The Old Barge — Restaurant in East Hertfordshire

Happened across The Old Barge by accident in a quiet Hertford byway by the River Lea in the middle of town. I haven't had good luck with pubs following the end of lockdown so I was wary and my expectations weren't high. I've struck lucky though as the Barge is a real old fashioned English pub.

The music level isn't intrusive - I'm noise sensitive and have an old fashioned habit of wanting to hear my friends speak! The bar is well stocked bar, with a range of hand-pumped ciders and ales. Due to the driver issues currently there were only three ales available on pump, but that's two up on most pubs I've visited over the last few months. I haven't eaten here but the dining area looks large and inviting, with an enticing menu and very reasonable prices. If I hadn't already bought dinner I'd be staying.

I had an Adnam's Southwold bitter and a bag of cheddar and red onion Kettle Chips - total £6.35, which I thought reasonable. The Adnam's was fresh, nutty and sharply hoppy - interesting and refreshing but left me looking for a sweet note that wasn't part of it. But that's just my personal taste.

All in all, a place I recommend and will re-visit with friends. An enjoyable hour's respite and friendly, polite barstaff. The only reason I haven't given five stars is because I haven't...

A mixed experience. The Old Barge was well reviewed and we saw on their website that they did Sunday roasts, so we dropped by to experience it. Firstly I should say the staff were friendly and attentive, and the best part of the experience, but the food itself could have been better.

We both had a slow-cooked beef roast dinner. My beef - rather than being tender (my assumption from being slow-cooked), was quite tough. In fact some of it was inedible because it was dry and even blackened at the corners. I imagine it had been at the surface of the slow cooker and thus caught, so I had to leave bits of the meat, which was not a promising start.

The veg that came alongside was similarly mediocre - the swede was completely underdone and almost difficult to chew. The other veg was generally acceptable and mostly boiled to the point of tastelessness. The highlights were the roast potatoes however, which were great. The Yorkshire pudding was also to a good standard.

For dessert we had a fruit crumble with custard (great) and the Bailey's bread and butter pudding (even greater), which saved the meal in our opinion.

Other than that, the choice of beers was good and our selections were of good quality. Overall I'd recommend a visit but avoid the Sunday roast...

Very disappointed by my latest visit to the old barge. Found the only seat left in the bar as we had a dog and it had a small table not big enough for 3, we asked a gentleman if we can grab another little table from the dining area. He asked the bar lady if it was okay and she was very stand off ish but reluctantly agreed. After moving the table the group of girls behind the bar continued on to talk about us and whisper as if we had done something wrong which we didn’t appreciate. Especially a meter from the table. When spending £80 on a meal and drinks for 3 you would expect better respect and service. When the food came the scotch eggs were solid I asked if we could swap them for runny eggs as the menu specifically said melt in the middle eggs. The same bar lady took the plates to the kitchen with no word and came back to say that’s how we serve them here we would not be allowed to serve them raw. I didn’t want the eggs raw I just didn’t want them hard boiled as this isn’t what paid £8 for. No apologies and threw the plates back down to us. The food was actually really nice other than that and would recommend but very disappointed by the bad atmosphere made by some of the staff, it made for an uncomfortable dining...