Prime Steak & Grill — Restaurant in Dacorum

First thing to note is don’t go for a booth - the seats are very shallow, firm and it’s incredibly close to the table and your friends opposite, only really comfortable for 2 people not 4. You can barely move.

It seems they’ve taken their prices too far for what they’re offering - steaks come with nothing, not even fries for the cheapest at £25. Which would be fine, if the quality of meat was excellent. Anything fried was awful - tasted as though the fat needed changing or the frier cleaning and stunk! Service was adequate but not through lack of effort as they were all very sweet, just clearly not trained and to the standard you would expect at this price. Orders came out wrong and we weren’t asked how we’d like our steak cooked - not ideal for a steak house. General table etiquette was also sloppy.

Quality of meat was also not to the standard you might associate with Prime - or certainly not from a few years back. Seasoning seemed a little overwhelming but I suppose this is down to taste, ask for no reduced pepper if you want to taste the meat.

They’ve made changes to the venue from its previous ownership and unfortunately at detriment to the ambience. The high ceilings have been ignored and painted grey - shame for such a lovely venue. There’s no focal point despite the open layout so it feels something’s missing. Bar has been very much cut off from the restaurant so it feels more like a food hall than cosy or ‘wow’. The booths have been crammed in for more sittings as mentioned - avoid if there’s more than 2 of you.

In summary I think the kitchen could do with a switch up, menu needs reviewing for price and offering given the quality, and staff could be trained to a higher standard associated with the brand. I hope in time they make adjustments to the furnishings and decor to give it more appeal, it’s very bland and dark. Some outstanding art could lift the venue or introduction of mirrors on the ceiling to highlight the fabulous architecture that they’re...

We were unfortunately disappointed with our visit to Prime, and it wasn’t the food it was the staff which surprisingly let the experience down. On arrival they handed us our menus, we had two girls with us one 14 and one 13 who wanted to see the children’s menu, when asking for this it seemed deemed upon and the waitress and manager were having a discussion about it which made us feel highly uncomfortable and really ruined it. The waitress then came back saying that the childrens menu only goes up to the age of 12 years, and that portion size was small. I then had to explain how old my children were with me and that they are not huge eaters. I have never come across this in a restaurant and I shouldn’t have to explain myself. The situation was embarrassing to the point the manager came up to us during the evening apologising, explaining she didn’t want to make us feel uncomfortable or offend. Again this shouldn’t have had to be done. They then brought out a birthday cake which I provided that had none of the candles I had given them, which was 24 pieces instead they kept the whole lot, which I realised the next day when I looked in the bag. They also charged us two service charges as they forget to add the children’s meals to the bill so created a separate bill and added another service charge. I’ve got to say a real let down especially for a 50th birthday, it seemed they were out to make as much money as they could and was not focusing on giving the customer a wonderful experience. Absolute shame and won’t be going...

I’ve no trouble as to where I begin, and every trouble as to where I end.

I came in this afternoon expecting lunch—-and, look, please (for heaven’s sake!) don’t misunderstand me! Lunch I did get. But would you, for a moment, consider this: Would one who beholds Beethoven’s fifth say that they simply heard a song? Would the parched welcome a glass as but another drink? Would one describe Monet’s work as a collection of doodles?

So, yes, ‘I had lunch’

And yet, Nay! I did not!

The salt upon a single fry was to me like the sprinkling of diamond upon a hallowed child of the earth. Upon my lip—-not even yet my tongue!—-did it deposit sweet blessing that could cure a thousand ills. To speak of its journey beyond this would be something akin to blasphemy.

The resistance of the steak upon my bite was like the thrill of love. Friend, what is love if not the chase! The push! The struggle! The wrestle for life and joy and bliss! And yet, I did not have to insist so fiercely before it opened itself to the incisor and the molar of my probing heart.

Even the flow of the water (which I would dare to call holy) down the hollow of my neck was, to my body, a shock. This passage of shame—-from which I have hurtled curses and horrors became a site of peace. What new birth! What restoration!

So… yes… ‘I had lunch’

Better still to say:

I saw light. I tasted the sunrise. I supped on beauty.

I beheld God.

Bit spenny though. Might just do the...