Saracens Head — Restaurant in East Hertfordshire

Poor. We booked a table for dinner, we asked for some starters but the waiter said they “don’t do starters”, i.e. everything had to be ordered together. So we left the starters and just had pizzas - they were ok but one was very undercooked.

Afterwards our plates were not taken away for over 20 minutes. When we finally got someone’s attention to order some desserts, they took our dessert order BEFORE taking our meal plates away, and said “do you want me to take these” after taking the dessert order.

The desserts were disappointing - the “99 cone ice cream” was not Mr. Whippy as you might expect, just a cone with a scoop of standard ice cream on top, and the cookie dough was just a softened cookie in a dish.

Overall the staff seemed very inexperienced and amateurish. Also, although not important, the decor inside was awful. The place is ok for a drink outside next to the river, but I wouldn’t recommend the dining experience. We...

Fancied a nice relaxed summer evening meal by the river, but didn't get one! We reserved a table, but it was inside as the riverside ones are only on a first come basis. Ordered our food and drinks at the bar, starters and mains. We wanted pizza but there was an issue with the oven (I assume) so made alternative choices. Took a while for our shared loaded nachos to arrive and burnt! Our main meals arrived straight away too which was odd. Portion sizes weren't massive and it looked like my fish & chips came straight from Iceland's freezer, definitely not hand-battered and the chips were cold and again churned out of a frozen bag of French fries. Also although I usually enjoy a live band, the guys playing were so loud especially with the drums and cymbals that we couldn't even talk. All this said, the pub was quite busy, we just didn't hang around after eating. P.S the home made the Sour Cream Coleslaw was...

Oh dear. Our first visit to Saracens and the last. Here's why .... 45 minute wait for only 3 small plates : Nachos, Korean Popcorn Chicken & Cod gougons. Had to chase our order. Food arrived poorly presented. Food was tepid/ cold. Popcorn chicken was overcooked, texture was like bullets. Also missed off sesame seeds + coriander. We checked, no coriander available. No Korean sauce on Popcorn chicken, standard chilli sauce instead. Nachos dolloped on the small plate, plastered in sauces. Small portions. Very expensive for what you get. Manager at bar taking orders: Frosty/ aloof.

Positives : Cod gougons lovely. Waitress lovely, polite + friendly. Lovely setting alongside river.

Definitely...