The Rusty Gun in North Hertfordshire

Something has happened here. Last time (January) the fish was overcooked and shredded into small pieces. The service was slow despite the pub being empty. The same today (4 March). Service very slow - pub empty. Used to excellent food here and couldn’t get in on a Sunday. What’s gone wrong?

Was looking forward to Sunday roast , started well soup was very good but that was as good as it got .We went for the turkey from the carvery , job to find roast potatoes that were not burnt. carrot & parsnips cold , cauliflower cheese over cooked .red cabbage looked like it had been left over from last week, yorkshire puddings a poor excuse . very disappointed.My wife unable to eat her meal ,I manage some but gave up Spoke to the manager who claimed no one else complained but offered us a free pudding and refund on one of our meals. Will not be returning with all the competition from other Pubs / Restaurants (should not have to put up with food like this)

Great welcome, lovely food and ambience.

We were celebrating an 89th birthday and service and food were brilliant. Thank you.

Very poor service and food! Flowerpot Bread came out as 4 pieces of toasted sliced brown bread and some olives! Very over priced!

We waited a long time to be served? We Ordered the flowerpot bread, after a 35 minute wait we received 4 pieces of very lightly toasted slices of brown bread, olives and two triangles of butter! Costing £8:95! Main courses arrived after another 30 minutes, not great! The Winter Veg Bourguignon was supposed to be a large plate dish, quite small and like warm, the pie of the day was ok, nothing great! When we paid they had the cheek to charge a service charge! The bill came to well over £60! Very over priced and not good quality dishes, service vey very poor! Avoid! Other places do it better for a lot less money!

I organise a walking and lunch group. Most of the group do a walk from 10-12 and then lunch at the pub /restaurant. The Rusty Gun insisted on pre-orders 1 week before the lunch and said those that did not pre-order would not be fed. Further more I had to have my credit card swiped and the Rusty Gun would charge me £10 deposit for any no shows. The girl I placed our order with was fairly hard nosed/unpleasant. We are a group of pensioners and not all of the attendees are sure of attending a week before hand and a small amount of flexibility would have been appreciated. The range of food on the menu did not include "lite bites" like baguettes, baked potatoes, salads, etc. so quite a few elected to have a drink and not eat. For those that wanted a sizable meal at lunch time the food was quite good, if expensive. We elected not to return however as the venue were too inflexible to meet our groups needs.

It's a really cosy pub with a lovely interior, and great little nooks to relax in & feel like you're escaping other guests' notice. The menu is varied, interesting, and delicious.

Food was really good, although I was a little disappointed with my pork belly. It was well cooked but the skin was soggy and not crispy ans you’d expect. The pub itself is very cosy so atmosphere was nice but I was surprised at how slow the service was. We booked for 12:00, arrived at 5 to 12 and were seated straightaway but our food took well over 30mins to arrive despite us having pre-ordered and the pub not being very busy. Service was so slow that those having dessert didn’t leave until after 2pm.

Very impressed with quality of food. Very friendly and efficient service.

An excellent place to eat on my birthday. 12 of us on one long table created the perfect atmosphere. Good food and at reasonable prices. Thank you.

First visit was a tad disappointed the potato skins poorly presented just looked a mess tasted fine asked for sauces and they were forgotten

Had the potato skins poorly presented looked a mess but tasted ok rhen had the belly pork no crackle on the crackling asked for apple sause and ketchup and it never came so disappointed first visit properly won't rush back as it was expensive and service was not matched to price

Really enjoyed The Rusty Gun. The Prawns, bread, halloumi fries, sausages, cauliflower and beverages were delicious. Only let down was the pork bites which were way too over cooked and very dry. Otherwise great service, lovely atmosphere. Fun afternoon. Thank you!

I haven’t been to The Rusty Gun for a while. I’m glad I went back, great tasty food. The service was quick with attentive staff.

Always a good Sunday lunch whether the carvery or sit down!

Fabulous Sunday carvery - we go here a lot and it is always great, but it seems to have got even better! Always good service and great food.

Very good food very relaxing and helpful staff great for families and large groups very good menu including vegetarian and vegan

Very good food, a roaring fire, lovely welcome.

Lovely meal at the Rusty Gun. Food was top notch, staff made us feel extremely welcome and were extremely accommodating and really good with our little one. It was a quiet evening for them but still a lovely atmosphere, sat by the real fire which was lovely and warm in the really cold temperatures we have been having recently. Overall a great evening!

The staff are very welcoming and friendly. The service is excellent and with a SMILE. The wood fire is very comforting on a cold evening. We will certainly visit again.

Fish was dry and batter hard. Too much curry in Linguini. Pie good nut suffered bad stomach in the evening. Will not be repeating.

Fabulous food at the carvery and cheerful service at the end of a long working day. Excellent value too. Lovely old building.

Excellent food and service as usual. We will be back soon.

Lovely big family meal, my good was lovely. I had the pork belly to Starr and burger for main, so yummy!! Some had calamari, which was overcooked and burnt but didn't take away from the rest of their meal. Waiting staff really friendly, bar lady not so much. Overall, though, lovely meal

Restaurant was appealing disappointed with service and food. Ordered potato skins and got sliced cold stogy potatoes. Slow drinks service and long wait for food and was not busy. Staff did not check to see if satisfied

very quiet as it was just before they closed for New Years Eve but food and service was exceptional

Thanks so much for looking after us and making my partner's Birthday party a success! - regards, Ian

Fabulous carvery. Lovely tender meats , perfectly cooked veg everyone had a perfect roast dinner and all nice and hot. Excellent.

We had our annual family Xmas get together at The Rusty Gun on Sunday 29th Dec. There were 28 of us. Lovely setting. The service was great. The food was good apart from a few overcooked starters (Calamari). The main meals were all lovely. Most had the help yourself carvery which were enjoyed. Desserts were lovely too. We got our own drinks when needed always find it best with a large party. I asked if they could do 2 takeaway carvery’s for 2 family members who couldn’t make it to the meal but were joining us later in the late afternoon. They happily obliged which was great. Thank you to The Rusty Gun for a great service and food.

Great atmosphere and service . The food was incredible. Would highly recommend

Great lunch. Friendly service. Good relaxed atmosphere.

Fantastic Christmas Day at The very festive Rusty Gun. We have not dined out before on Christmas Day and were so impressed with everything from start to finish. It was so cosy and there was a great vibe. The staff were great and the food was delicious. Will definitely do it again one year. Thank you.

Great Christmas dinner with great service.

Went as a group of 10 today for pre selected festive lunch. The setting is lovely and very Christmassy but unfortunately the experience was ruined by very poor customer service. The pregnant lady who served was quite abrupt. There was a very long wait inbetween courses and no one coming round to ask if anyone wanted more drinks even though they were not particularly busy. They say they are vegetarian friendly on the website but there was only one choice and it was awful. I had a butternut squash with a flavourless lentil mush inside. The butternut squash was completely hard so I asked for it to be cooked a little more and it came back when everyone else had finished their mains the same but much more dry! I did enjoy going outside to see to pot bellied pigs but this was the only highlight the food was very mid and extremely expensive for what it was.

Hi x superb venue service attention to detail food amazing and lots of staff so pleasant from phone booking with Andrea to service 10/10 xxx not one single negative x I work in a hotel on south coast and if I were a manager of my hotel I would offer all staff there a bonus that could not refuse to move to my hotel x staff training is clearly no 1 and attitude to working is up there too all of you thankyou a fabulous experience from. Start to finish xxx thanks to welcoming staff serving staff chef cleaning staff and those who answer phone Andrea and you answer the call quickly x you clearly care about your guests THANKYOU ALL AND A VERY VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS XXXXX WE WILL BE BACK XXXZ great mushroom brushetta soup salmon and terrine x turkey beef sea bass and all desserts xxxz mwah xxx thankyou again nicky mcdermott attached to Ella booking for eight xxxz

I often stop over here with my camper van when I’m working in the area. Always a warm welcome and lovely atmosphere with a gorgeous fireplace in winter. Highly recommended. Such a nice barn conversion and decor. Highly recommended.

First time at The Rusty Gun in a long time ... had lunch with our daughter and baby grandaughter, food was excellent, reasonable value, with very attentive staff. We also had a dog which they were happy to accomodate

Nice place and food and service good. Pretty boring atmosphere though and after we paid our bill and were leaving we called out goodbye and no one answered. We've been before and loved the little shop in the corner but it was disappointing this time.

Me an my friend went for a Christmas lunch on (27/11/24) we both were disappointed, the turkey was slices( I'd call it plastic turkey, not carved from carcass), we both agreed, one carrot cut in half, one potato cut into four, skinny little parsnips, few brussels, pig's in blanket, frozen brussels, no greens,no cranberry sauce we had to have jam!!!, as for the pudding not sure what it was, three custard like balls, served in a soup bowl, smothered in a very very tart source. We both were very disappointed in our Christmas lunch!!...

Outstanding staff. Extremely attentive and friendly service. Great knowledge of allergies. Staff went above and beyond. Lovely welcoming atmosphere.

We had booked from the Christmas menu prior to our arrival . We arrived on time and were seated at a very nice Christmas decorated table. We then waited 15 mins to give our drinks order. Another 15 mins later they brought out the soup that two of our party had pre ordered. A further 40 minutes later we were told to get our meal from the carvery. We assumed it would come to us as we pre orfered. We were not informed on booking that it was a carvery for those of us that had chosen the turkey dinner option. Though disappointed we went to get our food. The plates were cold all the food was cold. I don't mean just warm it was all stone cold. In edible. They said they had electrical issues with the hot plates. Why did they not tell us this from the moment we sat down. The waitress offered to change the veg to hot veg. Not the turkey or potato's or yorkie puds. The pigs in blankets and stuffing were hot as they came straight from the kitchen. Don't get me started on the gravy. It looked like I'd poured brown water on my meal, it was that runny. We all sent our meals back. We refused to pay for anything. So two of our party got absolutely nothing to eat. The manager couldn't give a toss about the issues. She even gave us a filthy look as we left. Our group of friends alway get together at Christmas for a lovely festive meal. You can imagine our huge disappointment.

Sunday roast buffet style. Delicious choice of 3 meats, carved by the chef. Delicious veg, roasted and Yorkshire Puds😁

I took a group of 14 people for a Christmas meal recently. The food, service and ambience were all perfect.

Had a lovely birthday meal here on the 30th of November 2024. Couldn’t fault the service and food quality. Thank you very much Rusty Gun!

Food is amazing, has a lovely feel to the place! Very nice to meet people for dinner or even just a drink! Will definitely be returning

Best food best service best day helped to no end to make a great 50th birthday staff friendly and amazing great food also

The service is courteous and speedy. There is enough choice for elderly people with small appetites. Our dog was welcomed. Please would you open the doors at 11.55 for a 12.00 booking, especially on a bad weather day.

A lovely ,cosy restaurant, with very friendly and efficient staff.Howver, the food fell very short of expectations....The carvery was disappointing, not a great selection of vegetables, the Yorkshire pudfings were dry,and the meat was cut into thick chunks...Just not what we were expecting.

Been coming here for years but haven’t been for years and the food was still exactly how I remember it absolutely incredible service amazing atmosphere couldn’t Fault it Will be back soon

The vegetarian options on the menu were very disappointing. One of the side dishes on the menu was 'skin-on fries' which I ordered with an omelette. However, what appeared on the plate was french fries that appear to be made from pre-processed potatoes and when I queried their appearance on my plate - I was told that this is all their supplier had sent them! When we asked what the letters 'ngic' meant after one dish, we were told the ng stood for no gluten, but she did not know what the 'ic' stood for. I suggest staff need better training.

Had a roast selection of vegetables was almost out and had to wait some time to be replenished but the food was actually goodO

Always have loved coming here but last couple of times it’s not been as good. Food was Ok. Unfortunately the service was slow and we got our food before our drinks! Shame as could be good. Also, service with a smile wouldn’t go a miss.

Lovely place but Sunday roast disappointing, carvery by the door, plates were cold and food cold.

We were a large party - it was a great place for us all to meet and get together The Chief went out of his way to accommodate tricky dietary requirements Thank you

My cousin and I love this place. We meet here about three times a year for a catch up and lunch. It is always lovely and we both really enjoy it. The staff here are superb! The food is usually brilliant too! but this time it was even better!!! Thank you very much! We will be here again in the spring time....please dont change your menu!

Great food and service and good value for money.

I visited the RG with my partner, mum and springer spaniel on 4.11.24 for lunch. When you walk through the door, the place is well decorated/furnished and cosy and expectations are high. Unfortunately, the welcome at the bar is a little underwhelming. We ordered fairly straight forward pub fare: fish and chips, a beef sandwich and BLT. The BLT was acceptable but the fish and chips were over cooked. I had the beef sandwich which was poor. The meat was like shoe leather and very gristly.It was a challenge to find something edible and did not require excess chewing to make it digestible. As it was a Monday, we wondered if it was the chef’s day off. If it was, it may have been better to not serve food at all rather than the sub standard offering we received. Alternatively, the RG could consider just serving sandwiches etc using good quality ingredients or food bought in from M and S. Frankly, I am posting this review to encourage improvement, the RG has got so much spot on to create a good ambience and it is such a shame that it is struggling to get the basics right!

Delicious carvery for Sunday lunch at a very good price. Only one suggestion - plates could be warmed before serving. We will go back. Enjoyed the atmosphere and the artisan stalls, and nice to see the pigs after lunch too!

The reason I give ONLY 1 STAR for food, is because I was VERY disappointed with my fish and chips. The fact that it was a SMALL piece of fish would not have mattered, if the fish had been fresh. It certainly did NOT TASTE fresh, and ...on closer inspection of the flesh...it did not LOOK fresh. Fresh fish flesh is meant to be bright WHITE, but this was grey in parts, and certainly NOT bright white. I chose not to make a fuss, because it was my son's birthday lunch.

Love this place but I have to say that it was not great at 5pm on a Sunday. Carvery beef was very dry, veg was not good either. Service was slow but the team were lovely and welcoming. Desserts took a while but were yummy! Will be back because we love it but just not at 5pm!!

Having dined here several times, our recent visit was disappointing. Several dishes arrived cold, and the vegetarian options felt limited. The fish and chips lacked seasoning, with bland, uncrispy chips and cold mushy peas, which detracted from the meal. I emailed to provide feedback but received no response. Hopefully, the quality and responsiveness improve, as this has been a favorite spot in the past.

Me & my 2 brothers were warmly greeted and had a refreshingly normal, chatty conversation with our host (her name escapes me unfortunately) and had a laugh with her. The food was as good as ever. We were in early, so we were pretty much alone as we ate, but we made our own atmosphere. Occasional banter with the host was good fun.

The Rusty Gun scores highly on all counts - nice ambience inside and always good food. A really nice gastropub.

Really great meal! Excellent service and amazing roast.

Waitress was lovely and so helpful but it turns out that our milk free member couldn't have the Vegan salad as it had yoghurt in it and was mixed through despite having a vegan sign on the menu. Would have been nice to have had some stuffing availble and pigs in blankets with the carvey. Food was very tasty and service was good.

Wonderful food, and very attentive wait staff. Quieter than expected for the carvery evening but food was still delicious so no complaints

The food was okay meat was mostly good although beef could have been cooked more. Veg was mixed together which I don't like as I only like certain vegetables and like them separate carrots were too oily I like them crunchy and roast were too oily and more like boiled potatoes. Dessert was nice and staff friendly and attentive

Been here previously and wasn't too bad, not great but worth trying again. 3rd time lucky, or unlucky? Halloumi fries...burnt Calamari..burnt and dry Crab and prawn linguine..cold Steak and kidney pie...lacking kidney as in none in there at all. Asked for chunky chips, not sure what we got but there you go. Double stacked burger burnt to a crisp. British beig British didn't complain too much, got a drink taken off the bill. Won't be returning...

Visited here Sunday 13th October with a large group of friends. We were accommodated very well. The Carvery was amazing good choice of vegetables. Very popular and very busy so booking is essential. The staff were very friendly definitely recommend giving it a visit. We will be going back.

Lovely food although carvery could have been slightly warmer. Had to try quite hard to get the attention of our server

Although we arrived a little early, we had to wait a long time for our table even when there were other tables free to seat us. The service was slow and the requests i put in prior to going were not followed through!

Food I would have given a 5 but the food wasn't hot it was warm due to a problem they had

We have been to the Rusty Gun previously and enjoyed their food so were looking forward to going back. Unfortunately the food didn't measure up to the previous occasion. A winter veg bourguignon was no more than chunky diced veg in a thin gravy, and overbooked broccoli. My husband's fish & chips had obviously come direct from the freezer, not unexpected for pub grub, but looked rather anaemic. The 2 diners who had the steak and stilton pie enjoyed their food and the puds went down well although I thought the sorbet & ice cream was overpriced for the size of the scoops. My friend who ordered the apricot and peach crumble was not so impressed as she said the fruit tasted as though it was tinned not fresh. The meal worked out at £40 per head (including drinks) which is reasonable these days but the food wasn't quite on the mark - NB the pub was quite busy so we didn't say anything to the staff at the time which i appreciate we should have done. Also they did say that they had had an issue with the gas so a number of dishes were off the menu which may have caused a ripple effect onto the other dishes that day.

vegetable over cooked not very friendly

Had the best meal. The food was incredible!!. Absolutely recommend. Shout out to the chef :)

Horrible roast dinner . Veg wet and soggy. Roast potatoes soaking in fat. Very poor service , hardly any staff.

We have visited the Rusty Gun on several occasions and really enjoyed everything about it. We went a month ago and I had the ribs which were practically raw. They were replaced but not as good as usual. We were a bit put off of going again but received a Birthday voucher offering a free bottle of Prosecco so decided to go. The place was practically empty for a Saturday. I showed the email to the waitress and she acted as though she had never seen one before and could I email it to them. After several attempts they said they couldn’t receive the email for some reason but eventually let me have a bottle, this took over 20 minutes and in that time our food had turned up. I had ordered the ribs again and my husband the chicken burger, the ribs were cold and both our fries were so hard you couldn’t eat them. We were so disappointed we didn’t bother getting a dessert. When I said to the waitress that the place had gone downhill she asked if I wanted to see the manager but by this time we had had enough. Unfortunately we won’t be returning.

Always a fantastic atmosphere but the carvery seems to be suffering from shrinkflation and the meat servings were meagre

This was our first visit and we loved it. Excellent shared starters. The homemade bread is very tasty. Nice young waiter who was very attentive. Attractive decor. Dog friendly with a bridlepath leading from the pub

Favourite place for Sunday carvery , our dear mum loved it so we like to keep tradition alive . Four different roast meat so you can have a bit of everything and self serve the rest . Perfect .

Lovely pub for drinks but NOT for eating! This is supposed to be premium end. It is not as the food was less than mediocre. Chargrilled goats cheese salad - cheese uncooked and not fresh and rock-hard. Fish was described as tempura but came out soggy and luke-warm, clearly pre-cooked and reheated. Chips were old, bruised and not crisp. Upon complaining the manageress deducted the goats salad and the service charge. However, we didn't go out for cheap food but a premium meal. Wait times for drinks was excessive especially as the pub was half-empty. The review summary on this page is about right, this pub has lowered its standards and we will not be returning. You take a big risk if you go!

Table booked for 7.45pm. 3 of us. Greeting was poor, almost surly. Taken to huge round table with seating for 5 or 6. Not exactly cosy and crammed in between other tables. Server delivered 3 menu clipboards but one had nothing on it. She left it on the table and didn't return. No one came near us but eventually caught the eye of a server who took our drinks order. These were delivered and we placed our food order. The lass seemed taken aback that we wanted food. We ordered 2 starters explaining the 3 of us would share so that we got a plate each. We then tried to order mains. Now those of us used to the Gun know (knew) it's reputation for pork cookery. The Scotch eggs used to be a light on the menu. Sadly they had 'run out', so clearly their collection plate would be deficient and all of us grabbed the menus to seek alternatives. We tried to order the pork belly, another former favourite, only to be told this too was 'off'. I ordered the Pork Burger and herself ordered the sausages and mash. Our friend ordered the chicken burger. Have to say my pork burger was good. Piled high with pulled pork as well as the burger. Just rather sloppy and falling apart. No way it could be eaten as a burger in your hands. The chips were good. Our friends chicken burger was more bun than chicken and very disappointing. The sausages and mash was OK but nothing special, whereas in times past the bangers were, well, banging. We ordered more drinks when the mains arrived. Simple G&Ts. The first round came as expected, Gin and ice with a slice and bottles of tonic to add yourself. The second round came mixed with ice. No slice. A bit surprising. When our mains were finished we were offered the desert menu. I though an Affogato would finish the meal nicely. Oh, sorry, I was told but the coffee machine has been turned off and cleaned down. It was only 9pm! My wife and her friend ordered Espresso Martinis. Cocktails, no coffee required. Ah, sorry, no can do. The bars closed and being cleaned down. Not yet 9.10pm... unbelievable. Over £40/head and absolutely no way it was worth that. So sad to see the state of the place and the complete lack of customer focus. I don't know who is running the place now but suspect it won't be for long. We didn't read reviews because we 'knew' it was a great place. But that is no longer the case. Be warned. I always try to be fair in what I write. The burger was good if sloppy. The chips were good. I liked the Frickles. The sausage starter was chopped up, thin bits of rather dried up sausage. The tomato sauce and mustard sauce was tasty. Both could have been home made. The young man who assisted with our table service seemed to be trying. The lass wasn't fully with it. The manageress (I assume) who hovered about didn't seem too fussed about our obvious disappointment. We had looked forward to great food in a charming old pub with a leisurely chat over drinks. Only the old building did not let us down.

Always wonderful..topped by the lovely gesture of a birthday desert with candle for my Father.

First time at the rusty gun will definitely be going back there

Good meal at a reasonable price seated near by food as I had a broken foot nice atmosphere and pleasant waiting staff

Very good. Nice atmosphere, good menus and my lunch was delicious. And loved the Happy Birthday candle in my pudding and the singing! Thank you we all had a great time.

We really enjoyed the Sunday Roast and will be back. It is so accessible from.Luton and they catered for pur needs to have distance from other diners perfectly.

Food and drinks definitely not worth the price. We were extremely disappointed with our Sunday roast. There was not enough vegetables on offer by far the roast potatoes were full of salt and not edible

Beautiful little pub , friendly staff and great atmosphere. Kids really enjoyed feeding the pigs .

Great pub , food and services. There is only one problem no phone reception and very poor WiFi 😕

Excellent food, accommodating and friendly

We opted to sit under the gazebo and it would have been nice if the waitress had cleaned the table for us. I ended up using baby wipes to do this. I had fish & chips and the fish was not great. We will still come back because we generally enjoy our visit to the Rusty Gun

Food arrived cold had to be sent back

The provision of a disabled parking area close to the entrance was a nice surprise, as I had not noticed it on previous visits (when I was not disabled). Food and service were excellent as usual. I prefer pork fat to be cooked into 'crackling' but the meal was exactly as described on the menu and my wife enjoyed the pork as it came. There was a large 'men only' group and consequently quite noisy but otherwise the atmosphere was fine.

Lovely little pub restaurant, didn’t see the piggies but love that you can feed them. Nice area to walk around too and sunny pub garden. A little on the pricey side, but the loaded potato skins and the sausage bites were fab.

Nice food but just too expensive.

The carvery was plentiful, the meats were lovely although I thought the gammon was very salty so I couldn't eat it. The potatoes were soggy where they had been kept warm under a lid, and they were a bit wet. The cauli cheese was tasty

Nice place for Sunday lunch Food was ok but if I'm honest, it wasn't great. The potato skins starter was a little tasteless and needed the accompaniments to eat and the bread was lovely but the hummus was a bit tasteless too. I had the carvery and was disappointed with the way it was served. Thick slices and only 3 slices per person in total. The vegetables were poor as were the cauliflower cheese and cabbage. I wouldn't go back.

Under seasoned mash served with gravy which had undissolved gravy granules accompanied by lovely sausages. At least it was hot.