The Three Crowns — Restaurant in Hertsmere

Recently stayed locally as I was attending an NFL event in London, and popped in to this beautiful pub before leaving for home. Pubs these days are all chains and was expecting the usual wetherspoons fare, and I'm happy to say I could not have been more wrong.

The pub looks lovely from outside, tidy, well cared for, and I'm really quite jealous of the hanging baskets which should have been my first indicator of the level of care and attention to detail the owners (didnt think to get a name) take.

I initially went in the pub side and the surprisingly friendly locals (northerners are quite falsely led to beleive southerners aren't friendly) pointed me to the side with the larger dining area and outside area.

While there i had a selection of sides rather than a main (i can be quite fussy) but the food was the highest quality. The garlic bread with cheese portion was HUGE, I'd say a ciabiatta and a half??!! And it was gorgeous and cooked exactly like it should be. I also had potato skins with Bacon and this was a nice suprise. I was expecting something frozen if I'm honest but you could tell the food was cooked from fresh with chopped bacon and the salad that came with it was clearly very carefully prepared. Finally the chunky chips might honestly be the best chips I've ever had in a pub. Honestly. The couch, the soft potato inside, perfect. This may all seem a little much for a few starters but they were of such quality that I just HAD to leave a review.

Finally I also had a pint of Hells and it was spot on. The right amount of gas, temperature perfectly refreshing and didn't taste of "chemicals" (you all know what I'm talking about).

My only disappointment is that it is about four hours away from where I live.

Bravo to all involved, and forgive me for not thinking to collect your names to thank...

Last Thursday lunch. Booked a table for friend’s birthday. Left her name and my card and was given a tag. Very cold. Lovely lady with a white blouse took me to the undercover area with a heater after asking the guys there whether they were smoking. She brought me a drink. Friend later texted to say she had arrived. Saw her sitting at a table outside. Went up and said I had a table by a heater and where would she prefer, she said she didn’t mind. At that point a shorter woman with a black blouse had arrived with drinks. She said this was my table and picked up a chalkboard with my name and almost shoved it in my face. I tried to explain I had booked in with the other lady, leaving the name of my friend, and showed her the tag for my card. She said I can’t use it as my friend had put hers behind the bar. I insisted I was paying for the lunch. Then I retrieved my stuff and drink from the other table. To make things worse the table was next to a bin which stank. Then the bill had 10% added which I thought was illegal. I did not want to embarrass my friend any further by challenging the bill. This woman made me feel demeaned and bullied, ruining the lunch. She needs some training in how to treat customers and listen to what they say. Obviously will never be going...

Start with the bad - we came in for something to eat, granted it was a Sunday and in the bar area not reaturaunt , staff seemed nice however the meal fell well below par for the price we paid. When you pay £14 pound for a car very you would expect it to be good . We ordered at the. At abs food was dropped to the table 25 minutes later, fine it was busy but the foot itself was definitely not what I had hoped fpr . We ordered a beef roast x2 and pasta for our daughter

Yorkshire pudding was ROCK hard, absolutely inedible , 3 roast potatoes that were black, oily and as of they had sat at the bottom of a greasy pan for a few hours . The beef was nice but the quantity overall we still felt hungry .

What’s more is two carvery were delivered to the table next to us that looked great they had much more than two carrots and a few green beans ! It was so disappointing , it was also fairly expensive ! We couldn’t even have a discreet word with anybody because there was nobody to ask and it was too busy to get to the bar. Wouldn’t be eating there again, I have had far better at a Toby carvery , paid less and go away full up.

People in the pub were nice and it is a nice little pub, dog allowed which is great but food was...