The Crabtree — Restaurant in Dacorum

We came out for a nice quick meal and my god were we disappointed. We waited an hour for our starter and another 30 to 40 minutes for our mains. The starter was okay but the mains were something else. I ordered rare steak which came out medium to medium rare. I was willing to let this go as steak is hard to get right sometimes. The onion rings were very dark brown and there was a shrivled lump stuck to the bottom of my sauce jug which I later identified as a grilled tomato. The steak had thick black grill lines in, indicating that the grill needed a good scrape down. My partners meal had chips that were obviously not fresh and again had burnt onion rings on. Admittedly we did eat the meals but only because we were so hungry from waiting so long and I didn't want to wait another hour for a replacement meal. Even if I'd had wanted to send it back, there was no check back made and we didn't see a member of staff once while eating. The drinks were good though it was definitely quicker to order at the bar. The man with the big muscles was the only member of staff there who seemed attentive and like he wanted to be there or enjoying himself so hats off to you good sir. Obviously the establishment could do with more staff being put on as it was clear quiz night is very busy and popular. I also noticed there was no sheet in the toilets to indicate they were being checked for clenliness and stocked toilet rolls, though i admit this could be behind the bar. Upon saying this, the lipstick writing over the walls was something I'd expect to see in a school toilet. My last gripe is the fact that the goldfish was sat at the bottom of the tank looking very sorry for itself. Goldfish are actually a type of carp and can grow to very big sizes. The tank was no where near big enough for the fish and only half filled with water. Maybe don't use animals as a show piece and give them the proper care they diserve!

The only good things I have to say is about the drink quality and the fact the glasses were definitely clean. A bigger and stronger staff force would have this establishment run a whole lot better though using the words "we are very busy" is no excuse for an hour wait on food. Again I'd like to thank the muscly man for your good service and smiles.

Listed in pictures is the shrivled lump of tomato and burnt...

What can we say! The Crabtree has been recently refurbished so together with a 25% discount voucher off food and drink we hoped that it would be a nice relaxed lunch with friends. The food was fine! mostly simple pub food. Our friend had a nice spinach, cheese and truffle tart which was a good addition to the menu and that he would recommend! On the table, there was a combined pepper and salt container brown sauce and vinegar. I asked for salt and tomato ketchup. The waitress was not best pleased to be asked and told me that the salt is in the top and went to fetch a tomato ketchup bottle from another table. The salt in the top of the pepper pot, there wasn't any! The tomato ketchup bottle had such a little bit in the bottom I had to turn it upside down and try to shake out a very small amount. I then went to get another from another table and the ketchup bottle had a very little bit in the bottom, so I turned that one upside down. We asked the waitress again, who with a huff and a puff got a third bottle of ketchup and there was less than a quarter left. Never mind, we had some ketchup. We happily ate the food. When I ordered the food I tried to pay for it with a card! 'Oh you can't pay by card, the system is down, can you pay by cash? I didn't have much cash so they said that I was to come back later and they would open a tab. I agreed and commented that a tab meant I could add a pudding or a cup of tea maybe, the bar lady agreed. ' Come back later and pay she said. We decided to have tea and a coffee, so I tried to order this quoting the tab number. Oh no you can't order a tea or coffee. a tab doesn't been that you can add to your bill. We don't do that! In the end, I walked 10 mins to to the nearest cash machine and paid by bill. I was not offered a receipt or a bill, so did I get the 25% off? I probably did but I am uncertain. I also wasn't offered to do an Ember Inns Customer Survey giving me the waitress or bar staff name. My recommendations would be: It would have been useful if the bar staff had admitted when I ordered that they can only take cash today. Perhaps after the refurbishment, Ember Inns need to make sure there is enough staff who experience good customer training and who ensure there enough condiments...

Went for a meal and a drink today, sat outside in the sun in the pub garden which is really spacious. However, I was with two other people and we ordered minutes between eachother on the app and we all received our food and drinks at completely different times. Working in hospitality, you know that if one table orders several meals - they should be served around the same time so everyone is eating together but each of us managed to finish our meal before the next one got theirs! My sister ordered 2 small plates at the same time; got one in relatively good time but didn’t receive the next one until me and my other friend had both received and finished our food. The worst point - there were several dead bugs on the lettuce I was served with my calamari!! 🤢 the lettuce is covered by the calamari so it wasn’t noticed until I’d eaten some too 😭 really disgusting and unhygienic considering they are putting that lettuce in all sorts of things. All it takes is a clean! Calamari wasn’t very nice and was served like mozeralla sticks. No cutlery or condiments given with any of the food either. Overall, was very disappointing! This is my first review I have ever made so that just...