the manager did come over and apologise to us for their attitude and the way they had been with us, and he couldn’t have apologized more, he took a round of drinks off the meal and 20% off, which we did not need nor expect to happen, as we hadn’t directly complained to anyone! Seemed like a nice person, we had a laugh and joke about it all but unfortunately we won’t be re-visiting this restaurant again.

Great food and service - always reliable and a friendly atmosphere. Lots of parking and always great for a quick meal out

Piping hot tasty food. Polite and efficient staff. Served by lovely Olivia who was polite and efficient. Great family atmosphere.

Really nice pub, friendly staff & good food

Good atmosphere, staff was very polite. Drinks were flowing and laughs were had. I can't speak for the rest of the food, but do not come here for a Sunday Roast. Worse we've ever had, not made to order as it came in 2 minutes, chicken as dry as the Sahara desert, who knows how long it's been sitting out. Took a while to chew the chicken, Yorkshire pud not much better. Comments overheard from other tables confirmed it wasn't just us. Might give the rest of the food a go, and if good will put ratings up, but shame about the roast

Excellent food and service. The baked cookie dough is the best dessert ever! We were served wonderfully well by Thea. Would 100% recommend this restaurant

4 of us went out to dinner all meals were wrong missing ingrediants sent back one service good but food overcooked on every course we all go a lot there as always been nice foid but tonight awful food will go somewhere else next time nit good at all tonight

Had a lovely birthday meal at the millstream. The staff was on it & special shout out to Emma for being so attentive to our table. Thank you so much for a lovely time.

Ordered a steak that came with peas and jacket potato, which looked and tasted as if cooked early morning and reheated many times! Steak had fat content more than lean meat! The waitress made us feel like she was doing us a favour taking our order! Only waiter was welcoming and smiling! 3 out of 4 meals were below good standard. Very disappointed.

Nice pub in Hitchin, had a very delicious meal with family here on a Friday evening, all our food was quite good. Prices were good and reasonable, very friendly and happy employees, would definitely eat here again sometime.

So glad I chose to eat here, the food was excellent and the staff were very friendly and attentive. First time eating here and it won't be the last. I would definitely recommend a visit if you like good food with good service and a friendly atmosphere. Starters, mains and a dessert for 2 of us plus 3 rounds of drinks worked out at less than £50 a head. A very pleasant dining experience and a big thanks to all the staff who attended to us. 💯 % Positive experience.

Went here this evening for a meal with my Son and again the food was really nice. I had an OG burger and my Son had the chicken burger. We both really enjoyed our mains; chips were nicely cooked & tasty. Friendly duty manager and really good staff. The pub interior decor and outside areas are really nicely done and parking was easy. Only small gripe was the bland apple pie we shared. Overall would definitely go again; the staff really do enhance the overall experience.

Great place would definitely come back!

lovely yummy food :D friendly staff :> quiet and relaxing :) nice friend :3

Lovely food, good menu choices also gluten free options

Popped in here to grab a late lunch as my daughter does like the fries they have and honestly that was the only good thing we had. Kids meal was all I can say cheaply made, very watery spaghetti and garlic bread over cooked as was the chicken sharer we had, chicken wings were so overcooked they were rock solid and inedible. Chicken strip and pieces again over cooked and even my dog turned his nose up at them. When asked if food was ok I said it was all over cooked and portly made and staff member didn’t even comment. Also whilst eating clearly was member of management talking to staff members about there performance and found this so unprofessional as it was done where all customers could here. Worst experience I’ve had here and not as if it’s reasonably priced. Will gone this place a wide birth u til I see reviews on its improved.

We had a lovely Sunday Roast, the small portion was still very generous and the food was all fresh and very tasty! Really fairly priced - we stopped on our way home and were very impressed. Good parking too!

Lovely local pub. Great food and drinks menu. Lovely staff

Amy and Abi were absolutely fantastic and helpful, really added to the evening thank you guys!

Terrible food. Sharer bowl. Asked how was it, I replied awful and explained why, all I got was an insincere apology and told ill inform the chef. Won't be coming back

Very pleasant experience, food delicious

Great food and services! Roasts are amazing

Missy was our waitress she was very cheerful and the food was delicious. The overall service was excellent. The food was delivered efficiently and we were not kept waiting.

One of the worst steaks I have ever had. Chewy and tough, really quite bad for a sirloin cooked medium rare.

We went to the Millstream yesterday 21st July 2024 the staff were very friendly and helpful, the food was lovely and well cooked nice atmosphere as well I would definitely recommend this place and we will go back.

Food was very nice, laid back atmosphere with genuinely nice staff. 100% recommend really nice place!!

Always lovely service and the new menu is much better, always a comfort pub to come back to

This place must have changed hands the food was awful. I used to come here often never again

Had a great roast dinner, excellent will definitely return.

Lovely atmosphere inside and out. Very friendly and attentive staff.

Arrived, and it was very busy. Took my elderly Nan and was seated to an easily accessible area quickly for my Nan. Staff were friendly and helpful. They we're checking on us and making sure we were OK. Food took a little while to arrive, but for how busy they were, it was fine. The food was tasty, and we'll be back.

I enjoyed a delicious meal at the Millstream with brilliant service. Highly recommend!

Fantastic, cosy pub, with a good selection of food and beverages. After your finished you can go for a stroll by the river or too the park which is accessible over the bridge at the rear.

Went here for Fathers day 2024 so as you can imagine the restaurant was busy but the food and the service were both 5 star - Food cooked to perfection and quick service but not rushed - and i always had a drink too !

My family and I have been to the Millstream many times and would have recommended this eatery. I had booked a table for my son’s birthday for 8 of us and with family who had travelled from Yorkshire to be with us. On this visit, we waited 75 minutes for our food to arrive. Once it had arrived, my chicken burger arrived and was beef! The waitress apologised and took it back to the kitchen to replace it. 30 minutes passed and still no burger…. The rest of my party had finished their meals and we bit prepared to wait any longer for the burger to arrive, so we cancelled this. I asked to speak to the manager- we waited 20 minutes for her to come to us and were given the excuse that they’d had lots of people arrived to eat outside and they were short staffed in the kitchen. Not good enough- I’d booked the table for a birthday meal that was ruined. Such a shame as we’ve always rated this place so highly.

Good food. Excellent service. Really nice atmosphere. Haven't been here since 1983 when I was at North Herts College! Was driving through decided to pop in for a meal. We were not disappointed

My wife and I paid an impromptu visit for lunch and a table was duly provided. However, the level from the speakers was uncomfortably loud so my wife mentioned this to a server and asked if the music could be turned down a little as it would have been uncomfortable and difficult to have a conversation over lunch. My wife was told by the server that "...it's company policy that the speaker levels have to be set to a certain volume level". So, the paying customer's dining experience doesn't matter then? We went into another part of the restaurant area and a small group of people on another table were talking loudly, presumably in order to be heard above the noise from the speakers. With no chance of a reasonably quiet dining experience either way, we  decided to leave and have lunch somewhere else,  i.e. where the customers' comfort does matter to the hosts. Incidentally, we are not averse to moderate levels of background music but my wife and I also "have a policy" and that is not to dine where we feel uncomfortable and cannot have a conversation at the table due to excessive and unnecessary speaker noise levels. Perhaps McMullens need to review their policy?

Stopped in after a day at a meeting, we all needed some refreshments. Staff where polite. The pub was not that busy at the time we entered. Pub seemed cosy and had a lovely outside area for when the weather gets nicer.

I have had a couple of nice roasts here...I had my 60th here.. Today table for 8, 12.00. Admittedly, both my son's were running late by about half hour. Occasion, my sisters 66th birthday. We were late in ordering, but bere mind it's still just about 1.00 pm... We had 3 roast dinnas plus whatever the others ordered. My sister n i were the first to arrive, 11.45...So, I would have thought, it's early, food should b nicely HOT,, I don't think I have had colder veg n spuds !! I only ate my chicken,. As I was about to complain there were 2 more dinnas going bk. I did tell the manager but to avail... not even an apology or refund . sorry but that's a no no now !

So first time here, place looks really nice, but not gonna lie I thought the food was below average, there was 7 of us, and maybe one bad meal, but 4 people wasn't happy, not good signs really, the chicken was ridiculously dry, gammon didn't have much taste and well over done, and burgers was very poor, good thing I would say the service, staff was good, but food very poor, I say the food was on par with wetherspoons , just more pricey, yeah I go wetherspoons or hungry horse next time, half the price! And if a chef can't tell that a chicken is over done and dry as anything, can you call you're self a chef!

Always great food when we visit.

Sadly the food was not as good as usual. Prawn cocktail was good but the bread had clearly been out for a while & had gone hard. They swapped it straight away, thank you. I don’t recommend the chicken skewer. I chose it as it’s one of the healthiest options on the menu but the chicken was really overdone & very dry. I was hungry so ate it & mentioned it at the end, for feedback purposes only. Other than this the service was fine.

Beautiful roast beef and lovely apple pie.

Had previously been and was wonderful, however this trip the food was terrible. The chicken dry and steak minuscule and when asked the waitress said it had been freshly cooked that morning so clearly reheated and have been left with gastro flu for 3 days. Weekends great weekdays don’t bother

Visiting the area,its our go to place. Very happy to find us a table at short notice. We went 3 nights running this time. First evening I was not very hungry but they had no problem letting me order a childrens fish finger meal,while husband had Hunters chicken,both were ok. Second evening I had a flat iron steak which although small was cooked to perfection,with beautifully seasoned grilled tomato,chips onion rings all piping hot.Have to say there was an overkill of peas,and would have been better with half the amount swapped for a grilled mushroom.husband opted for steak pie.Third evening (sunday) husband had the gammon meal and they obliged by giving him 2 eggs as he dosnt like pineapple. said it was good! I had the brisket of beef Sunday roast.Beef was excellent,roasties good,cabbage some very hard big lumps. It was the so called Yorkshire pudding that was disgusting!(and luke warm) wasn't even an inch thick,not risen.How come this was even plated up I do not know! never seen one like that before.So ok didnt complain until after because if I had waited to have it replaced my husband would have already finished his meal. They were very apologetic,when I showed them what Ieft,and said it should never have happened. The only other thing that I couldnt believe and never seen before,along with the menu, was another menu for canines! absolutely ridiculous! and no need!(so ok I am not a lover of dogs eating alongside me in any pub/restaurant/cafe) Would we go again? yes proberbly.The staff were all wonderful,friendly and helpful.

Lovely food, lovely decor and helpful staff.

Nice pub with a good atmosphere, service and food

Great lunch will be visiting again soon

Fully reccomend The Millstream. Indoor and outdoor seating. Walked alongside the stream to work up an appetite. Glad I did as food was great as was the service.

I have been to the Millstream on many occasions and never had a problem but I am so disappointed with the food and presentation this time around. To serve all beige food on a white plate is just wrong! There was no vegetables in sight all the sides consisted of coleslaw, chips. The chicken was dry, I have never eaten Katsu Curry sauce that was so dark or so strong ever it was as much as I could do to swallow it. The chips were barely coloured almost as pale as the plate. Every plate of food was the same and seriously lacked colour and any imagination, where was the vegetables? The waiters were very nice, we did tell them how dry the chicken was. I cannot believe how much the food/menu has gone down since we were last in there.

Discovered this place a few months ago now, impressed on our first visit and said I would be back, so our second time here, and just like the first time, excellent in every way, service, food and overall how well we was looked after. Will be coming back that's for sure. Been back several times now and still really recommend this place

Great Food,great service. Definitely coming back x

Find was OK, good service and nice pub

Nice charming pub. Great food. Nice toilets. Good service. Wasn’t too busy daytime on a Tuesday as we wanted a quieter time.

We've driven past so many times and never gone in ..... looking back we've missed out good service friendly staff nice food

Went for dinner yesterday food was not good the new special salad was terrible great big chunks of onion,tomatoes and cucumber with grated salad it was awful had the chicken kebab as a main one kebab chicken was dry and for the price one small kebab not worth the money

A very nice family friendly and orientated pub and restaurant with plenty of seating indoor and outdoor next to a small stream. A good place for a bit to eat and a pint.

Have visited here a few times and food and service have always been excellent. Food is reasonably priced. Plenty of car parking spaces aswell which makes parking easy. Would definitely recommend for a family meal.

Had a lovely meal out with my husband. Food was very good and excellent friendly staff, look forward to returning soon.

Good but expensive for what it is

Booked as a party of 11. The table allocated was set for 9. In fairness this was rectified ok. Ordered a plate of fish and chips very disappointing. The portion of fish was very small, the batter was very hard and had trouble cutting it. There wasn't a lot of fish inside. They seemed to run out of food and the service was slow.

Service was quick and friendly, the food was tasty with a good range of British pub food options. We sat near a log burner which was lovely and warm although the background music was a bit too loud to easily have a conversation at the table. The place has plenty of parking and a large outdoor area which I'm sure would be great in the summer.

Fantastic pub come restaurant. Superb service and great food. Would highly recommend

I found myself with no one home and really wanted roast beef and Yorkshire pudding so I decided to take myself out for lunch. I booked a 12.30 table online, but it didn't register the booking so had to rebook for 12 and dash. I wish I hadn't. Arrived literally 3 minutes early, went inside and was made to wait outside......not massively welcoming! I ended up ordering the 3 meat roast. The meat was nice, not like shoe leather or flavourless as I have experienced at other places. But this was let down by Yorkshire's that in texture resembled prawn Crackers, that tasted of nothing other than stale. When when I sent them back I was told that they're all like it so they didnt bother sending replacements and would take them off the bill. The roast potatoes were OK, but being sprinkled with lots of what I think was black pepper spoiled them for me....other than seasoning when cooking please allow people to season their own food and don't get all chefy with black pepper. The carrots were lovely, sadly I only had 4 slices along with a few peas and a huge pile of raw cabbage. No one likes soggy vegetables, but raw is no better. The rhubarb and apple crumble would have been lovely had there been a reasonable amount of fruit. The crumble was lovely not in the least soggy and what little fruit there was tasted very nice, not over sweetened. But there really was barely any of it under the crumble! The chair was very uncomfortable and as is often the case when you go out alone, the table felt squeezed into an awkward spot. The coffee was lovely and my waitress was fabulous. Very smiley and attentive without constantly interrupting. So in conclusion, not awful, but not great. It wouldn't take much to really improve it though.

First visit here. The food and staff were amazing. I ordered the veggie roast which came out without the main component. I recieved 3 separate apologies from the waitresses, we were then told that my meal was free due to the error. They also were very accommodating regarding my milk intolerance and made me a dairy free sundae. We will certainly be returning.

Really good food, attentive service and cosy atmosphere. Great pub.

This place u should try,we've been a few times now & never disappoints

Very disappointed with our visit to Millstream this evening. Myself & my fiancé went to the Millstream 3 years ago for our first date and had a lovely meal. However this was not the case tonight. Firstly as we arrived our table wasn’t ready (which was fine as we were early) but it took ages to be served a drink at the bar despite being the only customers at the bar. For starters, my pate came out frozen solid & had to be sent back, the salt & pepper chicken was just fried chicken with no taste, no ‘salt & pepper’ aspect to it what’s so ever. We both had ‘beef brisket’ for mains, for £17 per person it was awful quality, shop bought slices of beef with frozen veg and gravy that tasted like it was made from granules despite being described on the menu as ‘red wine jus’. Terrible food for the amount of money, menu sounds 100% more appetising than what you’re actually served. Would advise spending your money elsewhere.

eaten here couple times now never had a complaint about always good and service was excellent as well

The staff were amazingly friendly and on a personal note went above and beyond when the sole of my boot came apart and offering their help to fix it. Thank you Millstream 😊

Went for food and the quiz. Food was good although the grill was broken (was informed beforehand , so acceptable) Quizz was an absolute shambles. The mike not working properly, the guy couldn’t pronounce the words in some of the questions, and people were using the internet.

We booked here due to its seeming popularity but were disappointed and underwhelmed. The main part of the dishes were ok and nothing more, but the sides and accompaniments weren't up to scratch.

Lovely tasty food, good service reasonable prices

Nice enough pub with decent atmosphere. Probably quite a good family pub, plenty of car parking spaces but not a single bike rack, and only 1 vegan beer, nothing on tap. Updated October 2023: More vegan beers and food good and service very good

Nice atmosphere and good service.

Had our lunch here whilst waiting for our son to finish his college audition at the nearby performing arts college. The atmosphere was relaxed and chilled, the waiting staff welcoming and friendly , the food absolutely delicious and the drinks on point. Definitely worth having a meal when you happen to be in Hitchin.

Popped in for just the one drink, lovely service and atmosphere

Not a great experience - but disappointing. They did their best to accommodate us when running late. Food wasn't hot. Roast potatoes were a bit to crispy and hard to cut and the roast pork was dry. Beef was good. Desserts were fine. No bad gluten free menu. Service was a bit slow. Eaten there before with no issues but a few years ago.

Love the Sunday roast here - good value for money. But pleaasssee add stuffing as an optional side dish, it's one of the best bits of a roast, regardless of what meat you choose!

Great restaurant! The food is amazing and generous too. Really nice atmosphere, and the staff are really friendly too.

I like the food here, good sized menu, and good quality. Staff very nice, Wednesday is quiz day. Really nice place.

Lovely meal, very pleasant and happy waitress Thea.

I have just had a meal with friends and thoroughly enjoyed the food. I had the beer battered fish and chips and chose the caramel dessert on the 'specials' menu. Both were really tasty and good size portions. I don't usually take the time to review but was so impressed with Thea that served us. Nothing was too much for her to make our evening special. She is a delight. Thank you and we will be back

Pub grub, good beer, pretty location.

An anniversary meal where the staff were slow to serve and we were left with our finish plates for over 30 minutes and not offered any puddings. Ended up getting our own dessert menus and even though ready to order not one member of the 5 staff standing around came to take our order. Very poor service which is a shame as the food was lovely

As always the food was excellent although our visit today was marred by the attitude of the waitress. Having seen a couple of groups who came in and ordered after us and got served while we were waiting I politely enquired where our food was. The waitress went to find out. Came back with our lunch and said we had only been waiting 14 minutes (very precise !!) by my watch more like 24 minutes … and sarcastically said ‘food has to be cooked.’ A minor gripe but there is no need to be sarcastic even if it was said with a smile !!!!!!