The best restaurants in St Albans East of England

Food was delivered fifty minutes late don’t think it was the drivers fault

Parant Company need to spend some money as roof is in a very bad state.

We have had some nice meals here over the years, but now as there are rumours of closure, some employees have lost interest or have left.

I visited with a couple friends this weekend and can’t praise our waiting staff more highly. We were taken to a lovely table in the front dining area and our waiter was so helpful. Made recommendations and looked after us so well. Nothing was too much trouble. The food was freshly cooked and really tasty. Such a pleasant evening, thank you. Highly recommend - we will be back!

Brilliant! We reserved a table (highly recommended on a Saturday night) and the staff seated us straight away, we had also pre booked prosecco which arrived instantly. The music and atmosphere is fantastic, the staff are so friendly and we had a great night, will definitely be back

Been here a few times and it is a very nice setting - though a bit hit and miss in terms of how busy it is, so perhaps have a backup plan in mind if you are unlucky and it is one of their busy times. A good selection of fresh cakes and hot food. Coffee is generous in quantity but I would echo some of the other reviewers in suggesting it could be stronger - however I accept this is a matter of personal taste so perhaps more a comment about me than this venue :) Staff are very diligent, efficient, pleasant and polite. As a footnote: I don't know whether the cafe is responsible for the toilets - apologies to them if they are not - but the facilites have been woeful on our last two visits. Their condition is the fault of those using them but whoever is responsible for them needs to evaluate their use and adjust their cleaning schedules to accomodate!!!!!!! My review score is for the cafe (minus the toilets).

We had lunch here and both left very happy. We weren’t kept waiting at all and our waiter was very friendly. As to the pizza, the generous amount of toppings and the taste of a wood fired crust means I’ll be thinking of this pizza for a while yet.

A lovely location for a tea room, sadly we were let down by the food. The scones were warmed up to hide the fact they were stale and the jam was a cheap jelly. My son’s eggs were so under cooked the whites were still clear. My husband ordered a meat pie, we had to laugh as it was the smallest portion. Having said all that our waitress was lovely and very friendly. I don’t think we’ll be going back.

Beautiful setting, terrible service. After waiting for 10 minutes with the waitress walking past us numerous times we assumed that you had to order inside. We were told table service only. Another 10 minutes went by and we flagged the waitress down to order coffees. She kept on serving other tables and came back to us after a little while to take our order, which we had already given her. At that point we got up and left. Very disappointing.

Looked at going here a number of times, but always closed when we want to go. Having eventually gone there, a real hidden gem. Location 10/10, food 5/10, service 1/10. My guess it's a family run business who have no passion and generally don't want to be there. My advice, sell it to someone who really wants to run a pub properly, and be open all day everyday like all other pubs.

Such a disappointment. I ordered an afternoon tea as it was our wedding anniversary. When I paid for it over the phone I told the lady that thus was the case. When we came, no one mentioned it - just a shame. We were put in their empty restaurant - were not offered a different location, despite the crappy view of the car park. The restaurant Manager was polite enough but we felt, as no one else was there that they were embarrassed to come over. The sandwiches were nice although one was a bit dry. The scones felt like they had been warmed in an air fryer but were still quite fresh. The cakes were appalling- all seemed long-life and the red velvet was inedible. When we left we were not asked how it had been. I emailed a complaint when I got home. Got a holding response on the Monday morning then on Wednesday afternoon got an email from their Operations Manager that not only was not addressed to me by name but did not cover any of the issues I raised. His whole response was that we should have raised the issues when the Restaurant Manager asked us how it was. Other than him offering to top up our teapots we had no conversations with him so not sure what he was talking about. Such a real shame - this was meant to be a treat and turned into a bit of a disaster. I really hope that they learn to treat their paying customers better for the future

We regularly pop into the cafe at Notcutts Garden Centre for breakfast at the weekend. They have a weekend deal which offers two Full English Breakfasts for £16.95 - an absolute bargain! The cafe is pleasant and clean, and all of the staff are friendly and helpful. The breakfast itself uses quality ingredients and comprises eggs, bacon, sausage, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and hash browns. Toast and tea/coffee are available at an extra cost. So why only three stars? Because the kitchen uses those catering warmer pots for a lot of the ingredients and the food is only ever lukewarm at best. It’s so frustrating as it’s a great breakfast. For the last three visits I’ve sent the food back to be popped in the microwave and then it’s fine, but the staff are not getting the hint. Turn the thermostat up on the catering pots so that the food is hot! Pretty please!

Confusing queuing system. Tables left with dirty crockery on them and often floor needs a sweep. Sandwiches are good but the knife used to cut them is not cleaned so you could end up with the contents of the previous customer’s sandwich on your bread. Staff are usually friendly.

The website showed the restaurant was open on 14th February 2023. I ordered a meal for 3 people which was confirmed on the website and further confirmed by text to my mobile phone stating that collection would be available 25 minutes later. My wife went to the restaurant at the appointed time to find that the restaurant was actually closed. We subsequently ordered a meal from another Chinese restaurant in Harpenden with less menu choice and ended up eating much later than planned.

Great little place, nice location and the specialty blends set them apart. Staff are also very helpful! Also like the bike parking options and outdoor seating