The best restaurants serving British food in East of England

It’s funny what can happen on a Thursday travelling down the London road in St Albans you stop at the Farmers Boys in St. Albans see a sea of people baby boomers and Gen X, bobbing bald heads of gentlemen being reminded of a time of love and camaraderie thought lost. No challenges , no issues here just a great group of people enjoying what can only be described as music at its best no technology fine tuning , raw musicality and talent excellence to the ears! These guys have travelled the world and played for legends Elton John wedding , Lulu’s 60th , Ringo Starr ‘s 70th

We recently attended a private occasion here. On previous occasions when we have attended “do”s we have been able to park free, but the hotel is under new management and everyone using the car park has to pay. £5 for the evening….yes £5!!! It would have been cheaper to park in the station car park. Attendees were asked to make their menu choices a week in advance, fair enough. The food… the pigs cheek terrine consisted of slices of flavour-free meat in jelly, a huge amount of jelly, accompanied by pickled mushrooms and dry toasted brioche. Two mouthfuls was more than enough. You may ask why I had a second mouthful if the first was so bad - I was making sure that it really was that dreadful. Next, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with vegetables. The beef looked promising, but was actually very chewy and lacking in flavour. The Yorkshire puddings were thick and solid and the vegetables undercooked, not just al-dente. Someone else on my table remarked that the gravy was the best part of it. However, the vegetarians had the worst experience - the kitchen had, wait for it……FORGOTTEN TO COOK their option! Yes, really! So we had a long wait while they found the poor unfortunate vegetarians something to eat. By the look on the face of our companion it wasn’t worth the wait. Desert was probably the least awful part of my meal, cold chocolate brownie and ice cream (half a scoop) on a very hot plate. Perhaps that was meant to warm the brownie up? Someone on our table had ordered cheese and gluten free biscuits. They were given cheese, nothing else, just cheese. There were some other oversights, for example inadequate cutlery laid. I would have thought that “new management” would be working hard to make a good impression, but I certainly cannot recommend this place on any level

Lovely experience here. Lovely and warm. Food was served hot and the scampi and chips were lovely and golden. One had a sandwich which was served in fresh bread with generous filling. Staff were very friendly. Will definitely be going again.l

I bought vegan sausage rolls from here and found full on mould on the inside. On complaining we learned food is being kept overnight, not thrown away! This was definitely older than a few days - look at the picture and decide for yourself. When we complained, only the ‘older’ ones in the cabinet were thrown away, not the ‘fresh’ ones that were stored next to them. I’ll never return again - the hygiene of this bakery is, I’m sorry to say, utterly disgusting.

Accommodation was basic but ok, would have given 2/3 stars but have given 1 star as our booking included a full English breakfast, which we didn't get and the owner had no interest in honouring the booking. We were told the email was a mistake. We were offered a cold crossiant/yoghurt and juice. Really disappointed with response of owner and can't recommend.

We are staying nearby and booked this pub for evening meal last night and tonight. We then read the reviews and were worried. We didn’t need to worry about. The land lady was very polite and friendly. Had a lovely chat with her. The food was absolutely amazing and we couldn’t fault anything. The price was very good for the portion size and quality of the food. We would definitely visit again. They take card payments as well.

Nice reception in friendly pub. Good range of beers. Short menu but enough choice. outside apace available.

Excellent pub with fine selection of real ale. We received a warm welcome and were served quickly and professionally with our drinks. On a whim we decided to have lunch which was superb: I enjoyed the home made mince and onion pie in suet pastry with beautifully cooked vegetables, and my husband enjoyed the Vegetable and Quorn curry. The pub had a good crowd of regulars which made for a happy and community atmosphere. The pub is old style- just as we like it; spotlessly clean and traditional in all regards. Highly recommend this pub and look forward to visiting again when next in Bures.

Very disappointing, unwelcoming, dog unfriendly pub. Unusual for a country pub, this pub does not allow dogs inside and is not welcoming for people passing through the village. Not recommended.

Visited Café X mid-morning on 09/09/2020. Café have a good Covid-19 protection system in place whereby you order at the main entrance window, & your food is handed out another window. The lady who served us was also friendly and helpful. I order the SMALL breakfast, that as you can see on the menu is £7.00. Plastic cutlery. Coffee is disappointing Instant Coffee, although it is advertised as Instant. The toast had no flavour whatsoever and tasted like cheap nasty budget wholemeal bread. It really was rank. Possibly reheated. Not enough butter either. The egg wasn't runny, it looked like it had been flipped over or possibly even reheated, it was fairly tough. The bacon was unsmoked and although it was nice and thick, it was fairly fatty and tasted cheap quality / greasy. The hash brown and black pudding, yeah OK I guess, but I have had way better. Now, I could forgive all this if the price reflected the quality of the product. But it doesn't. Much too expensive for poor quality food. If this has cost me £4.00 I probably wouldn't quibble as the cost and quality would match somewhat. We won't be eating here again, we had slightly dicky stomachs afterwards too. It is a shame, as if you bought better quality produce, got a far better chef, kept the prices the same and made the presentation better, you would have a roaring repeat customer base given you are situated on the A47. But im sorry, as you are, it's far too disappointing.

Unpleasant environment. Once sat I noticed how dirty and littered the floor was along with food crumbs spread across the bench seating areas. Plenty of staff to clean the floor and tables yet this has not been done. Coffee was very tasteless and overly milky, would even say a tad sour, an overpriced experience. Sat near the back kitchen and a slightly eggy smell is wafting into the seating area which just adds to the grubby feel in this place.

The worst fish and chips we have ever had, went to burham to have fish and chips at the jolly fryer unfortunately it was shut. So gave sauda village other try. Never again the chips were black the sausages were tasteless and dry. Fish was dripping in oil. The table outside was filthy had to clean it ourselves. I don’t know how they got a 5 rating from EHO

I like their Birthday cake so much, but it is little bit expensive. And I am also happy to see them open during lockdown for takeaways.

Visited with friends for breakfast. Lovely staff, food was nice. Quick service. Recommend the full English with hazelnut latte.

La he comido varias veces por la noche cuando me hospedo por negocios en el hotel. Los tiempos de espera son generalmente largos y la comida bastante normal. Los entrantes son particularmente decepcionantes. Una apuesta segura es el filete de solomillo. Evitaría la mayoría de las otras opciones. La mayoría de las visitas comienzan con una disculpa por lo que no está en el menú esta noche. Como digo, quédate con el bistec y ve a otro lugar si te quedas más de una noche. Buena suerte píos!