The White Horse Harpenden in St Albans

Had three different servers. The original server completely forgot to order side dishes. When chased, no one apologised (took ownership) and as we finished the main meal, still without side dishes, we cancelled them. Staff were non-plussed. Pity as food was nice but won't be returning in a hurry

I only discovered this restaurant the night before we visited on Friday 22 November. The weather was very cold but the online images and reviews were very warm! Our overall experience was well worth the 35 mile round trip! From start to finish everything was exceptional! Even the background music was to our taste and at a perfect level. We will definitely be returning and thoroughly recommend this local gem.

We arrived on Sunday around 5.30pm to a bustling restaurant. The atmosphere was great - busy but not too loud, happy staff keen to make our visit good and importantly, delicious food. We’re booking for next week!

The best of the best pubs in the East 👍🏽👍🏽

First time visiting and had a lovely Sunday roast! Would give a honest 8 out of 10. 8 just due to the potatoes not being as I would expect to be and the Yorkshire puddings slightly burnt! But didn't affect the meal as all 3 of us ate everything! Will definitely go back as it's hard to find a good consistent Sunday roast! Great service by the staff also.

Average food average service. Outside area stank of wet overflowing ashtrays.

First time at the white horse with two elderly dogs. Warm and welcoming. Superb Sunday roast. Next time we are booked into the snug.

Friendly and attentive service despite the pressure of having lots of diners with which to cope. Splendid food - and quite a large choice on the menu (plus intriguing "specials"). The White Horse ably deserves the title "gastropub". Not inexpensive but The White Horse offers value for money.

Lovely place lovely cooked food just very small portions

Very disappointing roast lunch today 1 1/2 slices of roast beef, roast potatoes that were like billiard balls …dry and hard and definitely not fresh …. I was starving and that makes it even more disappointing …we’ve all had that feeling !

10/10, really enjoyed it and the food was gorgeous! Highly recommend!

Still one of the best places in harpenden for a quality delicious meal in wonderful surroundings and great service .

My best friend and I lunched today at the White Horse, a favourite venue of ours. We were not disappointed : Mary had Duck Confit and pronounced it superb. I wasn’t very hungry so had just a starter - Camembert and a dessert - Chocolate Fondant. Both were excellent. We shared a beautiful bottle of our favourite white wine, Chenin Blanc . White Horse ….. you are going everything right!

Had a great lunch here today. Lovely food, nice service, big car park. Highly recommend. Will return in the near future.

Fantastic food and served with a smile! Will be back!!

Went out for a birthday meal with the family. Food was alright, not the best. A lot of mistakes with each course. The starters took 40 minutes to come to our table. Understand there was 7 of us but the restaurant was barely busy. The mains and the desserts then both took 30 minutes. The staff were really pleasant and nice, they apologised and knocked off some of the food. This was highly appreciated. Wouldn’t be rushing back for food. Drinks were good, prices were decent. They did a really nice birthday plate but the plate was frozen so it made the sticky toffee pudding really cold.

We’ve been here a few times and never disappointed. Last nights dinner (Saturday eve) was absolutely delicious. Our only gripe (which is no fault of the restaurant) was by 10pm we were the last diners and the atmosphere dwindled. Really enjoyable and very good service too! Thank you

Went for a bite to eat. Interesting vegetarian options. Was disappointed with size of the starter and had a salad which had bad gone off lettuce and spinach leaves.

There were 5 people in our party and we all had a lovely 3 course roast dinner here. Staff were friendly and efficient and the atmosphere was great. I would highly recommend.

I have lost count of the number of Sunday lunches we have had here and we drive from Letchworth just for this. As always everything was really excellent particularly the people. We will be back again soon

Went for lunch, sat outside. Good service and excellent choices on the food and drinks menu.

Will certainly go again as everything was perfect for my group of 6

A regrettable experience AGAIN. 56 minutes wait to be served. Too many items were no longer available on the menu. Why can’t the chef expect that there will be a big demand on a Saturday night? Some portion sizes were abysmal except for the fried Fish and Chips which was generous. We must be unlucky. All very sad.

There was a 56 minutes wait to be served. Many of the items on the menu were not available. Some of the portion sizes would be more suitable on a children's menu. About 10 pieces of ravioli don't make a main dish in my mind

This was our third visit, both previous were for lunch during the week which we enjoyed so we decided to come again today but for a roast this time - mistake! I had soup to start and that was extremely thin and had actually separated...pretty grim! Only the one roast option for vegetarians, and my partner had the beef. The potato' and all the veg were old and tasteless, the parsnips were actually inedible and everything looked like it had been defrosted and reheated! The gravy was also very gloopy and the whole meal was just generally very underwhelming. I left a good part of mine which is something I never like to do, but it was just not enjoyable. It was not a 'cheap deal' where you might kind of expect this and we booked for 2pm so not particularly late for a Sunday lunch, so no real excuse to receive a load of reheated crud (in my opinion). I give the 2 stars to the actual pub/building and to the staff who were all friendly and attentive and we still made sure to leave a tip for the lad that served us. No stars for the meal this time though. Sorry.

My friend and I always choose to meet at The White Horse for Sunday lunch . The Sunday Roast is delicious . In the Summer we enjoy sitting on the Patio with my dog. The Service is very good. Highly recommend !

Staff were very friendly, cappuccino was way too hot, beers were excellent ;)

I visited recently for lunch with my husband. We hadn’t made a booking so my husband went into the dining room and spoke to a male member of staff. My husband said we would like to sit outside as the weather was nice, there were lots of empty tables under the canopy set with cutlery, however we said we would like to sit on a table just outside the canopy to make the most of the first warm day we had had for a while. We were told by the male member of staff that if we sat on the tables outside the canopy we would have to order at the bar, I was really surprised the man could not take our order as the area outside was very quiet and in the dining room there was only one table of diners, so he clearly wasn’t rushed off his feet. I said to my husband that I felt we were sitting in “the cheap seats” due to the attitude of the staff member. My husband went to the bar to order drinks. There were 3 other people buying drinks so there was a wait to get the drinks. My husband did say how friendly the young lad was behind the bar who apologised for the wait. We chose what we wanted to eat, I asked a passing waitress who was clutching an iPad on which to take orders could she take our order, we were told she couldn’t and that we had to order at the bar, so another trip to the bar to order food. This was annoying as there were so few people dining outside, so surely taking our order would not have been a hardship. After our meal which was not memorable we thought we would like a coffee, so yet again we had to go back inside to the bar to order our coffee. To pay the bill we had to make a 4th trip to the bar to make payment. I appreciate pubs have rules, however as the pub was so quiet and the staff were not busy, I would have thought the staff would use their initiative and take our order, 4 trips to the bar was absolutely ridiculous. We both felt the male member of staff (slim with a beard) had absolutely no intention of being friendly or to try his best to make our experience at The White Horse pleasurable. He clearly wanted to stick rigidly to the rules with no thought for good customer service. The White Horse has potential to be amazing, but it always seems to miss the mark. The staff, with the exception of the young man behind the bar, give the impression that THEY are doing the customer a favour. It was no surprise that the pub was quiet. Yes, we could have moved 3ft so we would be under the canopy so we would then have been served, but as I mentioned earlier we wanted to make the most of the warmer weather. Sadly we won’t be returning anytime soon, nor would we recommend.

Excellent all round except for a mix up over one of our meals.

Wonderful Sunday lunch today. The food was excellent, the staff were friendly and attentive. We ate inside, and had pudding in the garden. There’s plenty of outdoor space and a quiet, grassed area for the children. The pub has a good sized car park too. We will definitely return. Thank you.

I have visited the White Horse 4 times in the last 6 weeks, once for an early evening supper which was very nice, and twice for Sunday lunch, both of which were excellent. Sadly our lunch yesterday was a total disappointment. The service was haphazard, with the wrong dishes being brought to the table, items missing from every course, and the food that we did receive was nowhere near the quality it had been previously. It was a real shame.

Another lovely evening here…great service (thanks to Jamie!!) and fab lobster cooked to perfection! Super team!

Poor quality food for the price, very greasy food, deep friend, Did not eat chips, was asked how food was, told them it was very greasy, they done nothing about it!!! Nor offer fresh chips, not good customer service really !!!

Two excellent full English breakfasts today and absolutely brilliant service by very polite and friendly staff. One tiny suggestion would be to reconsider the bread used in the sausage bloomer. I think it was sourdough baguette and was rock hard so I left half of it as I couldn't chew through it. Would prefer a softer bread and a good sausage sarnie! However, we had a delightful breakfast in the glorious sunny garden and will definitely revisit.

Had an amazing dinner at the White horse tonight! Went for a friends birthday and couldn’t be happier. The team went above and beyond to make her feel so special and catered for her as she is a vegan! They even brought her a lovely dark chocolate tourte with a candle at the end of our meal . I, myself had the spring roll and lobster from the specials paired with a crisp glass of wine. I will definitely going back again and will recommend to everyone. Thank you again team! 🌟

Beautiful pub, really lovely atmosphere, very friendly and attentive team, and the food and drinks were delicious!!

We visited on a Sunday evening and had a roast dinner. Big mistake, although the beef was tasty the potatoes had not been recently cooked . Everything else was mediocre, none of it was hot. We have had great meals at the White Horse but would not return for a roast or on a Sunday evening. Service was slow.

Had a bar meal. Sandwich and chips. Food was nice the chicken schnitzel which was ok a bit overdone.

As always lovely food and great service. Staff are very attentive and food beautifully presented.

fantastic food fantastic staff especially bronte

Fantastic meal last night to celebrate my Son-in-Law's birthday. Food was excellent and our waiter was superb. Brilliant service. Nothing was too much and he certainly kept my young Dad entertained! Beautiful evening, so we sat outside. Highly recommend.

Lovely olde worlde pub with immaculate outdoor seating area (blankets & heaters too) plus snug & separate bar area away from the restaurant. Excellent Sunday roast lunch too. Highly recommended.

Great meal and very well served by Joseph who coped very well with our requirments and allergies.

Great service. Lovely sitting outside with our dog. Portions a little small but otherwise food decent.

We have been to restaurant many times and this was our worst experience. It was Friday evening but to wait over an hour for our first course is unacceptable. The restaurant must either hire more staff or reduce the number of bookings. The next table sent three of their meals back to the kitchen. Finally, my wife and I suffered upset stomachs a few hours later. Management must take action!

Tried new summer menu….unfortunately was disappointing. Fish pie was overwhelming with parsley and mint peas, and chicken schnitzel was bland and greasy. Hope it manages to improve as pub is lovely, and hope our experience was a one off.

Friendly staff, good food, nice venue. will come back

Love their pies, beeing a Monday it was very quiet, but we went for the pies, for the price I expected a slight bigger portion, however it was the best by far

Very impressed food was amazing and service was excellent. Looked after by Abigail credit to The White Horse.

Simply the best place in harpenden...great service great food and the best ambiance.

Lovely clean place lots room comfortable seating spacious tables friendly servers, tasty food

Had a great lunch yesterday with a small family get together. Warm welcome, service excellent - cheery & knowledgeable. Food delicious. Was a great choice. Thank you White Horse for looking after us

It’s Asparagus season at The White Horse and the chefs produce the best Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce and a poached egg I have honestly ever in my life tasted. My husband had the Spiced Lamb Shank with Couscous and a red pepper salsa, which he described as utterly delicious. And the desserts are to die for…I had the White Chocolate Pannacotta with crushed Amaretti and gin-soaked strawberries: he had his favourite, Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Icecream. To say they were both totally scrumptious would be the understatement of the year.

Ordered fish and chips the waitress came and said they have run out of fish, then ordered the duck salad ….no duck left. The waitress was trying to be accommodating but I was disappointed.

Very poor breakfast experience. Long wait, several items on plate were cold and had to be sent back. A drink that was ordered never arrived. Staff friendly but inattentive. Would not return.

Very poor breakfast experience. Some of the food cold or not cooked at all. Items missed off order too. Servers were polite but generally inattentive. Will not be returning.

We visited here for our friend's 40th and had a lovely meal. The staff were great as was the food.

Only downside was starter special Cherizzo Bon Bon which was a bit bland, steaks were great, Shiraz was lovely and the service was unhurried and attentive. Would definitely recommend and will be back.

After a hiking route, which the place has many routes, we ate the soup of the day, carrot and cilantro, wonderful. As a second, the beef pie. Also very good. Great service. Professional and fast. We ate on the terrace. The day was very good. Neither cold nor hot, so a 10. In line with this, it has plenty of room outside. The interior was neat and clean but I can't rate it because we were hardly there. The only “but” about eating out is that the road is very close and has a lot of traffic. A little extra noise. But, totally bearable. It has parking. If it's full, it's not difficult to park nearby. Recommendable.

Problems with some of the kitchen appliances so limited menu but…. Tiny portion(£20 for a tiny piece of belly pork potatoes were an extra) , expensive , partner had a rotting potato and baked Alaska was a disaster. Luckily not local to us so won’t be returning to this overpriced, small portioned, poor restaurant.

We are long time diners at the White Horse over its many changes of hands. It is currently the best it has ever been with great food and service. Recommended.

Really enjoyed our visit. Delicious lunch. We have visited before and we have enjoyed every meal. Keep on doing what you are doing.

Catch of the day, sea bass, with boiled new potatoes and rocket salad, on the specials menu. Lunch outside, pleasant setting, good service. But, the food was disappointing. The sea bass was one small filet, cooked nicely, occupying abour one third of the plate; at least three medium sized potatoes, halved, taking up most of the rest of the plate, they were floury, tasteless, and definitely not new. And a pile of rocket, taking up the rest of the plate, with possibly some oil on it. The was a slice of lemon, and the potatoes had a little oil or butter.

Very nice pub and restaurant. Food is pretty good all round. Some dishes I find to be quite small and probably a little overpriced. Loads of seating both inside and out, with little pockets everywhere. Service is very good - overly friendly maybe. Overall, a great place. Recommend for a nice meal and a place to drink at.

This place has gone rapidly downhill since last visit a year ago. Standard of food is very low and hugely overpriced.

Food was fantastic (as always) and service attentive. Also recommended the delicious non-alcoholoc cocktails.

My partner and I returned to this gastropub after loving our first visit. I had one of the roast beef while my boyfriend enjoyed a burger. Nothing seemed too much for team! They were great and the atmosphere was amazing. A great start of the bank holiday. We will be back! ✨

Great gastropub. Affordable, great service, great food.

Great food, great service and a very nice ambience. I went for my birthday and we all had a lovely meal.

Plenty of parking available on site. Service was really good and friendly - we were made to feel really welcomed. Highly recommended the soup, which was made really well. A good choice of desserts - nicely finished the meal off

Plenty of parking available on site. Service was really good and friendly - we were made to feel really welcomed. Highly recommended the soup, which was made really well. A good choice of desserts - nicely finished the meal off

Lovely meal at the White Horse. Only reason I have knocked one start of was because, the special I ordered - Roast Pork Belly, whilst lovely, the piece of pork I got was tiny. I was wondering when they would bring the rest out! A real shame, because what i did get was so good. Staff are very attentive. Was served by this big guy - Jamie, very good service, and happy chap.

We had a lovely Mother’s Day Brunch here. The food was good and the staff were very welcoming and friendly. The gave all the Mother’s a mini bottle of gin as a gift which I thought was a really nice touch. We would definitely go back.

Fantastic food and attentive staff.

Top pub in Harpenden. It can be very busy on a weekend - parking can be limited. Nice bar area, well heated and kind staff.

First visit … A wonderful atmosphere and the staff are brilliant. The only negative is that the food is a little overpriced for what it was 3 croquettes £8.75 A few king prawns (which should be served de-shelled) £10.75 The vegan burger with a handful of fries £16 The roast of the day(pork) £19.50 A mini Shepard’s pie £22.50 Just be prepared to pay pricey posh nosh !!!

The waitress was very good plus the food was good. Had a nice evening

Nice comfortable armchairs inside

We booked for a 60 th birthday lunch , and it would be fair to say that there were a few initial issues - a couple being game terrine was missing the pickled cherries as advertised , plus one main meal order was the wrong dish . However the way this was handled and rectified by Brontë was excellent and hence the review. The food was very good quality , both fish of the day and steal - and wine selection was varied with lots of areas/ types not usually seen .

Very nice gastro pub with nice staff and very good food. Soup on this occasion was not good but this was addressed very quickly by the serving staff and a replacement found. Was quite noisy from the main pub but still a nice atmosphere - could have been quieter

Excellent, as always. Food and service just excellent....nothing more to say....except give it a try, you won't be disappointed.

Excellent service but I unfortunately ordered a dirty burger not realising it was a vegan choice although it tasted o.k but not what I was expecting

The food was very good - it was Sunday lunch and everything was well cooked and the piping hot. I normally go to this restaurant during the week when I’ve never had a problem with table timings. However my recent visit was on a Sunday and we felt the service was rushed. We were told immediately we sat down that the table would be required back after 90 minutes and the whole meal was served at pace. I think this is too short for a Sunday lunch which is normally more relaxed and leisurely. I know some restaurants impose a 2 hour limit on a table but 1 1/2 hours is too short.

As always, a wonderful meal. Thank you to Brontë and the team

This lunch was the second “event” my Club has taken to this venue, this time with partners. The first was in mid November. Both on Mondays when it has the advantage of being open when many places are not. Both with about 16 attendees. Happy to report that on both occasions the lunches were very good. There is a wide ranging menu. A vegetarian was very happy with her dishes. Service was good with 16 people being served almost at the same time. Food was very fresh to table. It has good parking. A while ago it was not good. I had a poor group lunch in the private room; but pleased to say things are on the up.

You know you are in a good place when waiters laugh and make jokes with guests. Loved it here.

Lovely early evening food, good service, just found the music a bit intrusive.

Lovely place always friendly, food was great too ... I had the risotto and it was very nice. It was a Tuesday and 0 degrees so it was quiet

My sea bass mains had just half a fillet, considering the price paid about £23, wasn't really up to scratch! When asked a manager why portions are reduced in size and the price is the same, the only reply was, sorry we run out of sea bass....

We went in for some drinks. Nice choices of drinks and relatively well priced! Great atmosphere which make you really feel to be in the countryside or in the mountains! The staff was plaisent and the place was very clean. Nect time we will try the food.

It has become expensive and the price of wine is very expensive.

Amazing food. Really great gastro pub. The burger is especially good.

We nipped in here NYE 2023 with 2 families- what a fabulous place this really is - loved the drinks and the atmosphere, would love to come again when I visit Harpenden again

Absolutely no special Boxing Day menu. Extremely limited to the most basic of mains. Steak, burger, shepherds pie etc. It's as if they were trying to use up all the basic food items left in stock, as the menu is normally great. Monkfish starter was not seasoned and extremely bland. Extreme fishy smell and very watery tasting. Burger and chips just ok. Tiramisu was a severe let down. Extremely lacking in taste. Coffee was nice though. I really like this place, but it's so hit and miss.

Absolutely no special Boxing Day menu. Extremely limited to the most basic of mains. Steak, burger, shepherds pie etc. It's as if they were trying to use up all the basic food items left in stock, as the menu is normally great. Monkfish starter was not seasoned and extremely bland. Extreme fishy smell and very watery tasting fish. Burger and chips just ok. Tiramisu was a severe let down. Extremely lacking in taste. Coffee was nice though. I really like this place, but it's so hit and miss. The waitress was good but service could have been more attentive..

It was super loud in there because of Christmas meal parties which freaked out my 4 year old disabled grandson. But the staff were really understanding and moved our party of 6 to a different area.

Food was good, staff friendly, great place to catch up with friends for dinner

Had a fabulous evening in the private dining room at the White Horse. Great room/venue for up to 12 people. Food was lovely. First class customer service provided by the team under the management of Brontë . They made us feel special , participated in the fun and contributed to the success of the evening. Two bottles of complimentary Prosecco did not go unnoticed either. Thanks Brontë and your staff/chefs. Highly recommended

Dirty glasses flies on glasses over bar Non attentive to customers or live fire... barely keeping salute embers!!

Family dinner on Friday night. Excellent. The service was outstanding and the food was delicious.